St Mary in the Castle, Friday 11 October 2019

To open the new season Hastings Philharmonic came together with Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, the central work for the concert being Mozart’s Piano Concerto No23 in A with this year’s First Prize Winner, Fumiya Koido as soloist. It proved to be a winning combination, greatly helped by the full raised platform allowing the sound, in what is already a fine acoustic, to blossom and fill the space with ease and power.

The approach to the concerto by both pianist and conductor seemed clean and crisp at the outset, almost cool at times, with great clarity of articulation and individual orchestral voices. Real emotion evolved with the central Adagio with its gently flowing lines and suppressed intensity. The final Allegro assai sparkled into life and remained cheerfully optimistic throughout. An encore would have been nice but did not materialise.

The evening had opened with Mozart’s Haffner symphony, No35 in D. It had fine bravura in the opening movement and delicate figuration in the second. The militaristic approach to the Menuetto – I wouldn’t like to try to dance to this! – led into a fiery, fast-paced conclusion. Within St Mary’s the change in instrumentation which Mozart choses between the symphony and the concert was marked and particularly effective in underlining the change of tone and mood.

The second half brought us Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony – a work still surprisingly under-performed compared with the rest of the canon. The reserved, cautious opening gave way to an abrasive onslaught which never seems to be able to decide whether it wants to seduce us or batter us into submission. The intimacy of the opening of the slow movement brings some respite, with lovely running cello lines and wind figuration, but the returning power of the Scherzo soon puts this out of mind. Marcio da Silva takes the Finale at a hell-for-leather pace, which the orchestra are more than capable of meeting. The Mozartian figuration of the string writing is bombarded by the brass as if demanding an exultant climax, to which the strings eventually submit.

A splendid start to the season with so much more to come.

St Barnabas Church, Bexhill-on-Sea

5 October 2019

A patchwork programme meant that, on this occasion Bexhill Choral Society and conductor, Kenneth Roberts, were able to feature several rather lovely short works – such as the G minor  Schubert Stabat Mater and Gounod’s O Divine Redeemer – which don’t get too many outings in standard format concerts. And I really liked the spacious, warm red brick Victorian church venue which is new for BCS so there was a festive atmosphere and a pleasingly large audience.

The most striking performance of the evening was, by chance, also the shortest. Roberts and his choir gave us, in the first half, an excellent rendering of Mozart’s famous little gem, Ave Verum Corpus. The control was palpable, the cohesion arresting and result outstanding largely, because – having presumably sung this all their lives so little need to look at the music – every singer’s eye was on the conductor.  It was a riveting couple of minutes.

Judith Buckle, a fine contralto, did her best with Gounod’s O Divine Redeemer but it’s a schmultzy piece further blurred, on this occasion by the church acoustic but a nice sound nonetheless from both soloist and prominent instrumentalists such Sally-Ann Thorkildsen on cello. All the work from the 21-strong Sussex Concert Orchestra was competent and Richard Eldridge, who played several beautiful clarinet solos, deserves a special commendation. I found their account of Mendelssohn’s overture The Hebrides pretty understated, however, apart from some dramatic crescendi. It was mostly taken well under (the usual) tempo too.

Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer is actually a weak piece with far too much choir and soloist echoing each other but soprano Kristy Swift did what she could with it. Her tone was harsh in the opening sections but by the time she got to the lower register O for the wings of a dove! it had warmed and softened bringing the first half of the concert to a reasonably satisfying conclusion.

The single post-interval work was Beethoven Mass in C, a delightful work which really should be performed more often. All four soloists. Buckle and Swift along with Gary Marriott (tenor) and Barnaby Beer (bass) worked unusually well together to achieve some attractively colourful effects especially in the Gloria and  Agnus Dei.

It is well known that Beethoven took no prisoners when it came to choirs and this piece is a demanding sing especially for sopranos. On the whole, as with the evening’s earlier pieces, BCS did a reasonable job here but the strain and tiredness was audibly beginning to tell as the Mass neared its conclusion. And it would be churlish to dwell too much on the occasional tuning problems, ragged moments and the failure of most choir members to look as if they were enjoying themselves. Many a conductor/ choirmaster I’ve worked with has pointed out that if you smile and look confident your intonation will probably look after itself.

Susan Elkin

St John’s Hollington, 21^st September 2019

Even if it was Even More Even Stephens, it was a very entertaining evening and it certainly didn’t suffer from repetition. This, their third performance, at St  John’s, was supported by a large appreciative audience.   Their appeal and fan club is obviously growing.

Steve Corke and Stephen Page presented a wide variety of music and song, which not only showed off their talents, but entertained all.  We had music and songs from Bach to Flanders and Swann; songs from musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, Jekyll and Hyde and Jesus Christ Super Star, and Steve Corke’s rich but gentle baritone paid great tribute to Matt Munro.  Stephen Page played piano and organ with great virtuosity and expertise. He announced that he wanted to ‘present the different sides to an organ’, and so he did. We heard  Bachs,’Fantasy in G minor’ and ‘Blaze Away’ and much more played expertly.  He did great justice to the piano also. His playing of ‘Autumn’, a reflective and melodic piece was quite haunting.

Many items were humorous particularly Steve’s organ accompaniment to Stephens’ piano, several of their duets, and Stephen’s piano playing of Dance of Three Old Ladies.

It was a richly varied and highly imaginative programme.

Part of the evening’s entertainment, and such is the attraction of this duo, was to have the programme cryptic; thus an item entitled Organ with a Twist was an Oliver medley and A filthy Number  was Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud. It was a delightful mixture of popular and lesser known pieces presented in a relaxed and friendly style.  It was all very good. Thank You! Please, let’s have even, even more!

Rev Bernard Crosby

Manor Barn, Bexhill, 22^nd September 2019

Opera South East had something of a whirlwind weekend with three concerts on successive days in very disparate venues. They came to a highly successful end at the Manor Barn, packed to standing-room-only by a capacity audience, enhanced by German exchange visitors. Quite what they must have made of Gilbert’s lyrics is another matter, but the continuing relevance of his satire on English society is not in doubt.

The programme brought us an overview of all the major G&S works and included excerpts at the end from Utopia Ltd – a fine a cappella chorus – and a somewhat unusual drinking song from The Grand Duke. Before that, the many solo items gave a chance for a wide range of singers to demonstrate their vocal prowess and there were particularly impressive contributions from David Woloszko as both Judge and Mikado, Gary Marriott as Frederick and Marco, Ruth Parsons as Mabel and Maya Godlonton-White as Yum-Yum. Karen McInally, who had organised the semi-staging of the event, chilled us as the Fairy Queen but delighted with the praise for free booze! Oscar Smith introduced each of the selections and made his own fine contribution with the Nightmare Song from Iolanthe, and an Oscar Wilde would-be from Patience.

Kenneth Roberts directed from the keyboard at the back of the hall, managing to keep his often disparate forces well in check even when they were moving swiftly between the rows of chairs and dancing.

Opera South East return with Amahl and the Night Visitors in November and The Mikado will follow next April.

Manor Barn, Bexhill, 22^nd September 2019

Opera South East had something of a whirlwind weekend with three concerts on successive days in very disparate venues. They came to a highly successful end at the Manor Barn, packed to standing-room-only by a capacity audience, enhanced by German exchange visitors. Quite what they must have made of Gilbert’s lyrics is another matter, but the continuing relevance of his satire on English society is not in doubt.

The programme brought us an overview of all the major G&S works and included excerpts at the end from Utopia Ltd – a fine a cappella chorus – and a somewhat unusual drinking song from The Grand Duke. Before that, the many solo items gave a chance for a wide range of singers to demonstrate their vocal prowess and there were particularly impressive contributions from David Woloszko as both Judge and Mikado, Gary Marriott as Frederick and Marco, Ruth Parsons as Mabel and Maya Godlonton-White as Yum-Yum. Karen McInally, who had organised the semi-staging of the event, chilled us as the Fairy Queen but delighted with the praise for free booze! Oscar Smith introduced each of the selections and made his own fine contribution with the Nightmare Song from Iolanthe, and an Oscar Wilde would-be from Patience.

Kenneth Roberts directed from the keyboard at the back of the hall, managing to keep his often disparate forces well in check even when they were moving swiftly between the rows of chairs and dancing.

Opera South East return with Amahl and the Night Visitors in November and The Mikado will follow next April.

St Peter’s Church, Bexhill, 22nd September 2019

Sussex Concert Orchestra presented a matinee of Baroque works at St Peter’s under their regular conductor Kenneth Roberts. Opening with William Boyce’s early First Symphony they moved rapidly on to Handel’s Organ Concerto in F major more familiarly known as the Cuckoo and the Nightingale. Organist Anthony Wilson provided clean high registration for the Allegro with its bird song, and a more profound tone for the melancholic central fugue.

The orchestra was then joined by Hastings Bach Choir for two brief but effective movements from Bach cantatas before the afternoon concluded with Bach’s 2^nd Brandenburg Concerto. This proved to be the highlight of the day with its fine balance of solo instruments and superb playing from Andy Gill’s high, bright piccolo trumpet and the warmth of Thomas Pickering’s recorder.

Opus Theatre, Saturday 21^st September 2019

In was inevitable that the town famed for its pirates should attract the joyous romp which is Merry Opera’s approach to The Pirates of Penzance. I doubt if in the last fifty years I have ever experienced – including early Doyle Carte and the more recent ENO productions – a presentation so hugely enjoyable and yet amazingly faithful to the original. The comedy, and the many laughs along the way, derives entirely from Gilbert’s text. There are no additional gags to try to make it more relevant. There are no knowing nods towards modernity. Yet the premise of the story still makes as much, or as little, sense as it did then. At the heart of the tale is the question of DUTY, a fact made absolutely clear by the placard which is held up every time the word is mentioned. I need not draw any close contemporary political parallels to state that the concept of duty is just as problematic today as it was then.

At the heart of the approach are two salient ideas. The text is spoken with great clarity and in Queen’s English – a refreshing change for those of us of a certain age – and the choreography is wild and ever present. The pirates can’t quite forget that they are all noblemen who have gone wrong and thus tend to overplay their hands as blood-curdling rebels. Christopher Faulkner’s Samuel is particularly impressive here with a large amount of extraneous arghs and ers. Ashley Mercer’s Pirate King is somewhat more civilized and in many ways seems the most level headed of the crew. Gareth Edmunds’ Frederick displays a charming naivety of manner as well an heroic tenor voice. This is superbly matched by Rosie Lomas’ Mabel for whom the Donizetti-like coloratura has no terrors. Her Poor wandering one was everything bel-canto could desire. Phil Whilcox’ Major General gave us a good humoured old cove with the lighting articulation in the patter song worthy of the best of Rossini. By contrast Matthew Quirk’s lugubrious Sergeant of Police was warm and almost cuddly.

Rosemary Clifford’s Ruth may have, unconventionally, actually looked younger than her 47 years but the accent and slightly raunchy approach were absolutely appropriate.

The clarity of diction from Major Stanley’s daughters was impeccable and the other pirates/lords swaggered with aplomb.

The instrumental arrangement for solo violin, wind and piano by Gabriel Chernick was impressively effective and, within the confines of a close acoustic, more than sufficient to represent Sullivan’s often basic harmonies. Pianist Alexander Maynard, violin Eloise Macdonald and wind player Georgina van Hien did a sterling job and often added surreptitiously to the humour of the evening.

A return to Hastings from Merry Opera can’t come too soon.

West Hill Community Festival, Hastings, Friday 20^th September 2019

The acoustic in Emmanuel church is ideal for strings and made the perfect venue for this opening concert in the West Hill Community Festival. While none of the works could be said to be familiar to a wide audience they proved to make up a very well balanced programme and one which highlighted the introspection of the composers in the deeply felt slow movement in all three cases.

The Benyounes Quartet opened with Haydn’s Quartet Op76 No1. This late work looks longingly towards Schubert in its overt romanticism and brings a sombre tone to the final movement before ending on a more positive note.

Mendelssohn’s Op12 No1 Quartet opens with an intense but flowing cantabile before the profound beauty of the slow movement. There are hints of sturm und drang in the later movements which the quartet found with great subtlety.

After the interval we heard Debussy’s G minor Quartet. This is an equally troubled work, but the quartet – who have recently recorded it – were able to bring out the nuances in its development, again being particularly moving in the slow third movement.

As if to compensate for the intense emotional turmoil of much of the music, the encore – an Idyll by Frank Bridge – proved charming and relaxing.

The church was packed for this free concert, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the festival continues across the weekend with a large range of events, centred on the church and across the West Hill.

Saturday 7^th September 2019

Who would have thought there were so many tango dancers on the south coast? Opus Theatre was near capacity for an extended session which brought us a relaxed introduction to the history of the Tango together with demonstrations and musical examples.

Presented in cooperation with Hastings Tango Club and Casa Tango, much of the afternoon centred on Polo Piatti himself who not only comes from Argentina but has an intimate working knowledge of Tango’s origins and darker secrets – many of which are probably best kept in the dark. He was joined by Dr Graham Whitham, Rosie McAndrew and Philip White from Hastings Tango Club and Phoebe Brown and Paul Nash from Casa Tango, all of whom added their own comments and experience as the session progressed. There were many things which came out of the session which were probably unknown to any of the audience not immediately caught up in the passion of the dance form. The first, and most striking, was the fact that there is no specific way of dancing the tango. It is essentially improvised and demands strong leadership and even more subtle ability on the part of the partner being led. Equally surprisingly, in its earliest form it was danced by men dancing together, without any indication of sexual undertones. There are early photographs of male couples, taken at a time when only women of dubious character would be seen dancing publicly with men.

Another key element was the emergence of Tango from an urban rather than a rural background. It is essentially street dancing, where there is little room for large scale movement or for the formations familiar in many international folk dances.

Many of these factors came together towards the end of the second half when another couple danced on the small platform at the Opus to Polo Piatti improvising a tango at the piano. Neither knew in advance what was coming and it was thrilling to see all three of them responding to the creativity of the others.

Polo has suggested that Opus Theatre might mount a Tango Festival next year – an idea which was universally and enthusiastically received – so we can look forward to that to build on this, highly successful, start.