Worthing Assembly Hall, Sunday, September 30, 2018

A WSO concert rarity. Music all by composers who wore wigs. An occasion which surely demanded the musicians dress likewise! But rather than the theatre, sobriety called. It was to be a day of WSO history in the making. In sound. Tireless Turkish doyen of the piano Idil Biret, at 76, chose WSO, John Gibbons and their home stadium for the recording of the next pair of her career journey into the Piano Concertos of Mozart for the Naxos CD label.

In making their commercial recording debut on Sunday, WSO partnered Biret – hugely decorated internationally and the globe’s most-recorded pianist – into extending her gigantic recording legacy to 63 concertos. After her distinguished account of so many post-1800 piano compositional greats, several in live concert recordings, she has now gone back, in period, to Mozart.

Including Sunday, she has now recorded eight of his 27. Last year she added Nos 15 and 24 with John Gibbons joining the project and conducting the London Mozart Players at St John’s Smith Square in London. Her Nos 9 and 20 were also live, in Sydney, Australia, and Wurttemburg, Germany.

Biret is such a regular at Worthing that the Assembly Hall soloist’s dressing room on her visits sprouts Turkish drapes and lamps from the ceiling, rugs from the floor, and the purest authentic Turkish Delight from the refreshments fridge. Next time, before she plays whatever concerto, bookmakers’ odds are shortening that the parts for Mozart’s Overture to The Abduction from the Harem, with their Turkish percussion, will magically appear on the orchestra’s desks from a large puff of smoke generated by the raising of Gibbons’ baton.

Biret knows the orchestra, the acoustic, the audience, and she admires Gibbons’ flexible qualities. All involved on Sunday faced a marathon of preliminary rehearsing, recorded rehearsal takes, the live concert itself recorded, and, after the listening crowd had gone home, the plastic surgery re-takes to cover over any unacceptable flaws from the live performance. All except the concert itself was done behind closed Assembly Hall doors on the one day only.

To record an hour’s music with no previous orchestra rehearsal is the white-knuckle way the WSO and Gibbons execute their normal concerts, which results in quality one would deem miraculous were it not for the WSO’s comprising world-cream London and South East musicians with a readiness and willingness to tackle anything under a conductor they, too, have much time for – and travel mileage.

Principal violin Julian Leaper told me before the live concert that although the WSO is a contracted orchestra and not an employed one, 80% of the band are effectively ‘permanent’ and together felt a real pride in being about to make it onto disc as WSO. Of course, as recording orchestral musicians, WSO members, if anonymously (a disadvantage of their trade), have been on many famed recordings of concert hall repertoire and film soundtracks, including the Spielberg/Williams blockbusters.

Such will have increased Biret’s confidence and conviction in her decision to take WSO into their recording debut. Furthermore, leader Leaper informed me that he and fellow first-fiddles man Julian Trafford played in the English Chamber Orchestra in their lauded Mozart Concerto recordings with Murray Perahia and Mitsuko Uchida.

Worthing’s resident Steinway piano was unsuitable for the job in hand, however. My received information is that its quite recent upper re-stringing requires many more manual tunings before attaining optimal tuning stability. To require several such tunings during the day would waste time and disrupt.

Japanese makers Kawai therefore jumped at the chance to provide a substitute with the only available British example of their newly-developed Shigeru series Concert Grand – which emerges worldwide at a rate of only 20 a year, and which at £125,000 is intended to rival world-elite pianos Steinway, Bosendorfer, Fazioli and Yamaha’s CFX.

The Shigeru’s evenness of presence and tone across its keyboard length, and thus its expressive potential, was evident in the performance. Kawai delivered the instrument to Worthing and thus virtually sponsored the live recorded concert.

The day had begun early for the orchestra and recording crew, but maybe not as stressfully as for Maxwell Spiers. He was called up at 7am to be told that WSO principal oboist Chris O’Neil’s replacement Louise Hayter had fallen ill. Would he get dressed and get down here? He would? Right, so all was now ready.

Well might have Spiers been mopping his brow after his rush but then he discovered the altered playing order of music meant his big moment came right at the start. The Arrival of The Queen of Sheba features the two oboes in busy duetting fanfares. Its ending brought real mopping of the Spiers brow and he admitted: “Yes, that piece is a real blow [challenge]! We are playing in nearly every bar because Handel has us playing the first violins part in the bits between our solos.”

Biret may be from Ankara, but if her first concerto of the day as the celebrated soloist was announced by The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, what’s a few hundred miles across mountains and semi-desert?

William Boyce made probably his WSO debut when British music nut John Gibbons unfailingly seized the rare chance to crack open one of his short but distinctive eight baroque symphonies as a limbering-up for making a recording of other late 18^th Century music. And a splendid choice it was, too, when it opened the second half of the concert. Boyce being the Master Of The King’s Music, it’s actual composition was to mark the birthday of George II.

Boyce bridges an historical musical gap between Purcell and Elgar, and is buried beneath the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Ahead of this intended CD of Mozart’s 25^th and 27^th Piano Concertos seeing the light of day, I ought properly to say nothing of the performance. But with the occasion’s music choices – all but the sublime Bb Concerto creating a real sense of celebration – I’ll say one thing. Having listened to WSO since a boy it was a thrill to hear the magnificent orchestra-only introduction to the C Major Concerto build and build, knowing what we heard now might be heard far and wide in years to come. Mozart had just conquered Vienna on his three main fronts of opera, symphony and concerto, and now here were WSO having a big moment of their own.

And when Biret made her first piano entry . . . ah, that would be telling.

Richard Amey

Next WSO (Assembly Hall, 2.45) – Sunday November 4, ‘Queen of Coloratura’:  Helena Dix (soprano) in Ode To A Nightingale (Harty) and Desdemona’s final prayer including Ave Maria (Verdi’s Otello), plus Force of Destiny (Verdi overture), A Shropshire Lad (Butterworth); Romeo & Juliet (Tchaikovsky fantasy-overture).

Next International Interview Concert (St Paul’s, 3.30pm for 4pm, set in the round), Sunday, November 18, ‘Dances Fires & Fragrances’ – Rhythmie Wong (Hong Kong, piano – 2018 Sussex International Piano Competition finalist):  La Valse (Ravel), music from the Firebird ballet (Stravinsky), Iberia, Book One (Albeniz), The Maiden & The Nightingale (Granados),  Sonata No 52 in Eb (Haydn), plus Ask a Question, Mystery Music Spot, and Chinese surprises.

Concert with Live Concert recording for Naxos of 2 Mozart Piano Concertos: Worthing Symphony Orchestra, conductor John Gibbons, pianist Idil Biret;

Handel, The Arrival of The Queen of Sheba from the oratorio Solomon (oboists, Maxwell Spiers, Rachel Ingleton)

Mozart, Piano Concerto No 27 in Bb K595

Boyce, Symphony No 2 in A (Ode for the King’s Birthday)

Mozart, Piano Concerto in C K503.

Opus Theatre/De La Warr Pavilion, 21-23 September 2018

The Fourth International Composers Festival presented six events over three days, featuring the work of more than 40 living composers and over two hundred performers. Moreover, it brought together a wide range of musicians and styles but with one specific focus in mind – the importance of melody to enhance the listener’s experience and enjoyment. Polo Piatti had set this as the goal of the festival and regularly across the weekend extolled the strength and ongoing importance of melody as the key to broadening the involvement of an ever widening public.

With so many new works performed a brief review like this can only give a glimpse of what was achieved, highlighting just a few of the many outstanding compositions.

The Grand Opening Concert on Friday evening at the Opus Theatre was given by the International Festival Orchestra under John Andrews who proved to be a tower of strength across the three days, his indefatigable good humour and enthusiasm never allowed to flag.

Two of the most engaging works came either side of the interval with Thomas Hewitt-Jones’ That’s it, I’m off to Cuba whisking us away to the exotic before Louise Denny’ Mulberry Harbours – a march written for Civil Engineers – bring us comfortably back to a very English Waltonesque reality.

Efimero by Noelia Escalzo brought us the first of a number of fine solos from violinist Jane Gordon, who led the orchestra as well as providing many individual items across the weekend. Great musicianship and a calm head at all times.

Pollo Piatti is a fine composer in his own right and it was more than acceptable that he should include some of his own works. On Friday we heard Goodbye with Katie Molloy providing the guitar solo and the concert ended with The Impossible Pieces for orchestra with trumpet, clarinet and violin solos. The richly rolling orchestration – somewhere between Rheingold and Vltava ­– was immensely pleasing and brought the first day to a fine climax.

Saturday morning, in the De La Warr Pavilion, we heard a wide range of chamber music. Some the most impressive was performed by violinist, Daniel Rainey and pianist Simon Proctor. Daydream by Kevin Riley and Romance by Peter Thorogood both demonstrated a sensitive understanding of form and a keen awareness of the development of ideas. Lament by Ash Madni was one of the few pieces of genuinely reflective writing, its soulful reworking of a brief motif being very moving.

The morning ended with Romance in C by Fiona Bennett with a horn solo finely played Simon Morgan.

Saturday afternoon brought a change of approach with the Brighton Film Quartet playing works by Penny Loosemore set against film clips. The composer stressed that the music had come first and appropriate clips added subsequently. The outcome was often effective and atmospheric with the starling murmuration particularly pleasing.

Camera – Sound – Play! on Saturday evening brought us to a more popular and probably more familiar set of scores, including music from La La Land, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter.

However it also included an improvised piece from Oliver Poole – Altitude – which involved not only the pianist improvising but the whole orchestra as well – a fascinating and most impressive undertaking as well as one which proved musically stimulating.

Perhaps the most innovative idea came on Sunday at the concluding event which was given over to dance. Six new works from around the world were choreographed by the Eastbourne Academy of Dancing and the Diana Freedman School of Dance, ranging from a lively Barro Negro from Mexico by Carlos Salomon, Pollo Piatti’s own Tango Solitaire and a stunning Hornpipe from Simon Proctor. After the interval there was one work, the world premiere of The Crane’s Wife choreographed by Mayu Uesugi – who also danced the principle roll – and scored by Nobuya Monta. The company had travelled from Osaka specifically to give this premiere and it proved a fitting climax to the weekend. The simple folktale unfolded with grace and emotional truth, the score highlighting the nuances of mood and deeper mythical layers of the narrative.

Only a few years ago the idea of so many international musicians coming to Hastings for an event of this breadth and quality would have been unthinkable. We have much to be thankful for in the creative talents and sheer hard work which Pollo Piatti has put in to making this possible. Long may it last!

St Mary, Rye, Thursday 20^th September 2018

Hastings Philharmonic’s new season does not officially open until 12 October but they had been invited to take part in this year’s Rye Festival and a very successful visit it proved to be. The acoustic in St Mary’s suits a baroque orchestra well and placing it essentially within the nave rather than wholly under the tower enhanced its impact.

The evening was founded not just on Mozart but on his lifetime relationship with G minor. Though the Piano Concerto No17 is in the major it regularly dips into the minor and formed a formidable pair with the great G minor symphony.

Kenny Broberg, winner of the 2017 Hastings International Piano Competition, was the soloist, opening with a hard-edged almost aggressive approach in the first movement. In the second he brought out the introspective, searching quality of the score to fine effect, before cheering up considerably for the rustic dances of the finale.

The rest of the programme was familiar to those of us who are regular supporters of Hastings Philharmonic. Philip O’Meara’s Flacubal was first heard in March this year and was being given in a revised form. Much as I enjoyed its original outing this performance seemed crisper, with a light, bright opening – at times almost playful in its rapid melody making. The deep romanticism of the slow movement gives way to the as fast as possible of the finale and creates a virtual concerto part for the lead violin – splendidly played on this occasion.

This led into Mozart’s Symphony No40 – the great G minor – with all the tension and passion the score requires. The great benefit of small forces is that the balance can be finely honed while the tempi need not drop. Bassoons were particularly impressive on this occasion and the rasp of the horns brought excitement to the concluding bars. Marcio da Silva handles his forces with great skill, shaping musical lines to beautiful effect and splendid impact within the warm and sympathetic acoustic.

The Autumn-Winter season brochure is now available and on line at www.hastingsphilharmonic.com

‘It’s just paper and ink – but it can reach into your heart and grab it’. Hastings first Litfest crammed thirty two events into little more than two days – so many that even an enthusiast like myself could cover nowhere near all that was on offer. Here we will concentrate on those at the Opus Theatre which proved a remarkably responsive venue for single presentations and larger theatrical events.

The opening quotation came from Kathryn Evans at the discussion by authors Writing for Children and Young Adults on Saturday morning. It took up the ideas raised by Sir David Hare, the Festival Patron, the day before. He was remarkably honest about his time in St Leonards and Bexhill, places he could not wait to leave, but the sense of isolation it brought also encouraged him to read intensively and subsequently to be a writer. He accepted that he had avoided the South Coast for most of his life but had recently, with an invitation to write about the South Downs and subsequently Glyndebourne, come to appreciate what Sussex has to offer, and is genuinely enthusiastic about this, the first of what is hoped to be many Hastings Litfests. It felt, he said, like a homecoming.

The complexity of emotions which writing raises for any individual was perfectly reflected in the choice of David Hare’s verse which was read by Julian Sands. Where his plays always have an intermediary – as with most art forms be they opera, concerts, or exhibitions – verse is intensely private and his poetry has only, so far, been published for private distribution. Many of his poems are dedicated to and reflect on his long term relationship with his wife Nicole Farhi. They are so personal that at times we seemed to be intruding.

This theme was taken up again by the panel of five authors writing books for children and young adults. Led by Sunday Times journalist Nicolette Jones they discussed their own reading as children and the influences upon them. The scope of writing for children is vast and it became clear as the session progressed that all of them valued the breadth of vision they can bring to children’s books which are often more limited within the rigid categories for adult fiction. Deeper philosophical points were raised when questions of identity came to light ‘who am I? How do I know who I am?’ and all concerned agreed that writing for young adults often gives them a freer hand than might be the case with adult fiction.

In the afternoon Sophie Hannah provided a highly entertaining introduction to her work writing continuation stories for Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. There seemed to be a rather uncomfortable interface between the creative challenge of a new story fitting the Poirot / Christie model and the families desire to sell ever more Agatha Christie novels to a new generation who prefer to be on their phones rather than reading books. On the more positive side we can look forward to a first Murder Mystery Musical at next year’s Litfest.

The evening’s entertainment took us very clearly away from our phones. The Pantaloons have a strong reputation for working closely with their audiences even if it is (often necessarily) at the expense of the original text. Their version of The Importance of Being Earnest, with just four actors, is hilarious and gloriously entertaining. It draws on the assumption that most of the audience know the play very well long before they arrive, and that we can all join in with a hand-bag!!! Moreover they add in musical numbers which are entirely apt to the approach as a whole, and remarkably well sung and played. In the long run the approach stays faithful to the original and simply brings an old war-horse comfortably into the twenty-first century. Jennifer Healy gives us a sexily overt Fenella Fielding as Gwendolen and a Miss Prysm such as none of us have ever previously encountered – or would want to. Alex Hargreaves as Jack/Earnest is almost the most normal of the cast but has fine moments of eccentricity. Fiona McGarvey brings us a Lady Bracknell which would make Dame Judi blush, while Neil Jennings holds the whole thing together with an Algernon who appears to be normal – if totally untrustworthy. The performance was obviously couched for out-doors but worked well within the spaces of the Opus Theatre. Let us hope The Pantaloons are encouraged to return soon.

The festival spread it wings to the White Rock, the Electric Palace Theatre, the Horse and Groom, the Kino Teatr, with workshops at the Stade Hall, Archers Lodge and The Stables Theatre, with the concluding events in the Royal Victoria Hotel.

Generous thanks to the many volunteers, without whom none of the events would have happened and to the organisers of what we firmly hope will become a fixture in the cultural life of Hastings.

Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Scotney Castle, Friday 31^st August 2018

Not quite the end of summer but the evening cooled rapidly and by the final chorus it was quite dark in Scotney Castle grounds. Not that this dampened the spirits, either of those in the audience or the spirits on stage.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men make a virtue of not only playing with a handful of actors but working outdoors without any amplification. Where the Globe has an inbuilt acoustic, the lawns at Scotney don’t and the cast have to throw their voices with considerable skill to be heard, which they are throughout. Moreover, the small ensemble means that most of the cast are on stage for most of the time, with only Danann McAleer’s Prospero – an unusual approach, emotional anxiety leading to heavily staccato phrasing –  taking a single part. That the outcome is so convincing is down to the clarity with which the text and story line are conveyed and the accuracy of characterisation even within triple castings.

Added to this the music – a cappella throughout – is always apt and supportive to the narrative situation. In this, William Pennington’s Ariel is superbly cast, being able to physicalise the verse as well as sing and play the whistle with effective skill.

Simon Jenkins’ Miranda – the only female character in the play – is touching and gently naïve without ever seeming to overplay the femininity, a tribute not only to his acting but the writing given that the part was originally played for a young man.

Morgan Brind’s setting works well with its decaying ship and rapid changes of level, allowing the cast to relate to each other in a wide range of positions within a very small set. Peter Stickney’s direction keeps the play moving swiftly but has ensured the text makes the primary impact not unnecessary stage business.

This was the last performance this season in England as the company is off to France and Germany.

Hopefully they will be back again soon.

Hever Castle, Sunday 12 August 2018

Patience is a strange work even for G&S. Though there are two strong tenor parts there is no obvious tenor lead and the two would be poets via for our attention for most of the evening. As such it is ideal for an ensemble company such as Opera Anywhere who need to double up and ask us to draw on our own imaginations, with five love sick maidens rather than twenty!

The key figure in the narrative is Patience herself and Jennifer Clark had a gentle naivety and a sweet voice absolutely right for the part. She may be out of her element where the aristocratic ladies are concerned but she has a strength of will and is not afraid to speak up for herself.

The two poets vying for her affection are equally strongly cast. David Jones’ Bunthorne is a young man almost out of his depth but concerned to keep up appearances – until he literally lets his hair down to reveal his true feelings to the audience. By contrast the narcissistic Grosvenor of Dale Harris seems far more content to stare at himself in the mirror that at anyone around him. Their final duet When I go out of doors was splendidly done, though it would take a lot more to convince me that Grosvenor has actually changed for the better at the end.

While the poets easily reflect nineteenth century aestheticism – and our understanding today of Oscar Wilde – the position of the Dragoon Guards is more complex. We don’t ‘read’ soldiers in quite the same way today, and their patronising expectations are more difficult to accept. Tristan Stocks’ Dunstable is finely sung but the part does not let him expand the character as he is able to do as Frederic or Nanki-Poo.  Mark Horner’s updating of the Colonel’s patter song was effective though the onset of bad weather (a literal deluge for the second half of the first act) did not help the text to carry.

Vanessa Woodward again takes on the thankless task of Gilbert’s aging females, in this case giving us a wonderfully believable (I was going to say filled-out but that might be misunderstood) Lady Jane. She might not have played the cello for us but at least, even with the small ensemble, there was a live cello on stage – thank you Rosie Burchett.

Sullivan’s score has many fine moments and it was the more heart-felt ones which really scored. Patience’s Love is a plaintive tale and the Mozartian duet Long years ago were both movingly sung.

Nia Williams was as usual guiding the score from the piano and was joined by flautist Nick Planas.

If you have not caught any of the G&S this year there is still time, with Pirates on punts yet to come and performances across the south of the country running up to late November with a final Patience at Lewes Little Theatre on 29^th December.

St Mary in the Castle, Wednesday 8 August 2018

Opera Anywhere made a welcome return to Hastings this week but with the new management of the pier were unable to perform outdoors this time, instead presenting two G&S operas at St Mary in the Castle.

This, as it turned out, had a number of advantages – there is a lot more space for the audience and the acoustic is better balanced. As a result The Pirates of Penzance seemed wittier and more energetic than I remember from last year. Much of this is down to strong casting and some very fine singers. There is also the surprising value of not having a full chorus, which allows the smaller parts to shine through. This was particularly true of Edith and Kate who comprised two-thirds of Major Stanley’s daughters. Their school-girl humour and frequently outrageous flirting was a joy to behold, and their singing was as strong as their characterisation. Olivia Bell and Katie Blackwell should go far on the strength of this evening.

Happily Ellie Neate’s Mabel was more than a match for Sullivan’s coloratura in Poor wandering one, often sneaking in flourishes of her own to add to the ornamentation. Her voice filled St Mary’s, riding over the piano and ensemble with ease and great beauty of line. Tristan Stocks’ boyish Frederic was a convincing hero and their duet Ah, leave me not was genuinely touching.

Mark Horner brings us a well-rounded Sergeant of Police, even if he has to do most of the fighting by himself. By contrast Miles Horner’s Pirate King swaggers with aplomb and has the rich bass voice for his familiar act one solo.

Mike Woodward’s Major General seemed to come into his own in the second act where his dilemma is both touching and amusing. Vanessa Woodward’s finely sung Ruth maintains her dignity to the last though she is very much the butt of Gilbert’s anti-feminism.

Throughout Nia Williams provided sterling support at the piano, and was able to negotiate any minor slips in timing with great skill.

Let us hope Opera Anywhere are able to return to us soon – and perhaps it will be back in the open air?