Daily Archives: 3 February, 2013

Mike Hatchard and Chris Dean

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St Mary in the Castle Sunday 27 January 2013

Mike always arranges his programmes so that whatever is one’s taste in music is catered for. So the melodies which filled the auditorium of St Mary’s on Sunday came from the pens of such diverse composers as Gounod and Manning Sherwin. (Manning Who?)

Not that tbe audience cared. The  music-lovers who filled the ground floor and spilled over into the balcony would happily have spent the morning listening to Mike’s Thirty-Two Preludes and Fugues on the theme of Three Blind Mice.

This was in fact not necessary.  With a first half ranging from Gershwin to Flanders & Swann we were treated to the Ave Maria, (the Gounod bit)  and that perennial Nightingale in Berkeley Square.( how apposite that a show tune from 1939 so evocative of  London and probably more popular now than ever should be written by American Manning Sherwin) Mike and his players proved their versatility, Chris as well as being hot stuff on the trombone proved that he doubles as a very worthwhile vocalist.

Flanders and Swann got the benefit of the Hatchard team in the somewhat less well-known Ill Wind  and the familiar with the cautionary tale of  Have some Madeira, m’dear.

George’s bass was heard to effect in Chris’s version of I Thought About You  with the audience showing its appreciation in the accepted manner for jazz. During the intermission Dennis Veness gave as usual his most welcome diversion on the piano, showing that you don’t have to be young and lovely (sorry, Dennis!) to produce sweet music.

Memories of Bing with Pennies from Heaven contrasted with an early Sinatra hit, All of Me. Johnny Mantel’s The Shadow of your Smile sequed into reminsences of Coward and Hutch, the Cafe de Paris and the cream of London Society with Mike’s variations on Cole Porter’s Let’s Do It.

A request for Gershwin’s Summertime from his opera Porgy & Bess (definitely in A minor) and I’ve Got You Under my Skin  made us realise how fortunate we are to have such distinguished musicians right here if not exactly under the skin, but definitely within our appreciation zone. 

Please Mike come with your comrades again … and  soon. MW

 

February News

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 At last matters seem to be moving at St Mary in the Castle. After a speedy refurbishment of some essential matters, ten Trustees have been appointed, the auditorium is now in pristine condition for use by a wide spectrum of events. One such was the eagerly-awaited concert in honour of the late Alan Spackman, valued member of Opera South-East with all artists, professional, semi-professional and amateur giving their services in memory of someone who had been a pillar of almost every aspect of the organisation for over twenty years. At the time of writing it is understood that St Mary’s will be closed during February for further renovations.

Fortunately other venues are offering a feast of music and entertainment in our immediate area:  If your taste is for something light and nostalgic, Rye Wurlitzer Academy at Rye College on Friday February 8 at 7.30 p.m. is hosting An Evening of Olde Tyme Music Hall with a modern flavour – so the publicity states! All-round fun for everyone. 

Admission £7.

Open to all, Old Hastings House has its monthly Coffee Morning with tombola and table sale on Wed Feb 6 from 10 a.m.  A warm welcome, excellent freshly-brewed coffee and the opportunity to chat in the convivial atmosphere of the conservatory.  

The White Rock Theatre is the venue for the eagerly-awaited Hastings Musical Festival from early March attacting participants for the competitive classes for all ages from the youngest to adults. The scope of the classes increases year by year and assuredly the Festival Director Molly Townson,  with President Petula Clark  Vice-President Sarah Kowitz and the team will include something new and exciting.

The all-important finals of the Hastings Piano Concerto Competition take place at the end of the second week.  The choice of subject is purposely wide so that any student specialising in music of a certain era may select accordingly. Works by classical composers intermingle with contemporary concerti.  The Piano Concerto Competition is held in such high regard in musical circles that previous winners have since been heard through the USA, Europe and the Far East.

Anyone therefore who comes to the concerto competition finale can be assured that he or she is hearing young performers whom one day will be gracing concert platforms worldwide. MW

                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Sibelius in Brighton

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London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Saturday 2 February 2013

The daffodils have just started to appear on a bright and sunny day on the south coast, so we might be forgiven for approaching this Sibelius programme with some slight trepidation, given its combination of incidental music to Death and the Fourth Symphony, the most melancholic, not to say depressive, of the composer’s output.

That the experience was both enlightening and uplifting was a tribute to all involved. The concert opened with three movements from Sibelius’ incidental music to Kuolema (Death) written in 1903 and orchestrated in this version in 1910. Scene with Cranes is strangely Wagnerian in its string writing, trembling into life before the plaintive calls of the cranes. The Canzonetta found unexpected warmth, as if it was daring to be hopeful. Valse triste is familiar but becomes more involving in context. The dying heroine of the play is recalling dances from her youth, and the score contrasts the warmth and vitality of the memory with the present closeness of death and loneliness. They make a well balanced set; a pity we did not hear all of the incidental music.

After the interval the Fourth Symphony groaned into life from the depth of the strings, with a fine solo cello line from Josephine Knight, both at the start and throughout the symphony. The first movement proceeds by hints and whispers, frequently unresolved or drifting away. The largo has a resigned melancholy before the ferocity of the final Allegro which almost tears itself apart before giving up the struggle. That we were able to experience this desolation without actually losing hope ourselves was primarily down to Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s sensitive handling of the score which keeps its nervous energy ever alive rather than falling into self-indulgent misery.

Between these two we experienced one of the finest performances of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto that I can recall. The Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud may not yet be a familiar name in this country but I am sure it soon will be. His approach to the concert displayed not only a formidable technical ability but a range of tone which was able to change on an instant, highlighting the rapid, often fleeting, emotional states of the score. The final movement had a cheeky folk feeling to it and the broad grin on his face throughout reflected the joyous outpouring. That it was received with wild enthusiasm from a full house in The Dome almost goes without saying, and we were privileged with a brief and gentle encore for violin and orchestra. BH