A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL

Colchester Mercury

“The wretch of today may be happy tomorrow.”

Gay's Beggars' Opera [a bit of a change from The Student Prince] is tellingly referenced in Ayckbourn's unblinking look at the Am Dram world, A Chorus of Disapproval.

In Peter Rowe's production for the New Wolsey and the Mercury, Guy Jones was played by leading light of Eastern Angles Julian Harries, in a reading which got all the laughs without sacrificing the sadness.

The 'director', whose distant apprenticeship on the professional stage - “a lot of it in Minehead” - is both a fond memory and a nightmare albatross, was a larger than life Sion Tudor Owen, with Katy Secombe [daughter of the legendary Harry] in good voice, and often touching, as his “Swiss Army wife”.

Many familiar Mercury faces made up the motley company of PALODS – Roger Delves Broughton and Jill Cardo as the talentless stalwarts [“unless you say 'well done' all the time they won't turn up,” moans director Dafydd]. And Christine Absalom was the redoubtable Rebecca, wife to self-made man Paul Leonard.

I liked Charles Davies's nudge-nudge swinger, though I feel that the wife-swap sequence, though hilarious, really belongs in a different play.

Come on, you've seen this world from both sides of the footlights ! Is this how it really is ? Well, no, not really. Sure, I've waited in “ghastly, smelly little kitchens”, and seen the back row of the chorus desperately trying to recall the words, or the steps, or the show. But as I said to the Rotarians, in my considerable experience almost any other group – bell-ringers, say, or bee-keepers – would afford more opportunities for hanky-panky than the would-be luvvies of the arts scene.

JANE LESLIE MACKENZIE and TIM CAREY

KEGS Arts Society recital

12.03.09

Twin pillars of English music, Purcell and Britten, framed this enjoyably varied recital featuring soprano Jane Leslie MacKenzie.

The Purcell included a dramatic Love's Sickness and a moving Dido's Lament, with the accompaniment successfully exported to the modern piano by Tim Carey.

A posy of Folk Songs from Britten concluded the evening: a lovely Waly, Waly and a cheeky Oliver Cromwell to end [If you want any more you can sing it yourself …]. Rarer delights included some of the few song settings of Mozart, and Poulenc's Whimsical Betrothal.

The centrepiece of the recital was Schumann's great Frauenliebe und Leben, describing the course of a woman's love for her man, from her own point of view, from their first meeting through marriage to his death. Jane's powerful, though often intimate, performance was well matched by the piano, especially in the final bars, where the silence of heartbreak and loss is accentuated by the recapitulation of the music's motifs.

Tim Carey gave us two solo reflections on the evening's themes: a stormy Petrarch Sonnet by Liszt, and two of Schumann's Fantasy Pieces, including a wonderful performance of Des Abends, with the cantabile melody made more songlike by the finely judged rubato.

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Chelmsford Ballet Company at the Civic

11.03.09


To mark their sixtieth anniversary, our very own ballet company chose this favourite show; it's one that shows their strengths to perfection.

Good, clear story telling, strong characters, big numbers and a familiar score.

On opening night, Princess Aurora was danced by Bethany Pike. It was a radiant performance, with real flair in the dancing of the Grand Pas d'Action in Act I, and later in tandem with her Prince, an energetic and expressive Mandev Sokhi. She also gave us some nicely ethereal movement in Act II, with convincing fainting in coils after the spindle incident.

Tanya Davenport-Stanyon made an elegant Lilac Fairy, and Jessica Smart was Princess Florine to Matthew Powell's stylish Bluebird. Telling cameos from Luke Bradshaw as the Wolf and Jessica Gosling as Red Riding Hood.

The various fairies were superb, with lots of nuance of character, and the green nymphs shone in the Vision Scene. The corps de ballet – resplendent in dress uniforms for the finale – showed strength in depth, and painted some excellent stage pictures.

The character roles were filled by doyens of the company; room only to mention Elizabeth Baker's extravagantly evil Carabosse, arriving on a chariot with attendant bats and fluffy little demons.

The ballet, always gorgeous to look at, beautifully costumed, was directed by Gillian Toogood, with assistance from Annette Potter.

GLORIANA, MONARCH AND MUSE

Writtle Singers

07.03.09

A bold fanfare, a feisty Bransle, brought the Writtle Singers up to the transept in a concert opening typical of the sense of the dramatic which informs their programming.

Christine Gwynn had devised a sequence of music to illustrate the life of the Virgin Queen, “a fruitful and rich period” artistically. Each work was introduced by a brief reading; no dry history lesson, but an exploration of byways peopled by the likes of Will Kempe and “Nosy” Parker. And, wittily, rumour and speculation about Edward de Vere were followed by Morley's Fyer, Fyer !

Contemporary works included a lovely piece by Weelkes, who also contributed the Kempe song, and Latin settings by Byrd, the great survivor of the old faith.

Britten's Gloriana was central to the concert – the mesmeric Concord, and the rhythmic men's voices in Rustics and Fishermen – and other later English voices included Purcell [The Faerie Queen] and Holst's glorious Partsongs: the beautifully sustained Dream Tryst and Come to Me, bracketing the livelier birds and glow-worms.

Christine joined accompanist Caroline Finlay for two helpings of Warlock's Capriol Suite, in its original piano duet version.

In addition to their concerts, Writtle Singers are offering a free open workshop [Byrd and Vaughan Williams] in the Church on March 30.

MARTIN CARTHY

at the Civic Theatre

04.03.09


Making light of arthritis and memory loss, folk legends Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson brought their years of experience to the Civic last week.

With Chris Parkinson on accordion, they kicked off with a song from the West Indies, which exists in many versions all over the world. And “Sailor Cut Down in His Prime”, delivered in Waterson's uniquely expressive voice, was typical of the breadth of their repertoire.

Mr Isaac's Maggot, a dance tune from the 18th century, an Australian ballad, Six Jovial Welshman [a carol, a confection or a nonsense song ?], tunes from the Morris Men, and the haunting lament Bay of Biscay, all showed this combo's deep love of authentic folk music.

I particularly enjoyed My Flower, My Companion and Me, and the Ohio number Since My Bird Has Flied Away.

There was original music too – Tom Waites' Strange Weather and Black Muddy River by the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia.

They ended their set with Midnight on the Water, a potently nostalgic waltz from Texas, which almost managed to generate some of the folk club/festival atmosphere which was sadly lacking in the dark, respectful theatre.

Fans will already know that Carthy and Waterson's daughter Eliza is playing the Civic on the 9th of May.