St John’s, Upper St Leonards, Saturday 26 January 2019

An engaging concert, and one very much of two halves. The first half brought us richly romantic works by Weber and Schumann in a formal setting and without introductions. The second half reminded me of the early days of Friday night is music night with gently witty links between the works from conductor Derek Carden, and a splendid variety of pieces on offer.

The evening opened with Weber’s overture to Oberon, with heavy brass and bass tones almost overpowering the strings. Balance was better in the Schumann Piano Concerto where Howard Southern was a familiar but nonetheless very welcome soloist. His precise phrasing and graceful arpeggios in the opening movement were a prelude to the dancing, if unhurried, rhythmic pleasures of the finale.

We had two living composers in the audience, and heard works from both of them, opening with Paul Lewis’ theme for King’s Royal which some will recall from the TV series in the 1980s. The next orchestral work was Polo Piatti’s stirring Agitato with the composer providing the piano solo. The writing is often furious in impact but leads us to a gentler conclusion.

Between the orchestral items Thomasin Trezise was the soprano soloist in equally familiar operatic arias. She opened with a thrilling performance of Un bel di vedremo from Madama Butterfly and later gave us a warmly effective Vilja from The Merry Widow and the Czardas from Die Fledermaus – in the latter case changing into a glittering golden dress which understandably caused a stir across the very full audience.

Between these items we enjoyed Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia, with its haunting cor anglais solo, and the evening ended with the March from Sibelius’ Karalia Suite. There are times when the familiar is all the more welcome for being live.

My grandson was with me – his first concert. It will certainly not be the last, and please, when can we go to an opera?

Brian Hick

St Mary in the Castle, Hastings, 12 January 2019

St Mary’s may not have quite the intimacy of the Tabernacle’s basement but with low lighting and candles on the tables the atmosphere was certainly conducive to an evening of Samba, Choro and Bossa Nova. Marcio da Silva delights in challenging us, and we were soon immersed in the gentle melancholy of Tom Jobin’s Corcovado, which at least seemed familiar, before plunging into the wider repertoire with its emotionally expressive immediacy.

Historically the Choro – which literally means Crying – gave birth to the Samba and at the end of the last century to the Bossa Nova.  We heard five examples of early Choro, including Brejeiro by Ernesto Nazare which was remarkably upbeat with its clarinet solo and drum accompaniment from Marcio himself.

The One Note Samba by Tom Jobim may have been familiar to all but Chico Buarque’s Samba de Orly was equally pleasing. Jobim’s Desafinado brought us a moving Bossa Nova and the evening was rounded of by a laid-back rendition of The Girl from Ipanema.

Marcio was joined on the platform by guitarist Ariel Gragnani, clarinettist Boyan Ivanov, percussionist Emmanuel McDonald and Owen Nicolau on bass – many of whom are familiar performers with Hastings Philharmonic.  Marcio sang all of the songs himself and attuned his normally operatic voice to the restrained, at times almost husky tones, which felt perfectly suited to the clubs for which these songs were written and the potential political message they hold beneath the more romantic surface. The solo instrumental pieces allowed the individual players to show their sensitivity to the compositions, and also a genuine sense of enjoyment, which spilt over into the audience. Nobody got up to dance but I would not have been surprised if they had. May be next time?

St Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings, Saturday 15 December 2018

St Mary’s full to the gunnels; Hastings Philharmonic on top form; Marcio’s O Holy Night – it has to be Christmas! But the heart of the evening was subtly different this year with a lot of unaccompanied singing of a more reflective nature after the breezy account of Malcom Archer’s arrangement of Angels from the Realms of Glory. The gently lyrical El Desembre Congelat was followed by John Rutter’s moving arrangement of the spiritual Rise up, shepherd, and follow. Marcio da Silva drew on the strengths of solo voices in the choir not only in the spiritual but also for the opening of In the bleak mid-winter and the voices of the kings in We three kings.

Ding Dong Merrily on High allowed the harmony to crystalize before a fine a cappella version of Mary had a baby. We have become accustomed now to Marcio’s loving rendition of O Holy Night but it still makes an indelible impression and led effortlessly into the section with Guestling-Bradshaw Children’s Choir. They joined all of us for Once in Royal David’s City adding a well-focused treble solo before two favourites of theirs – This Little Light of Mine and The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Children from the large audience made their way to the front to join in Away in a Manger before our final carol – O Come all ye Faithful. At key points throughout the evening we all joined in communal carols and it was a pleasure to welcome back Inspiritus Brass with their own approach to carols and Christmas songs. To ensure we didn’t drop off we were encouraged to do all the actions in Snow Waltz – and quite right to.

Before the concert proper started we heard three young violinists (one of them very, very young!) and at the end Marcio spoke about the establishment of a Violin school and scholarships for Young Singers to work with Hastings Philharmonic. With the continuing dearth of school music, community involvement is ever more important and any interested singers can find further details at www.hastingsphilharmonic.com

St Augustine’s Church, Bexhill, 8 December 2018

Bexhill Choral’s annual Carols and Music for Christmas may follow a well-worn path but it is the insertion of unexpected items which add to the pleasure of the event each year. On this occasion it was the opening items – an exhilarating Torches! Torches! followed by the mellow glow of Berlioz’ Shepherd’s Farewell which set the tone. Throughout, the crisp rhythms of the choir and the clear diction added to the sense of immediacy.

If Gounod’s Nazareth is almost too sentimental for a 21^st century audience, Bob Chilcott’s arrangements are always apt and Kenneth Roberts’ own adaptations – in particular the Gloucestershire Wassail and the concluding popular numbers – move the whole evening into a lighter and more personal vein.

The choir were joined on this occasion by Peter Grevatt who sang with them for the Gounod and two carol arrangements, but was in his element with Bach’s Grosser Herr from the Christmas Oratorio. Here he was supported by solo trumpeter, Andy Gill, and organist Nigel Howard. Performing from the balcony, in the vibrant acoustic, it was spine-tinglingly exciting.

We were as usual invited to join in the choral carols, which included the Yorkshire version of While Shepherds to the tune of Ilkley Moor, and a rousing finale with O come all ye faithful.

Accompaniment throughout was provided by Nigel Howard on piano and organ – commuting between the two as needed – and the Cinque Ports Brass who flowered beautifully in the final movement of  Schutz’ Christmas Story. As is now traditional, Kenneth Roberts played clarinet and saxophone for the final songs, and had joined the brass from the piano for the jazz classic Christmas night in Harlem.

All involved were on fine form throughout and we can look forward to the spring concert which will bring us works by John Rutter and Kenneth Roberts on 11 May 2019.

St John’s, Hollington, 6 December 2018

Treble Clefs returned to St John’s, Hollington, for a well-supported Christmas concert which encouraged audience participation not just with the carols but with the familiar songs surrounding them.

However, the most impressive parts of the evening came from the less familiar and unexpected items. Whisper! Whisper! was certainly unknown to me as a Christmas Carol but was wonderfully effective and will surely become a standard very soon. This was preceded by a gentle lullaby, Before the marvel of this night, both American settings and both worth getting to know better.

The other surprise was O Holy Night sung by young singers Maisie and Ben. It was one of those spine-tingling moments which we wished could have gone on far longer. The produced splendidly focussed voices, well balanced and accurate, with an emotional intensity which never became sentimental.

The choir had opened with Come to the Celebration before we all sang Joy to the World, which segued into a medley of popular Christmas songs.

Accompanist Stephen Page gave the choir a break when he gave two organ solos – the beautifully reflective This is the truth and a rousing jazz arrangement of The Virgin Mary had a baby boy.

It was good to hear the verse introduction to Winter Wonderland and the cheery Christmas is Here – with its surprising overtones of The Muppet Christmas Carol! –  brought the evening to a fine climax.

Treble Clefs under their ebullient conductor Keith Richardson will certainly make a welcome return next year.

Unitarian Church, Wednesday 5 December 2019

The Class Choir, under their enthusiastic director John Cornforth, brought their Christmas Celebration to the intimate surroundings of the Unitarian Church for an evening enhanced with mulled wine, sausage rolls and mince pies.

Warming us up with a rapid rendition of The Grand Old Duke of York they launched into I saw three ships, Wild Mountain Time and Caledonia.  While all their songs are sung in harmony, some are more complex than others, and it was a tribute to their enthusiasm and expertise that they brought off The Carol of the Bells with such finesse and bright precision. This led into the rather sentimental Blessing – made popular by the Celtic Women – and an impressive Jazz Gloria.

We have heard Flying Free from them before but it was none the less welcome and the evening concluded – musically at least – with us all joining in We wish you a merry Christmas.