WALTHAM SINGERS SUMMER CONCERT

Great Waltham Church

18.06.11

This is Victoria's year, with choirs everywhere marking the 400^th anniversary of his death.

The Waltham Singers began with his Te Deum – a liturgical dialogue with a lone voice at the back of the church. Then the Missa Gaudeamus, a musical high point of the Spanish Renaissance, sung here with purity and precision. The Singers were on superb form, for this is complex writing; I particularly admired the triumphant optimism of the closing bars of the Credo, the crisply rhythmic approach to the climax of the Agnus Dei, and the richly glowing textures of the Gloria, with Andrew Fardell's sweeping gestures urging the singers to even greater eloquence.

The Mass was interspersed, not with organ solos or Plainchant, but with short works for four voices by other Iberian masters, performed by the gentlemen of the Orlando Consort, no less.

A wonderful tribute, and many groups would happily have left it there. But not the Waltham Singers; after the interval they brought us the amazing fusion sound of the Mantra project, in which the Orlando Consort are joined by tabla, sitar and the voice of Shahid Khan. One of the happiest outcomes was that Indian music seemed much less hermetically mysterious by the end of the evening, thanks to the witty and informative introductions by the performers.

All inspired by 16^th century musical missionaries who incorporated the traditions of Goa into their worship. I loved Encounter, with plainchant embroidered with an improvised alap, Tabla Talum, weaving the drums into melodic structure, and the summation of the sequence, Henna Night, blending polyphony, Arabic and an Indian wedding in a glorious celebration of music making. Though these cultural barriers were easier to break down than the traditional reserve of the British concert audience …

WHALE MUSIC

Witham Dramatic Club at the Public Hall

16.06.11

Max, the baby “put up for adoption” in Anthony Minghella's early success, would be 30 by now.

Witham's welcome revival, directed by Graeme Parrett, evoked the 80s in its furnishings and its clever choice of music – Girls Just Want To Have Fun, I Could Be Happy.

The performances, on the other hand, seemed very modern, naturalistic, even hard to hear at times.

Catherine Hitchins was Caroline, who escapes to a lazy seaside town to have her illegitimate child. Scarcely out of adolescence herself, she struggles to maintain her resolve and master her emotions; we share her ambivalence and her anguish – a touching performance in this challenging central role.

But it was Gemma Robinson's Stella who touched an emotional nerve, with her bitter, artistic landlady who has a pathological loathing of men. Her raw, honest monologue was masterly.

Charlette Kilby was the baby-obsessed schoolfriend Fran – a nice, if uneasy, contrast with the troubled Caroline.

The most successful scenes were the set-pieces: a game of charades, kites on the beach. They felt very fresh, very real, improvised even. The trio were joined by Caroline's lesbian ex-teacher and her 17-year-old pupil/lover D [a very promising Natalie Whitworth]. The moment when Kate [Jacqui Brown] is forced to accept rejection, and some awkward truths, was movingly done.

There was strong support from hospital staff [Anne Dyster and Viv Carey], Shirley Taylor as Caroline's uncomprehending mother, Roxanne Carney as Veronica, and Alex Twitchett, making a promising début as a surly waitress.

The piece seems very much of its time, with a strong sense of sisterhood and no sign of the New Man. But it was good to see it on stage, stylishly presented on the flat with striking portraits on the walls, and the empty stage effectively reserved for the beach and the bicycles.

MORT
Brentwood Performing Arts Group

17.06.11

Terry Pratchett has been eye-balling the Grim Reaper recently, though this typical tale of the Discworld dates from happier times in 1987.

BPAG's version [no credit for the adaptation] skated over much of the wit, the wisdom and the word play. They threw everything at the entrance of Death – smoke, strobe, music and a nice echo for the doomladen voice of sinister, cowled Michael Gardener, whose boneless drunk was a physical highlight. His dimwitted, gauche but frightfully keen apprentice was well characterized by Michael Boosey. Chloe Harding was suitably petulant as Princess Kali.

The most successful scene was the careers guidance comedy sketch where Death is advised by Reece Learmouth's clueless consultant.

Elsewhere, the production, directed by group members Kristen Brown and Connor Thompson, suffered from frequent scene changes, slow cues and inaudibly garbled performances.

They're hoping to tackle Rocky Horror next time. Before then, they might explore other groups' work and methods, and acquire the basic skills that any performance demands. Maybe then their audience will look up more often from updating Facebook, and reward their efforts with laughter.

Ironical image of the evening: the Grim Reaper himself standing at a rain-swept Stage Door, desperately drawing on a pre-show cigarette ...

EMPEROR AND GALILEAN

National Theatre at the Olivier

14.06.11

“Ibsen's lost masterpiece” tells the story of the Emperor Julian [the Apostate], Christian turned pagan whose ruthless persecution strengthened the will of the “Galileans”, establishing Christianity as an enduring world faith.

Ben Power's new version of this epic of 1873, directed by Jonathan Kent, fills the Olivier stage with vast structures, peopled by the foot-soldiers of history.

But it is the words and the ideas, robust exchanges of views on the edge of the action, which are important, rather than the spectacle and the special effects. We don't need video to imagine the eagle soaring, and we understand that brutal war is universal and of all time, without the warplanes following the eagle through the skies.

There was some wonderful design – the religious procession, the funeral of Helena, but I wasn't convinced by the fatigues and fags for the soldiers. The final image of Julian, echoing the huge crucifix, was very telling, though.

This Julian is a fascinating character, seeking truth and freedom from Constantinople to Athens to Ephesus, abandoned by God, denied philosophy, and dying unmourned on the Field of Mars.

But I found Andrew Scott's performance strangely uninvolving, monotonous in delivery and lacking in charisma – a petulant, pathetic weakling, a tinpot tyrant.

His childhood friends - “shared lives” - did manage some powerful characterizations between them, James McArdle's blunt Agathon, John Heffernan's Peter, wryly humorous at first, then later showing the strength of faith that Julian lacks. But they too sometimes seemed too small-scale for the production, [occasionally inaudible in the circle], which demanded the kind of epic acting that we did get from Ian McDiarmid's Maximus, or Richard Durden's Ursulus, or Nabil Shaban's amazing Constantinus.

A fascinating play, with Julian explicitly following Cain and Judas as the tools of God. But the core of it all could have been told much more tightly, without the distractions of the epic excesses we saw on the National stage.

VIENNA PROMS

THE VIENNA PROMS

National Concert Orchestra of Great Britain at the Civic Theatre

09.06.11

This quaintly named band brought their “happy music” to the Civic last week.

A small ensemble, whose microphones meant that the sound picture was strangely distorted, yet could not compensate for a thin sound [only two cellos].

No programmes were provided, but hesitant, rambling introductions from the conductor, who forgot to introduce himself, but confessed to being a slightly deaf ex-rock'n'roller. Not a great communicator, whichever way he was facing on the rostrum. The sound lacked any excitement – sedate polkas, leaden Mozart, limp Lehar.

I did enjoy our conductor's own favourite, Leroy Andersen's Belle of the Ball, that old Tauber tear-jerker, Vienna City of My Dreams, and a lively Pizzicato Polka played by the strings, led by leader Amanda Rowden-Martin, who of course could have easily directed the whole thing from her violin, like André Rieu, or indeed the Waltz King himself …

I can reveal that the conductor was Greg Francis, a musician with vast experience in the business, though “Mozart 40” is about as close to classical as he comes. I certainly wasn't alone in feeling disappointed here – a very sniffy comment in the front-of-house book by the interval – but I suppose it did provide gainful employment for a couple of dozen musicians, and a night out for fans who can't get to Rieu.

Video of Belle of the Ball – not sure where, certainly not the Civic – and, for comparison and camp kitsch, André doing the Sieczynski .


Greg Francis has been in touch [April 2012] - I quote the substance of his email here:


I wonder in view of your somewhat defamatory description of me , you would be happy to include some information on just one recent concert the orchestra (though certainly not the same players !) performed recently.

As you will see, the concert was for NSPCC charity 'Childline'. The main feature was Russell Watson, for whom I conducted throughout - at his request ! The program also including a couple of last minute and unrehearsed titles. No complaints from Russell, or any of the other singers. In fact, Russell himself told his manager that he'd felt as though he'd worked with me for years, and we are working together again later in the year, and next year.

I am sorry, and I admit that the concert was unrehearsed and, the orchestra I had been sent to work with, had their own ideas about tempos, phrasings and such. It was not an easy night for me, particularly as I was also nursing a dislocated right shoulder, and rather tired from the lack of sleep caused thereby ! Perhaps I ought have canceled the concert, and let the people sit in an empty theatre ? 

You may wonder how I come to have some excellent credentials on the website - particularly having conducted for people like Russell Watson, Alfie Boe, Mark Rattray, Joe Longthorne, John Lawrenson, Edmund Hockridge and many more, including most of the BBC and NDR (German) Radio Orchestras ?

Would that not make you wonder why that evening's performance was 'under par' - rather than launching into a straight forward 'knife in the back' review ? 

RUSSELL WATSON and Soprano JANETTE MONROE , showing part of the National Concert Orchestra of GB. conducted by Greg Francis at Southport Theatre. Also shown is The Manchester Girls Choir.

They raised a total of £30,460 for NSPCC 'Childline' charity. 
www.NationalConcertOrchestra.co.uk