Albion String Quartet: Five concerts in one long weekend at 2021 Ryedale Festival
Ryedale Festival: Albion String Quartet/Hannah Roberts, St Olave’s Church, York, July 19
THE Albions spent a long weekend in residence for the festival’s opening, giving no less than five concerts. Three of these involved Schubert’s String Quintet in C, the last of them a mid-morning event marking the festival’s only venture into York this year.
They could hardly have chosen a better second cellist than Hannah Roberts: she blended superbly right from the start, while making her presence felt, the perfect combination. The proof here lay in the way all five voices jointly swelled and subsided, as if breathing together.
For many, this extraordinary work is a pinnacle of western music. What makes it additionally remarkable is that it came from the pen of a man who knew his end was near. So many of its apparently unruffled surfaces crack under the strain of this knowledge. It rarely settles – and is unsettling for the listener despite its many charms. For a performance to succeed, it needs to be uncomfortable.
Second cellist Hannah Roberts: “Blended superbly right from the start”
The heart of the work is its Adagio. Its outer sections hover, as the three central voices barely move and the outer two offer plucked comments; these at first lacked definition. After the bleak diversion into the minor key, first violin and second cello were much more distinct in their wanderings and we were transported into another world. It was a telling moment.
The first movement had gained urgency on the repeat of the exposition, and this was nicely sustained throughout the development. The attacks in the Scherzo gave it delightfully rustic implications, heightening the contrast with its ghostly Trio.
In the finale, all bright and cheery on the surface, we were made aware of the sinister implications of the last two notes. Indeed, the whole performance struck a superb balance between the light and the dark that pervades this incomparable score: a rewarding experience.
Carolyn Sampson: Ryedale Festival concert was “Elysium indeed, however you define it”. Picture: Marco Borggeve
Ryedale Festival: Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton,St Peter and St Paul Church, Pickering, July 17
THE name Elysium covers a multitude of … well, pleasures. To the ancient Greeks, it was where the blessed, especially heroes, decamped after death. For the rest of us, it means paradise, with a small or large ‘p’.
Either way, it was the umbrella for soprano Carolyn Sampson’s late-night Schubert recital; she had also given it in the afternoon. Joseph Middleton was her piano partner, a top-notch combination. How typical of artistic director Christopher Glynn to bring in big names right at the start of the festival.
Schubert had a Damoclean sword of disease hanging over the last third of his life, so thoughts of the afterlife cannot have been far from his mind. Perhaps, like the young nun, he looked forward to peace after life’s storms, exquisitely encapsulated in Sampson’s pianissimo Alleluias at the end of Die Junge Nonne, without vibrato.
There again, Elysium is doubtless a place of endless melody, prefigured by Goethe’s Ganymede, where little tunes keep bursting out as he soars upward and we felt his excitement at what lay ahead.
Romantic poets often use moon and stars as stand-ins for heavenly realms. The opening of Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata colours the setting of Holty’s first An Den Mond (To The Moon). There is melancholy, too, in Goethe’s poem of the same name. Both here conveyed the idea of the voice as the reflection of the soul.
The brisker dactyls of Die Sterne (The Stars) showed a happier side to starlight, contrasting with the wonderful stillness this duo delivered in Nacht Und Träume’ (Night And Dreams) where moonlight gleams gently. There was a wonderful delicacy in Sampson’s tone for Der Liebliche Stern (The Lovely Star), tinged with sadness as the star contemplated its own reflection.
There was sunlight in the programme too. In Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen (To Be Sung On The Water), it glinted on the waters of Middleton’s piano, eventually evoking escape from the passage of time.
A thrillingly rapid account of Der Musensohn (The Son Of The Muses) really danced with glee. In total contrast, Du Bist Die Ruh (You Are Peace) was consummately sustained by Sampson. Similarly, Middleton had tinted in little details of the nightingale’s twitterings with delicacy.
So to Schubert’s setting of Schiller’s Elysium, virtually a cantata, where rapid changes of mood require a chameleon-like approach. This duo was more than equal to its demands: light and shade, sun and storm and eventually an endless wedding feast, a heaven to die for, certainly.
Even more of a rarity was Schubert’s only song as a melodrama, Abschied Von Der Erde (Farewell To The World), given as an encore – pure delight, and filled with the reconciliation the composer undoubtedly achieved near his end. Elysium indeed, however you define it.
Ganging up again: Miles And The Chain Gang return to the concert platform next week in York. Picture: Jim Poyner
AFTER an 18-month hiatus, Miles Salter’s York band are back on the Chain Gang, tooled up with new material to play The Fulford Arms, York, on July 29.
In the line-up are singer, songwriter, storyteller, published poet and radio presenter Salter, on guitar and vocals; Billy Hickling, from the hit show Stomp!, on drums and percussion; The Bogus Brothers and Goosehorns’ stalwart, Tim Bruce, on bass, and Alan Dawson, on lead guitar, augmented for this gig by Fay Donaldson’s flute and saxophone and Bernard Scarcliffe’s keyboards.
Miles And The Chain Gang have been working on a debut album since September 2019, recording first with Hairul Hasnan at University of York Studio, then with Jonny Hooker at Young Thugs Studios, in Ovington Terrace, York. “It’s not quite finished yet, but it’s sounding great,” says Miles.
“We were just about to start a run of gigs in the spring of 2020 when Covid struck. Instead, we focused on recording and making videos, releasing three well-received download singles across 18 months.”
The latest was All Of Our Lives, a cover of a late-1990s’ Syd Egan song, recorded by the band in January and February, when Sam Pirt and Karl Mullen added accordion and piano respectively.
“We’ve had lots of airplay over the last year or so, on Jorvik Radio and YO1 Radio; it’s been great to hear our songs on these stations. We’ve done well, under the circumstances, but after a really long time away from playing, it’s great to get back to live sets again,” says Miles. “We’d love to see you, so do come along if you can. We have new songs and a new band member in the very talented Fay Donaldson.
“Support will come from North Yorkshire’s purveyors of hillbilly, King Courgette, who featured at our last show, way back in December 2019.”
Tickets for next Thursday’s 8pm concert cost £7 at thefulfordarms.co.uk or £8 on the door.
No time for vegetating: King Courgette are back in action as special guests at the July 29 gig
The Trials Of Cato’s Tomos Williams and Robin Jones with new addition Polly Bolton
BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners The Trials Of Cato will headline the third Primrose Wood Acoustics session in Pocklington on August 5.
Organised by Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC), the outdoor concert series will complete its summer hattrick by popular demand after sold-out sylvan shows on July 1 and 8.
Scunthorpe-born virtuoso guitarist, singer and songwriter Martin Simpson and East Yorkshire singer-songwriter Katie Spencer played the first night; Leeds indie-folk/Americana band The Dunwells and York singer-songwriter Rachel Croft, the second.
The third 7pm event will once again “fuse nature’s soundtrack, background birdsong and transcendent live music under a natural canopy of trees to create a truly enchanting open-air experience for audiences”.
PAC director Janet Farmer says: “Primrose Wood Acoustics is a new concept for Pocklington Arts Centre, with this being the first time we have taken live music not only outdoors but also into a woodland setting.
The Dunwells performing at the second Primrose Wood Acoustics in Pocklington on July 8
“Our first two events have proved so popular, selling out on both occasions and attracting such positive, uplifting feedback, that we just had to do another one.
“This time we have The Trials Of Cato headlining, which is a perfect fit for such a charming woodland setting. When nature and live music collide something really wonderful happens and we know this is going to be no exception.”
Hailed by Mark Radcliffe, The Folk Show host on BBC Radio 2, as “one of the real discoveries on the folk circuit in recent times”, The Trials Of Cato won Best Album at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for their debut, Hide And Hair.
Formed in Beirut, when Tomos Williams, Will Addison and Robin Jones were working in Lebanon as English teachers, the trio had returned to Britain in 2016, Here, they set about performing tirelessly up and down the country with their stomping tunes and captivating stories that paid homage to the tradition while twisting old bones into something more febrile and modern.
Bolton wanderer: Polly Bolton, solo singer-songwriter, member of The Magpies and now part of the folk trio The Trials Of Cato
Hide And Hair’s release in November 2018 was greeted with airplay on BBC 6 Music and Radio 2 and thumbs-up coverage in national publications, while mastering engineer John Davis, who worked with Jimmy Page on the Led Zeppelin remasters, memorably dubbed them “The Sex Pistols of folk”.
After a year of wall-to-wall touring across the UK, Europe and North America, however, the band’s march was halted by the stultifying silence of the global pandemic, but now they are emerging anew from their transformative chrysalis.
“The Trials continue,” they say, but this time, after Addison’s departure, Williams and Jones are joined by Leamington Spa multi-instrumentalist and singer Polly Bolton, from The Magpies, for their hotly anticipated second album.
Set for release later this year (precise date yet to be confirmed), Gog Magog is named both after the mythical giant of Arthurian legend and the Cambridgeshire hilltop, where the new album was birthed over lockdown.
The support act for August 5 will be announced shortly. Tickets cost £14 on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Everything stops for tea…and now Covid alas. Sandy Foster and Tom Kanji in Home, I’m Darling, Laura Wade’s comedy where nostalgia ain’t what it used to be, on hold for ten days at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Ellie Kurttz
HOME, I’m Darling has turned into Darling, I’m Home for ten days after a company member at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tested positive for Covid-19.
All performances of Laura Wade’s 1950s-meets-the 21st century comedy are cancelled until after the 7.30pm show on Tuesday, July 27
A statement on the SJT website says: “We’d like to reassure you that the person who has tested positive has not come into direct contact with any members of the public inside our building, and any members of our team that they have come into contact with are also isolating.
“If you have a ticket for one of the cancelled shows, our box office will be in touch soon to organise either a different date for you, a refund or a credit. We’d be grateful if you could wait for our box office to contact you rather than calling them if possible – they’re going to have to make many phone calls and emails over the next few days, and the faster they can do that, the sooner they’ll get to you.”
Home, I’m Darling, an SJT co-production with Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and the Bolton Octagon Theatre, will run until August 14, once clearance to resume is given.
In the meantime, box-office staff will be running through the cancelled shows in chronological order, so those with a booking for a later show “may not hear from them for a few days – but we promise they’ll be in touch soon,” says the SJT.
“Please be assured that our [socially distanced] Covid security measures within the building will remain as rigorous as ever. In all other respects (our cinema, Eat Me Café, shop, play readings), we will be operating as normal.”
Rachel Podger: Had to self-isolate after being pinged
QUICK thinking by York Early Music Festival director Delma Tomlin saved the day when violinist Rachel Podger fell victim to the dreaded “pingdemic”.
Rachel had to self-isolate at the last minute, foregoing her 9.15pm live performance of The Violinist Speaks at St Lawrence’s Church, Hull Road, on July 13.
In a flash, Delma asked Croatian-born Baroque violinist Bojan Cicic to step into the breach, as he had arrived in York already to perform with Florilegium at the National Centre for Early Music the following night.
Bojan Cicic: Took over solo concert programme at three hours’ notice
Not only did he say ‘Yes’ at only three hours’ notice, but also he played the very same repertoire that Rachel had selected: JS Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G major; Giuseppe Tartini’s Sonata in B minor; Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s Passacaglia in G minor, for solo violin, and Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor, for solo violin.
Nothing was announced on social media beforehand by the festival organisers; only the audience was alerted of the late change by email, whereupon Bojan duly “wowed” his socially distanced crowd.
Rachel subsequently recorded The Violinist Speaks without an audience at the NCEM for a digital livestream premiere at 7.30pm last Saturday. Her online concert is now available on demand until August 13; on sale until August 9 at: ncem.co.uk/events/rachel-podger-online/ncem.co.uk
Quick thinking: York Early Music Festival director Delma Tomlin
Bridge Over Troubled Water, jewellery, by Ruth Claydon
IN a new venture at Kentmere House Gallery, York, Ruth Claydon’s jewellery show will be launched on Thursday (22/7/2021) from 6pm to 9pm.
York designer Claydon’s Free Spirit collection will be complemented by the sensitive and intricate paintings of York Minster by Susan Brown, the gallery’s resident artist from West Yorkshire.
On display too will be work by the regular stable of artists at Ann Petherick’s gallery in Scarcroft Hill, as well as artists’ prints.
“It’s the perfect match for a gallery selling original art, as each of Ruth’s pieces is completely unique, made using mud-larking finds and interesting artefacts, along with her own vintage and pre-loved jewellery gathered over the years,” says Ann.
York Minster, window detail, mixed media, by Susan Brown
Claydon’s Free Spirit collection is a creative collaboration with Conscious Apparel, an ethical clothing brand launched in York last year. Prices for her jewellery range from £38 to £128.
“I’ve always wanted to design in response to a clothing range,” says Ruth. “What makes this such an appropriate match is that all of the clothing is ethically produced, and some of their dresses are also crafted from upcycled sari fabric and thus completely unique.”
“At Thursday’s launch, customers have a chance to view and try on the jewellery at the same time as seeing the gallery’s range of original art, with prices from £150,” says Ann. “And with Simon & Garfunkel playing, in a nod to one of Ruth’s paintings being called Bridge Over Troubled Water, what could make for a better evening?!”
Regular opening hours at Kentmere House Gallery, 53, Scarcroft Hill, York, are: every Thursday, 6pm to 9pm; first weekend of each month, Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 5pm. “But we are happy to be open anytime, although we suggest ringing in advance, on 01904 656507 or 07801 810825, if you are travelling any distance. Or you can take a chance on ringing the bell if you are passing.”
CHALMERS & Hutch apply Southgate’s template for an all-inclusive future in the latest Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcast.
Under discussion too are Nadine Shah and the streaming dilemma; Alan Ayckbourn vs Harold Pinter; why British avant-garde novelists fall behind their progressive counterparts, and the future of York’s Pop Up Piccadilly artists.
Wartime reunion: Naomi Petersen as Lily and Linford Johnson as Alf in Alan Ayckbourn’s The GIrl Next Door. All pictures: Tony Bartholomew
ALAN Ayckbourn’s premiere of his 85th play, The Girl Next Door, will return to Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre in September for a limited run of only six performances.
The SJT resumption from September 1 to 4 will be followed by a touring run at the New Vic Theatre, the SJT’s fellow theatre in the round in Newcastle-under-Lyme, from September 7 to 18.
Directed by Ayckbourn, The Girl Next Door received its world premiere in Scarborough from June 4 to July 3, performed by two alternate casts to protect against Covid-19.
Lolling around in lockdown: Bill Champion as jaded and jaundiced actor Rob in The Girl Next Door
September’s returning cast will be Bill Champion, Linford Johnson, Alexandra Mathie and Naomi Petersen, who performed the bulk of the shows in the original summer run.
Written by Ayckbourn in lockdown, The Girl Next Door finds veteran actor Rob Hathaway stuck at home during the summer of 2020, with only his sensible, Government mandarin older sister for company.
Rob has little to do but relive his glory days when, as the star of the nation’s favourite television period drama National Fire Service, he ruled the roost as George ‘Tiger’ Jennings: wartime hero and living legend among firefighters.
Alan Ayckbourn in his garden in Scarborough in May 2020 during the first lockdown
One day, Rob spots a stranger hanging out the washing in the adjoining garden. Strange, he thinks, because the neighbours have not been around for months. Just who is the mysterious girl next door, and why is she wearing 1940s’ clothing?
“I was born in 1939, so my earliest memories are of a sort of lockdown: of crowding into Anderson shelters or subway stations; of sleeping in deckchairs or on my mother’s lap. Things have come full circle for me,” says Ayckbourn, 82.
“The Girl Next Door is an affirmation of love across the generations – I hope it’s positive and hopeful for those today crawling out of their metaphorical Anderson shelters blinking into the light.”
Dressed for a Zoom meeting: Alexandra Mathie as Alex in The Girl Next Door at the SJT
For a time-hopping story divided by 78 years but only a hedge, Ayckbourn is joined in the production team by the SJT’s departing associate director, Chelsey Gillard, designer Kevin Jenkins and lighting designer Jason Taylor.
The Girl Next Door can be seen in the Round at the SJT on Wednesday, September 1 at 7.30pm; September 2, 1.30pm and 7.30pm; September 3, 7.30pm, and September 4, 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
Tickets are on sale at £10 upwards on 01723 370541 and at sjt.uk.com. Prompt booking is advised.
The girl next door in The Girl Next Door: Naomi Petersen as Lily
Freedom fighter Van Morrison marks liberation from Covid restrictions with full-capacity, sold-out gigs at York Barbican tomorrow night and on Wednesday.
YORK Barbican will reopen tomorrow when outspoken pandemic libertarian Van Morrison plays the first of two concerts this week, 496 days since the last show by jazz pianist Jamie Cullum.
Today’s Step 4 of lockdown easement facilitates the Northern Irish veteran performing Tuesday and Wednesday’s 8pm gigs to sold-out, full-capacity audiences.
The shows had to be moved from May 25 and 26 under prevailing Covid restrictions, when social distancing was still in place, and by happenstance the dates of July 20 and 21 were chosen, well before the “Freedom Day” delay from June 21 to July 19 was announced.
In May, Morrison, 75, released his 42nd studio album, Latest Record Project: Volume 1, a 28-track delve into his ongoing love of blues, R&B, jazz and soul, on Exile/BMG.
Born in Pottinger, Belfast, on August 31 1945, Van Morrison – or Sir George Ivan Morrison OBE, as a formal envelope would now read – was inspired early in life by his shipyard worker father’s collection of blues, country and gospel records.
Feeding off Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers and Muddy Waters in particular, Morrison became a travelling musician at 13, performing in several bands before forming Them in 1964.
Making their name at Belfast’s Maritime Club, Them soon established Morrison as a major force in the British R&B scene, initially with Here Comes The Night and Gloria, still his staple concert-closing number.
Brown Eyed Girl and the November 1968 album Astral Weeks announced a solo song-writing spirit still going strong, as affirmed latterly by a burst of five albums in three years. In 2017, he released Roll With The Punches and Versatile; in 2018, You’re Driving Me Crazy, with Joey DeFrancesco, and The Prophet Speaks; in 2019, Three Chords & The Truth.
Over the years, Morrison has accumulated a knighthood; a BRIT; an OBE; an Ivor Novello award; six Grammys; honorary doctorates from Queen’s University, Belfast, and the University of Ulster; entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the French Ordres Des Artes Et Des Lettres…and a number 20 hit duet with Cliff Richard in 1989, Whenever God Shines His Light.
Sceptic Morrison has said – and sung – his two penneth on Coronavirus, decrying what he calls the “crooked facts” and “pseudo-science”. Last August, he called for “fellow singers, musicians, writers, producers, promoters and others in the industry to fight with me on this. Come forward, stand up, fight the pseudo-science and speak up”.
Ironically, a quick-thinking company promptly launched a set of face masks of iconic Morrison album covers.
From September 25, Morrison launched a series of three protest songs, one every two weeks, railing against safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19: Born To Be Free, As I Walked Out and No More Lockdown.
“No more lockdown / No more government overreach / No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace …,” he urged on the latter.
“No more taking of our freedom / And our God-given rights / Pretending it’s for our safety / When it’s really to enslave …”
Not without irony, that song condemned “celebrities telling us what we’re supposed to feel”. Issuing an explanatory statement amid condemnation from voices in Irish authority, he said: “I’m not telling people what to do or think. The government is doing a great job of that already. It’s about freedom of choice. I believe people should have the right to think for themselves.”
Last September too, he announced a series of socially distanced concerts, again with a covering note: “This is not a sign of compliance or acceptance of the current state of affairs,” it read. “This is to get my band up and running and out of the doldrums.”
Now, here come the nights at York Barbican: an umpteenth return to a venue where Van The Man has performed in his predictably unpredictable, sometimes gruff, sometimes prickly, yet oft-times sublimely soulful manner on myriad mystical nights.
Alas, CharlesHutchPress will not be reviewing York Barbican’s reopening night as no press tickets have been made available for Van Morrison’s brace of shows.
