Jazz Breakfast  St Mary in the Castle Sunday 15 April

With her sparkling personality and instant rapport with her audience, imported from Hibernia via her Polish parentage and now resident in this area Magdalena is truly multi-faceted, and her programme reflected this.

The combination of Magdalena’s harp with Steve Thompson’s double-bass and Terry Seabrook’s  keyboard under the title  Blue Cafe Jazz is intriguingly original. Certainly the solos of all three, integrated into the action, were much appreciated by an audience obviously in tune with the jazz idiom.

Magdalena’s professionalism based on intimate contact with her audience reached those at the rear of the auditorium as readily as those in the tables at the front. Beginning with a Polish melody Dzigo Roza, she demonstrated her expertise on the harp in her own compositions, changing to a set of familiar standards.  Terry and Steve were dominant in The Waiting Game, the trio closing the first half with a hit from The Sound of Music, My Favourite Things.

Openng the second half Magdelena gave the full treatment to the ballad The Nearness of You, the second chorus in jazzed-up format, leading into an up-tempo version of the  Al Jolson number Bye Bye Blackbird.  A harp solo was the wistful reminder of the Jacobite era Charlie is My Darling, the trio joining for My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose.  Terry at the keyboard sequed into Autumn Leaves, Steve joining for the second chorus, Magdalena following for The End of Love.

Magdalena bowed to the audience’s request for more with a sympathetic treatment of Edith Piaf’s signature La Vie en Rose, repeated in the English version Take me to You Heart Again.     
A greatly applauded first visit by this unique trio to St Marys with hopefully more to come.

The next Jazz Breakfast is on Sunday May 20, welcoming the return of vocalist Tina May.  Admission  £8, members £7. MW

 Rye College Sunday 22 April   Donald Mackenzie

Exchanging the Metropolitan aura of the organ of the Odeon Leicester Square for the blossoming spring of the Rye countryside, Donald Mackenzie opened his programme on Rye’s Wurlitzer with a selection from Broadway musicals, Cabaret, Hello Dolly, Everything’s Coming up Roses from Gipsy. Then came a whistle-stop tour of Western Europe with Tulips from Amsterdam,  Sous les Toits de Paris, Funicule Funicula, Anton Karas’s Harry Lime Theme,  Falling in love Again, ever associated with Marlene Dietrich, That’s Amore, and a foot-tapping selection of Strauss Waltzes ending topically with Voices of Spring.

Jack Strachey, famous for These Foolish Things, wrote other hits as well.  Donald chose In Party Time, remembered as the introduction to BBC’s Housewives’ Choice.   A selection of Gracie Fields’ favourites began with Sing as We Go, Sally, the comedy number I Took My Harp to a Party, Now is the Hour, The Isle of Capri, Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye, and ended with Everything Stops for Tea appropriately announcing the interval.

The second half opened from Eric Coates’s suite The Three Elizabeths,  the topical Springtime in Angus, and the third movement now termed Youth of Britain.  Jerome Kern contributed numbers from the scores of Showboat and the Astaire-Rogers  Swingtime,  Look for the Silver Lining,  Smoke gets in Your Eyes, Why Do I Love You,  Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man, Let Yourself Go, All the Things You Are and Ole Man River.

A request item was Highland Cathedral (not penned by a Scot but two German tunesmiths).  Donald ended with a reminder of the music of  Noel Gay, the public persona of Reginald Armitage, organist of Wakefield Cathedral, The Sun Has Got His Hat On (a Thirties film number for comedian Jack Hulbert but with renewed popularity in the West End revival of Me and My Girl,)  The Fleet’s in Port Again, Hey Little Hen, and most of all The Lambeth Walk.     MW

 Holy Trinity Church Hastings Sun April 1

Baroque music originated, so the reference books say, as after-dinner entertainment in the drawing-rooms of stately home.

So when the recently-formed but thriving Baroque Opera Live found their stately home at the church of Holy Trinity with the ‘after-dinner’ provided by the delicious refreshments after the performance, they were carrying on the tradition.  The difference from the two or three artistes of the original era, the hundred-and-fifty years from 1600 to the demise of Bach and Haydn, was that this Baroque was by a group of brightly-gowned ladies and a significant number of gentlemen.

The ensemble opened with Handel’s Awake the Trumpets followed by O Sacred Head Now Wounded conducted by the group’s Director Duncan Reid with Nigel Howard on the organ.

With Duncan on piano, from Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion soprano Linda Westcott sang Bleed Dear Heart. A seasonal offering came from Linda Grace, one of the group’s founders, with Tell me quickly, Where is my Saviour from Bach’s 1736 Easter Oratorio.

More familiar was Purcell’s Fairest Isle sung by tenor Douglas Edwards with Jonathan Swift on ‘cello and Nigel Howard on harpsichord, followed by Cindy and Hebe Gilham with his lesser-known  Sweet Delights of Spring.

The ensemble returned with Wiliam Boyce’s ‘Tis Better to Laugh than Cry, and baritone John Cobb’s robust rendering of Plenty, Peace & Pleasure Fly.

Aisla Vinson implored us to Weep No More my Heart, before Linda Grace’s Nisi Dominus by Vivaldi, a name always associated with Baroque, and more Purcell from Linda Westcott. The recital closed to prolonged applause with more Vivaldi and Praise and Thanks from Bach’s Easter Oratorio.

MW

 Renaissance Theatre Company, Phoenix Venue, Hastings 12 April 2012

With Sweeney Todd sold out in the West End it is surprising that we do not see more Sondheim in our local theatres. Perhaps the sheer complexity of his writing is beyond many smaller companies, but this was certainly not true of Renaissance who grasped the nettle with aplomb and came up smiling.

Nobody was credited with the design but this proved to be a key feature. In a venue with a flat auditorium, sight lines can be problematic, yet the multileveled set and subtle lighting enabled the majority of the action to be seen by all.

The large ensemble cast created credible characters within the overt fairytale environment which Sondheim stands on its head. While there were many children in the audience, the work has a serious purpose lurking behind the infectious humour of the lyrics, and we are regularly required to reflect on the impact of what we are hearing. Precise, though thankfully not over-loud, amplification enabled the text to be heard at all times and the complexities of the narrative to be easily followed. Mark Evans’ direction concentrated on maintaining a clear narrative line throughout, letting the humour run for itself but positioning soloists with intelligence both in terms of character and social status.

It almost seems unfair to mention individuals when the performance was so obviously an ensemble creation, but Imogen Willetts’ Rapunzel  was a masterly demonstration of a character who does not know when to stop. Her lyrical soprano was a joy from the beginning but her screams became increasingly annoying – just as Sondheim intended. I understand that Cathy Brown stepped in as Cinderella at a late stage though this was in no way obvious from the confidence of her anxious princess. Tuula Ward has an instinct for comedy which made her over-ripe Red Riding Hood a delight. Ryan Harman seemed a natural as Jack and the two princes were neatly differentiated.

If the level of vocal production was uneven this is to be expected even in the best of companies and the focus on communicating the text meant that we were always at one with the character singing.

Quite how Roger Wilcock kept everything together with the band positioned deep behind the set was presumably a mixture of high professionalism and good luck. The singers could not see him (there was no tv monitoring available) and he had no way of communicating with them in return. That there were no problems and the musical line was never interrupted was a tribute to all and a reflection of intense rehearsal to the point where all involved have trust in each other to simply be there. A splendid evening, and an appreciative and full audience.

Here’s to the next production.

BH