Jarmouse: Releasing Flush EP and playing Young Thugs Studio gig in York on May 11
SAY Owt associate artist Bram David Jarman is ready to shake South Bank, York, with his fusion of spoken word, poetry and music in the guise of Jarmouse in a May 11 gig.
York poet, playwright, songwriter and musician Bram has been a key voice at the loveably gobby gang of performance poets’ high-energy nights of words and verse since 2014, whether performing his brand of sharp spoken word or being the friendly face on the door cheering on poets.
This month Jarmouse has released the EP Flush on York label Young Thugs Records. “Featuring a combination of beats, loops, synths and sounds, stories and politics, this experience is for fans of Sleaford Mods, Benefits or Yard Act, but far more anarchic, genre-bending, furious and fun,” says Bram.
Minal Sukumar: Writer, performance poet and feminist researcher
To celebrate next month’s release of stories and songs, Jarmouse will perform a dynamic set of “rave poetry, grief beats and disco fiction” at May 11’s intimate performance at Young Thugs Studio, South Bank Social Club, Ovington Terrace, in the spirit of DIY punk gigs. “Expect a few surprises along the way!” says Bram.
Support acts will be poet Minal Sukumar and electro riot grrrl act Doberwoman. Sukumar is a writer, performance poet and feminist researcher, who was aged “around ten” when she decided to enter the business of telling stories, a “phase” some are still waiting for her to outgrow.
Co-founder of the poetry collective Mouth Of Word in 2017, Sukumar has performed original spoken-word poetry in India, Ireland and the United Kingdom and her writing has appeared in several publications, most notably South Asia’s leading literary magazine, The Bombay Review.
Her work sits at the intersection of feminism, postcolonialism and mental health – or, in other words, is a medley of all the things she was never supposed to say out loud.
Electro riot grrl Doberwoman: “Gnashing-toothed musical response to a world that expects girls to shut up”
Doberwoman is the digital noise-based side project of folk-punk protest musician and songwriter Alice Nicholls. A far cry from her usual multi-instrumental set-up, armed with MIDI [Musical Instrument Digital Interface] and a megaphone, she creates an explosion of intense harmonies paired with lyrics of expressive, yet eloquent, rage.
“Doberwoman is electro riot grrl: a screaming, yelling, tantrum-throwing brainchild; a gnashing-toothed musical response to a world that expects girls to shut up,” says Say Owt host Henry Raby. “What happens when women let loose their anger after being told they should be quiet? What happens when we get fed up of being afraid? Doberwoman happens.”
Doors open at 7.30pm for the 8pm start. Tickets are available ateventbrite.co.uk/e/say-owt-presents-jarmouse-ep-launch-doberwomen-minal-sukumar-tickets-879734990037?aff=oddtdtcreator
Jarmouse’s poster for May 11’s gigat Young Thugs Studio
Footsbarn Theatre in Twelfth Night: First British performances in 15 years in world premiere at York International Shakespeare Festival
A FEAST of Shakespeare, a musical’s 60th anniversary, Motown magic, smalltown teenage troubles and a Yorkshire rock band’s birthday bash hit the mark for Charles Hutchinson.
Festival of the week: York International Shakespeare Festival, until Sunday
SHAKESPEAREAN Identity is the theme of the sixth York International Shakespeare Festival, now an annual event, run by director Philip Parr. Sponsored by York St John University, it features shows, lectures by internationally recognised academics, exhibitions and workshops presented by Shakespeare enthusiasts from all over the world.
Among the highlights will be Footsbarn Theatre’s first British visit in 15 years with Twelfth Night on Saturday and Sunday and York Explore’s exhibition of 300 years of representations of Othello. Tickets and full programme details are available at yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2024.
Fiddler in the woods: Alice Atang’s Fiddler, Perri Ann Barley’s Golde and Steve Tearle’s Tevye set the scene for NE Theatre York’s Fiddler On The Roof
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Fiddler On The Roof, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, running until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle directs NE Theatre York in Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein’s musical, taking the role of Tevye, the humble village milkman, for the third time too in this 60th anniversary production.
When three of Tevye’s five daughters rebel against the traditions of arranged marriages by taking matters into their own hands, mayhem unfolds as he strives to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural creeds, against the backdrop of the Tsar’s pogrom edict to evict all Jews from his Russian village in 1905. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
The poster for 1812 Theatre Company’s double bill at Helmsley Arts Centre
Double bill of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Baby Dolls and Contractions, Helmsley Arts Centre, Thursday to Saturday, 7.30pm
HELMSLEY Arts Centre’s Young Arts Leaders Charlotte Mintoft and Amelia Featherstone direct the 1812 Theatre Company in Tamara von Werthern’s Baby Dolls and Mike Bartlett’s Contractions respectively. The first is a futuristic comedy about conception, state control and rebellion, wherein three women meet at a baby shower but darker things than cupcakes and babygrows are on their mind.
The second, an ink-black comedy, focuses on the boundaries between work and play. Whereas Emma thinks she’s in love with Darren, her boss thinks she’s in breach of contract. The situation needs to be resolved. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Barrie Rutter: Reflecting on shaking up Shakespeare at Northern Broadsides and beyond
Breaking down the Bard barrier in the north: Barrie Rutter: Shakespeare’s Royals, York Theatre Royal Studio, Friday, 7.45pm; Ripon Theatre Festival, Ripon Cathedral, July 4, 7.30pm
BARRIE Rutter, founder and former director of Northern Broadsides, celebrates the Bard’s kings and queens – their achievements, conquests and foibles – with tales, anecdotes and memories from a career of playing and directing Shakespeare’s Royals.
Told he could never play a king on account of his Yorkshire accent, Hull-born Rutter, now 77, created his own theatre company in 1992 in Halifax to use the northern voice for Shakespeare’s kings, queens and emperors, not only the usual drunken porters, jesters or fools. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Ripon, ripontheatrefestival.org.
Soul Satisfaction: Four Tops and Motown hits here they come at Milton Rooms, Malton
Ryedale tribute show of the week: Soul Satisfaction, The American Four Tops Motown Show, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
DIRECT from the United States, Soul Satisfaction combine powerful vocals, sweet harmonies and high-stepping dance routines in the American Four Tops Motown Show.
This celebration of Motown’s golden era revels in Reach Out (I’ll Be There), Walk Away Renee, It’s The Same Old Song, Loco In Acapulco, I Can’t Help Myself and Bernadette, complemented by The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and Ben E King hits. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The trials of growing up in a small country town: Henry Madd’s Henry and Marc Benga’s Jake in Land Of The Lost Content at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Ali Wright
Touring play of the week: Henry Madd’s Land Of Lost Content, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
NIC Connaughton, the Pleasance’s head of theatre, directs Land Of Lost Content, Henry Madd’s autobiographical insight into friendship, adolescence, forgiveness and life not going to plan in an empowering coming-of-age story about the trials of growing up in a small country town and its ongoing effects on two estranged mates.
Henry (Madd) and Jake (Marc Benga) were bored friends who grew up in Ludlow, where friendships were forged in failed adventures, bad habits and damp raves as they stumbled through teenage days looking for something to do. Then Henry moved away. Now he is back, needing to face up to the memories and the people he left behind, as Madd draws on themes of mental health and substance abuse in rural areas in his blend of theatre and spoken word. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Joe Martin: Troubadour tales at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Troubadour of the week: Joe Martin, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 8pm
INDEPENDENT singer-songwriter and modern-day troubadour Joe Martin captures stories of people and encounters picked up on the road in his tales of friends, strangers and his own experiences.
Before his solo venture, Lancashire-born Martin fronted a country band while studying at university in Leeds, opening for The Shires and appearing at the Country to Country festival. Now he performs in Europe and the United States, such as at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The Cult: 40th anniversary tour heads to York Barbican in October. Picture: Jackie Middleton
Gig announcement of the week: The Cult, The 8424 Tour, York Barbican, October 29
SINGER Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy mark the 40th anniversary of The Cult, the Bradford band noted for their pioneering mix of post-punk, hard rock and melodramatic experimentalism, by heading out on The 8424 Tour.
Once dubbed “shamanic Goths”, Astbury and Duffy will perform songs from The Cult’s 11-album discography, from 1984’s Dreamtime to 2022’s Under The Midnight Sun, in a set sure to feature She Sells Sanctuary, Rain, Love Removal Machine, Wild Flower and Lil’ Devil. This year they have begun a vinyl reissue series. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Grappling brothers: Benedict Shaw’s Stuart, left, and Oliver Anthony’s Jamie in Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate at Leeds Grand Theatre
THE celebs were out in force on the first night of this stage conversion of Kay Mellor’s BBC drama series The Syndicate, in memory of the late Leeds playwright, screenwriter, actress and producer.
From Bradford pantomime stalwart Billy Pearce to Jodie Prenger and a coterie of Emmerdale soap stars, they gathered in celebration of Kay, who died on May 15 2022 at the age of 71.
Originally Kay was to have directed this premiere with actress daughter Gaynor Faye, who said beforehand: “It is extremely special to be a part of this new theatrical version of The Syndicate and one which my mum was excited to stage.
“Having acted in the last series on TV, when she asked me to assist her in directing the show, I jumped at the chance. Now, it has become my first solo directing role and whilst I am so sad not to be doing it with her, I am also very proud and excited to bring mum’s vision to the fore in her hometown of Leeds.”
The Syndicate cast with Kay Mellor’s grandson, Oliver Anthony, outside Leeds Grand Theatrre. Picture: Aaron Cawood
Playing to a home crowd, so appreciative of council estate-raised Kay’s work on stage and screen, from A Passionate Woman to Fat Friends, Band Of Gold to In The Club, found the Leeds Grand bathing in a mood of nostalgia and reflection but of anticipation too.
The Syndicate ran for four series on the Beeb from 2012 to 2021, each with a different ensemble of six lottery winners, tracing what happened next, the good and the bad.
In the wake of stage adaptations of Band Of Gold and Fat Friends, Kay’s final stage play reprises the comedy drama format from the TV series, this time with a syndicate of five supermarket workers, whose lottery syndicate numbers come in, just as their jobs and livelihoods are under threat from a prospective new superdupermarket next door.
We meet them before Gaynor Faye’s bubby lottery company rep Kay delivers their £24 million jackpot. In the store team are phlegmatic check-out stalwart Denise (Samantha Giles, from Emmerdale); reserved, is-she-hiding-something Leanne (Rosa Coduri-Fulford); old-school, kindly manager Bob (William Ilkley, a familiar face from so many John Godber plays and beyond), and two brothers, struggling Stuart (Benedict Shaw) and jack-flash Jamie (Oliver Anthony, in his highly impressive stage debut, having played Theo in season four of the TV series).
The cast for Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate on Bretta Gerecke’s set design
In trademark Kay Mellor style, the characterisation is both intriguing and fully realised, and the dialogue fizzes with northern truth, observational humour and the warmth of familiarity in its patterns of behaviour. As ever, she draws in her audience to the point of complete connection with what ensues.
Stuart’s girlfriend Amy (Brooke Vincent, from Coronation Street) is pregnant and expectant of a lifestyle he can’t fund. Find a place for them to live, or that’s it, she demands. Cue Jamie suggesting the brothers should make off with the day’s takings from the safe, but the robbery goes wrong when Bob turns up and is hospitalised by a blow from Jamie.
Jerome Ngonadi’s offbeat copper, Newall, starts his investigations just as the syndicate strikes lucky as two storylines then overlap. Will the truth emerge and how will each winner react to sudden wealth, especially as one was not up to date with weekly payments.
Faye’s Kay drives the publicity drive but both brothers have something to keep hidden and so does Leanne, from her past. Giles’s Denise embraces cosmetic surgery; Jamie laps up the sharp suits and the even smarter car; Bob faces crucial surgery; Amy spends, spends, spends like Viv Nicholson, new house, new décor, new clothes. In the best performance of all, and Mellor’s best writing to boot, Shaw’s Stuart is troubled by his conscience.
Life’s a lottery for Brooke Vincent’s Amy in The Syndicate
For all the humour, Mellor is ultimately questioning the cost, the price, of craving money and fame. On the one hand, the self-destructive Jamie flies too close to the sun, but on the other, love will out for Bob, blossoming with new partner Annie (Jade Golding), and the burgeoning feelings of Stuart and Leanne.
Snippets of pecuniary pop songs, from Pink Floyd to Money’s Too Tight To Mention, pop up throughout, like a Greek chorus: one more canny detail in Faye’s well-judged, strikingly uncomplicated direction.
The glitter is to be found in Bretta Gerecke’s set and costume designs for Vincent’s Amy, but all that glisters is not gold, as a lonely, empty Amy discovers in Mellor’s cautionary finale.
Kay, how we miss your wit, your humanity, your Yorkshire nous, but how glad we are that your plays live on.
Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate, Leeds Grand Theatre, 7.30pm tonight, tomorrow and Friday; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday; 4pm, Sunday. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Florence Poskitt: Taking on principal role of Kate
WHEN University of York student Chesca Downes had to pull out of playing Kate in York Shakespeare Project’s The Taming Of The Shrew, up stepped Florece Poskitt at short notice.
The York actor-musician and member of musical comedy duo Fladam had only a fortnight to learn and rehearse Shakespeare’s problem play for this week’s run at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from tomorrow to Saturday.
YSP chair Tony Froud says: “We’re delighted to welcome someone as talented as Flo into the cast and thank her for stepping into the role after Chesca had to withdraw for personal reasons.”
“We are very sorry to lose Chesca, but entirely understand her decision to leave the production,” adds director Maggie Smales.
Florence is a familiar face to York theatregoers, latterly appearing at Theatre@41 as Vera Claythorne in Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Mishka and a gormless Shopkeeper in York Settlement Community Players’ Government Inspector last autumn.
York Shakespeare Project’s psychedelic poster for The Taming Of The Shrew
Now she is reuniting with Maggie Smales, who first directed Florence in November 2019 in Andrew Bovell’s apocalyptic play When The Rain Stops Falling, again at Theatre@41.
“I was due to have a couple of weeks off after doing my own stuff with Fladam for the past two months, going down to the Greenwich Theatre in London with our Green Fingers show, and then suddenly I got a call from Maggie to say, ‘Can you do this role, Flo?’, and she’s one of those people you just can’t say ‘No’ to!” says Florence.
“So the second I got back, I threw myself into playing Kate. She’s one of those roles that are such a treat to get to play – though ideally with more rehearsal time! I had just a week’s notice to get it learnt before joining the last week of rehearsals.
“With Shakespeare you can’t just make it work like you can with a modern text; it’s not just knowing your own lines; you’ve got know the feed lines; you have to be able to cue in other actors; you’ve got to become familiar with the blocking.”
Last Thursday night was the first full run, leading to the tech rehearsal on Sunday and dress rehearsal tonight (22/4/2024). “Everyone has been very welcoming, especially Rosy Rowley, who plays Kate’s mum [Baptista Minola] and Jim Paterson, who’s brilliant as Petruchio, as well as doing the music for the show. The chat-up scene up scene with Kate is so funny, it’s been difficult not to laugh in rehearsals.”
Maggie Smales: Directing York Shakespeare Project in The Taming Of The Shrew
As the multi-coloured psychedelic poster proclaims, Smales is setting Shakespeare’s controversial battle of the sexes in 1970 in her first YSP production since her all-female Henry V in 2015.
The Sixties have shaken off the post-World War Two blues; the baby boomers are growing up, primed and ready to do their own thing; the world is opening up, promising peace, love and equality. Surely, “The Times They Are a’Changin’” and the old order is dead. Or is it, asks Smales.
“As a play it’s not designed for a modern audience. Petruchio can be seen as a kind of abuser, and what Maggie and co-director Claire Morley have done with Kate’s monologue is to find a way around the awkwardness of her saying she can do whatever she wants now she is tamed,” says Florence.
“In this version, the ‘shrew’ [Kate] is a normal person and everyone else is abnormal, and you see what she has to go through and how these gaslighters can get to anybody.
“You don’t have to change the text. You have to change the meaning, and Maggie and Claire have been very clever at doing that. There’s very much a stereotype of what a ‘shrewish woman’ would be. We’ve decided that she fits the shrewish stereotype in wanting to fit in, but she doesn’t want to be wed. That leads to her being isolated for not being understood.”
Fladam’s Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter
The 1970 setting has led to a more open attitude. “Kate gets her comic moments, so does Petruchio because he’s so ridiculous. Once he was perceived as heroic, definitely not so now, but even though his behaviour is not right, Jim’s Petruchio is still endearing,” says Florence.
“I also gathered from Maggie that she chose 1970 as it was then that women started to be working women rather than housewives – and that connects with Kate not wanting a husband and wanting to be just herself.”
Playing Kate will be Florence’s first Shakespeare work since doing a training project at Newcastle Theatre Royal, performing snippets from Much Ado About Nothing in the role of Beatrice in 2021.
“The last time I worked with York Shakespeare Project I did the costumes for The Winter’s Tale and that’s when I first met Maggie, who was playing Paulina. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity. I did originally audition for Kate, but I would have been too busy with Fladam, but now it’s worked out well, even if I wish I’d had more time,” says Florence.
“I love doing comedy and musical theatre, but it’s lovely to do something different, to break the mould, to prove I can do more than Victoria Wood – though I would say I do play Kate quite like a Last Of The Summer Wine character. She’s quite grumpy!”
York Shakespeare Project in The Taming Of The Shrew, York International Shakespeare Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
Jerome Knox, left, Trevor Elliott Bowes, Frederick Jones and Nazan Fikret in English Touring Opera’s The Rake’s Progress. Picture: Richard Hubert Smith
STRAVINSKY’S The Rake’s Progress is a great opera and English Touring Opera’s production was very good indeed, but it wasn’t without its problems.
I thought one of the issues would be quality of sound delivered by the ETO orchestra in the Theatre Royal pit. Not a bit of it. The short opening prelude, introduction really, was rhythmically razor sharp, every instrumental detail crystal clear both here and throughout the entire work.
Of course, this is not a surprise given the quality of the players, but conductor Jack Sheen must take much of the accolades; he was superb. And young. And clearly one to be watched.
Polly Graham’s direction was highly intelligent, but busy. I know it is a fine line between breathing life into a form in which stasis is the norm. But there was just too much movement at times and for no seemingly obvious purpose.
I had problems with April Dalton’s design at the start of the First Act; it was too full both physically and metaphorically. The detail overload included a maypole, Punch and Judy pantomime box and singers with masks. OK I get it. The masks reference Greek Theatre which, like Stravinsky’s neo-classical opera, represents distance, objectivity.
Jerome Knox and Fredereick Jones with the Ensemble in English Touring Opera’s The Rake’s Progress. Picture: Richard Hubert Smith
This also alludes to the Greek tragedies: the character flaw and what dramatically unfolds with a bit of catharsis at the end: the devil makes work for idle hands.
But why the Punch & Judy reference? Well, this was a traditional seaside, working-class puppet show. The devil and hangman Jack Ketch make an appearance and (deep breath) the character Mr Punch was begotten from the commedia dell’arte Neopolitan character, Pulcinella; the title of Stravinsky’s ballet.
What I did admire about Ms Graham’s direction and Ms Dalton’s design was that they took chances. It was memorable. And I suspect that many of the issues mentioned above would not have been so critical in a larger theatre space.
The opening scene between Tom Rakewell (tenor Frederick Jones) and Anne Trulove (soprano Nazan Fikret) takes place at a May Day festival. The balance between soloist and an excellent chorus was not good. It was particularly difficult to hear Nazan Fikret that clearly, especially in her lower register.
Having said that, Ms Fikret sang superbly throughout. She has a lovely tone and there was real feeling and convincing dramatic conviction. However, I thought the image of her dressed in Wagnerian battle mode to rescue Tom was a bit naff; it is supposed to be salvation through love, through goodness.
Nazan Fikret’s AnneTrulove in English Touring Opera’s The Rake’s Progress. Picture: Richard Hubert Smith
A lot of Ms Graham’s casting did work really well, not least the image of Tom and Shadow as alter egos. The black-and-white dress, even in the shadow boxing match. Jerome Knox (baritone) was an utterly convincing Shadow, dripping with elegant charm and seductive malevolence.
Another standout performer was mezzo- soprano Lauren Young as the bearded lady Baba. She was confident, funny and compassionate. Quite a remarkable achievement for a woman with a two-foot beard.
Amy J Payne proved to be a very seductive Mother Goose; that provocative, surrealist costume was alarming to say the least.
The take on turning water into wine, here stone into bread, as a means to end famine, and offer a path to redemption and recapture Anne’s heart, was very effective as were the consequences of this folly in the auction which included Baba herself. There is a cruel price to pay. After a year and a day and a game of cards, Tom is left half alive and half dead: Shadow’s curse is insanity.
Frederick Jones, utterly brilliant throughout, sang the final Bedlam scene with such heartbreaking tenderness. Not a dry eye in the house, I expect. Then, like Mozart’s Figaro, the soloists and chorus re-enter the stage to reassure us it’s only make-believe, to be mindful of idle hands and have a safe journey home. Oh yes, and that “good or bad, all men are mad”.
English Touring Operas in Manon Lescaut. Picture: Richard Hubert Smith
THE secret to this strange production lay in a programme note by its director, Jude Christian. Anyone who had not read it would have been floundering.
After a perfectly reasonable summary of the trials undergone by Manon, Ms Christian launched into an angry tirade about the perils facing young women today, including pornography, deep-fakes and treatment at the hands of police, along with a sweeping indictment of the place of women in opera. Much of it was undeniable, but almost completely irrelevant to the piece in hand.
Her anger led her to interpret Puccini’s first two acts as a “surreal nightmare”. The chorus here are in fancy dress at a poolside party, both designed by Charlotte Henery, with water coolers lined around the edge: all are camping it up to the utmost degree, prancing around like animals.
Manon joins them in a blue wig and inappropriately tight dress. “What do you think of my hair?” she asks her brother. “It’s a choice,” he replies. A terrible one.
Christian’s other indiscretion is to list herself as librettist. Presumably this is meant to excuse her paraphrase – not a translation – of Luigi Illica’s original (although he gets no mention anywhere).
The net effect of these hijinks is to hijack Puccini and present us with a comedy, or at least extreme parody, which has exactly the reverse effect to the one intended. How can one take this Manon’s trials seriously, let alone as a reflection of modern woman’s predicament?
Fortunately, the second half is a little more to the point. A young woman (Manon’s alter ego, perhaps) is asleep at her desk and wakes up slowly, reminding us that it’s all been a dream. Manon’s downhill slide thereafter seems inevitable, given that the two men she has had to choose between are obviously unsuitable.
Des Grieux who arrived in a white suit riding a dolphin, with a fuzzy wig, is far too self-interested to be much use in the long term. Geronte, clad in pink, with a gigantic sombrero, is a figure of fun from the start, even if he offers her wealth.
After their voyage, Manon and Des Grieux find themselves in a desert where he is unable to find water. She dies of thirst. Hence, we now realise, the water in abundance at the start: her life has been prolonged irony.
There are plenty of redeeming features in the music. Jenny Stafford’s game Manon never lets up, if occasionally underpowered. Gareth Dafydd Morris as Des Grieux sports an unfailingly resonant tenor that he could use more subtly. But they are never quite on the same wavelength. Edward Jones’s bass lends gravitas to Geronte, despite the director’s apparent intentions.
Adrian Edwards is a happy-go-lucky Lescaut in a French beret, with a baritone ideally suited for English song. Brendon Spiteri leads the choral capers well as Edmondo.
But the heroes of the hour are the orchestra, conducted with confidence and vigour by Gerry Cornelius, who sustains a lively momentum. His woodwinds are exceptionally crisp.
It is just a pity that the director allows righteous anger to rule her emotions and feels the need to steer so clear of what the opera is really about.
English Touring Opera’s Manon Lescaut is on tour until May 27.
LEEDS Lieder Festival celebrated the start of its 20th anniversary season with a Schubertiade on its opening Sunday.
The common denominator of the lunchtime and evening recitals was the German soprano Nikola Hillebrand, with festival director Joseph Middleton as her piano partner.
We were told that she was experiencing the first signs of a cold, which entailed her cutting two songs. But we would not have guessed she was in any trouble.
She switched seamlessly between the two emotions of Rückert’s Lachen Und Weinen (Laughter
And Tears) before moving to two night songs. Mayrhofer was second only to Geothe in the number of his poems set by Schubert, who always seemed to find a brighter side to the poet’s generally depressive tendencies.
The low-lying Nachtstück (Nocturne) brought out the soprano’s confidential tone and her closeness to the text of Nachtviolen (Dame’s Violets), now in C major after the former’s C minor, was the epitome of intimacy.
In Gretchens Bitte (Gretchen’s Prayer), in the version completed by Britten, she plumbed the dramatic emotions of the girl’s remorse. But always she communicated directly with us.
The first three of Mignon’s songs from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister were extremely well suited to the almost vibrato-free tone she brought to them, evoking the young teenager’s yearning. The fourth she omitted. Her sense of theatre was more than once threatened by Middleton’s quite forceful interjections, not quite what her announced vocal fragility needed.
Any such fragility vanished in Der Hirt Aus Dem Felsen (The Shepherd On The Rock), where they were joined by Oliver Casanovas Nuevo, principal clarinet of Opera North. It was impossible to believe that this was the work of a composer only a month from his death, so compellingly blithe and high-spirited was it here.
The trio blended superbly. The moment that crystallised the music’s pastoral poise was the clarinet’s mini-cadenza before the dancing finale, when Hillebrand’s carefree coloratura was effervescent.
The evening gala added the baritone of Rodney Williams and the pianist Roger Vignoles. It was dedicated to the memory of Jane Bonner, a faithful servant to Opera North for more than 40 years, latterly as company manager.
Middleton and Vignoles joined forces in the Fantasie in F minor for piano duet, D.940. It was not the tidiest account but it acted as a powerful elegy to her. Williams also comically imagined her presence as page-turner but without a shred of disrespect.
He and Vignoles opened the first lieder group, Figures In A Landscape. In the setting of Schmidt von Lübeck’s Der Wanderer, which rivalled Erlkönig for popularity during Schubert’s lifetime, Williams evoked a touching picture of alienation and Vignoles added to his plight; Ganymed provided a predictably upbeat antidote.
To Be Sung On The Water brought us Meeres Stille (Calm Sea), where Williams sustained a very steady line, without vibrato, and Auf Der Donau (On The Danube), perhaps Schubert’s most telling setting of Mayrhofer, in which we sensed the menace leading up to a spine-chilling Untergang (Destruction), totally at odds with the serene introduction.
There was a real feeling of partnership between Hillebrand and Middleton in Fischerweise (Fisherman’s Ditty), with the piano’s bass line reflecting the soprano’s smiles. Her facial features were equally important in Die Gebüsche (The Thicket), as she mirrored man’s connections with nature.
Hillebrand is a born communicator. The final group, Songs Of Night And Nature, had her sustaining a lovely line in Winterabend and finding a very personal touch in Berta’s Lied, with its sham lullaby.
Williams and Vignoles plumbed the mysteries of Nachtstück, equating sleep and death, with an astonishing intensity, but then escaping the fetters of night with a highly theatrical Waldesnacht. It was an evening packed with treasures.
Ewa Salecka: Prima Vocal Ensemble’s artistic director, producer, conductor and percussionist
YORK contemporary choir Prima Vocal Ensemble presents Luminous Night at the National Centre for Early Music, York, on May 19.
Over the past few years, artistic director and producer Ewa Salecka has been the creative mind behind a series of intimate choral and instrumental concerts with the choir and an array of guest musicians.
Now comes a 7.30pm programme of modern choral music for voices, strings, piano and percussion under Salecka’s baton at the NCEM, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate.
The evening features pieces with a Scandinavian and American theme accompanied by professional musicians Beatriz Carbonell and Chloe Fletcher on violins, Katie Jarvis on viola, Rachel Gray on cello, Greg Birch on piano and Salecka herself on percussion instruments.
Selected by Salecka, Luminous Night showcases two pieces for voices, piano and string quartet by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo: Dark Night Of The Soul and Luminous Night Of The Soul.
Prima Vocal Ensemble in concert
“These works, with their meditative, cinematic sound, are raised to new levels by the use of poetry and lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri and St John of the Cross,” says Ewa.
The programme also features Arvo Pärt’s Fratres for string quartet, music by Dan Forrest and Elaine Hagenberg, Nordic folk tunes arranged by Frode Fjellheim and “breathtakingly beautiful” pieces by Ivo Antognini and Eugene Butler.
“Our recent sell-out concert series have proved very popular and there will be something for everyone in this event, which coincides with Prima’s 14th anniversary of providing memorable concert opportunities for singers and their audiences: the only choir to perform to this high standard without the need to audition,” says Ewa.
Throughout the first half of 2024, the choir is in parallel preparations for two noteworthy concerts in “Old” York and New York. “In June, we’ll return to New York City and Carnegie Hall for We Sing! We Rise! We Soar!, The Music of Christopher Tin & Greg Gilpin, produced by Distinguished Concerts International New York,” says Ewa.
“No strangers to the iconic venue, Prima will join international performers in a programme that will include multi-lingual music from Christopher Tin’s Grammy award-winning albums. So, if you happen to be in New York on June 9, come and hear Prima in this collaborative performance.”
Prima Vocal Ensemble’s poster for Luminous Night
Reflecting on Prima’s progress, Ewa says: “We’ve covered so much musical ground since our first rehearsal in May 2010. When I think back, I’m amazed by the variety and complexity of music we’ve performed, the amount of programme covered and the individuality of each and every event.
“There are some singers who have been there from the very beginning and I am extremely grateful to still be in this position after 14 years, promoting new music and new concerts in York.
“If anyone is looking for a unique creative outlet, then now really is the perfect time to join us. Rehearsals offer a warm and welcoming atmosphere with an emphasis on a positive, engaging learning experience. We are always welcoming singers who are team players, want to improve their vocal technique and expand their musical palette.”
For tickets for Luminous Night, go to primavocalensemble.com. “Limited spaces are available, so early booking is highly recommended,” advises Ewa.
“To find out more about Prima and the opportunities you can enjoy, please visit primavocalensemble.com.”
Andrew Clay: Leaving Scarborough Museums and Galleries for Sea Life Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
ANDREW Clay, chief executive of Scarborough Museums and Galleries, is leaving to take up a new role.
He has been appointed as general manager of Sea Life Scarborough and will take up his new position at the North Bay attraction on Monday, April 29.
Scarborough Museums and Galleries (SMG) trustees will be seeking a new incumbent for the chief executive’s role in the coming months, but in the meantime the position will be fulfilled on an interim basis by Malton-based heritage professional Sarah Oswald.
Clay moved to Scarborough in 2007 to become director at the newly created Woodend Creative Industries Centre. In 2017 he also became chief executive of Scarborough Museums Trust, which ran Scarborough Art Gallery and the Rotunda Museum. In 2017, the trust and Woodend merged to become Scarborough Museums and Galleries.
“It has been a huge privilege to work at Woodend and latterly Scarborough Museums and Galleries,” he says. “I feel very honoured to have worked with such talented and capable people, who over years have supported my efforts to deliver an exciting cultural offer for the people of Scarborough and visitors to this amazing seaside town.
Sarah Oswald: Interim chief executive officer of Scarborough Museums and Galleries. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“Soon I will be embarking on a new voyage of discovery, and I can’t wait to learn more about the extraordinary marine world in our oceans. I wish all at SMG the very best of luck for the future.”
Sarah Oswald provides coaching and consultancy services to the museums, heritage and cultural sector through her business, The Authentic Spark. Recently she has completed a 14-month part-time contract as Museum Development Officer for North Yorkshire as part of Museum Development Yorkshire.
Before establishing The Authentic Spark, Sarah was an owner and director of PLB, a leading Yorkshire-based heritage design consultancy.
She says: “After getting to know Scarborough Museums and Galleries through my role with Museum Development Yorkshire, it’s exciting for me to now be stepping in to work with the board and the team here at SMG. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and also wish Andrew well in his new role.”
Ensemble Intercontemporain: “The Rolls-Royce of contemporary music performers“
YorkConcerts presents Ensemble Intercontemporain, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, April 17
ON Wednesday evening, the Rolls-Royce of contemporary music performers, Ensemble Intercontemporain, performed an extraordinary programme of music by Martin Suckling, Thomas Simaku and Olivier Messiaen.
The concert opened with Martin Suckling’s Visiones (after Goya), an inspired response to a specific drawing from Goya’s unique, if somewhat unsettling, Witches and Old Women Album. The Visiones depicts an intimate dance between a possibly inebriated old couple with another chap looking on, or rather on the floor looking up. The image seems to have an uncomfortable erotic edge, perhaps sex in old age.
Anyway, to Mr Suckling’s work. In response to the Goya sketch, Visiones (after Goya) has three instrumentalists, cello, clarinet and piano, and three sections. In the first part, the clarinet and cello dance, serenade each other in ‘repeated microtonal lyrics’.
The percussive piano creates distance and commentary. The effect is very distinct, haunting and not a little spooky. Yet there is intimacy and it is this, as well as the superb playing by Martin Adámek (clarinet) and Renaud Déjardin (cello), that draws you into this sound world.
There is also a genuine warmth of engagement. This is particularly obvious in the second section ‘lullaby’ before the dance becomes ritualistic. The third section is a kind of distorted recapitulation; a memory, a nightmare. Maybe.
The piano (the imperious Dimitri Vassilakis) now sings the song, the clarinet has the role of ‘soft multiphonics’ commentary whilst the cello lets rip to very dramatic effect. The dance returns but now transformed. To be sure the piece was, like the Goya, unsettling. But it was true to the artist’s multi-layered complexity, and beauty. The performance was illuminating.
I had a bit of an issue with a2(b) for violin and cello by Thomas Simaku; not with the forceful piece itself, nor with the thrilling performance by soloists Jeanne-Marie Conquer (violin) and Renaud Déjardin (cello), but with the extensive programme note.
OK, the instrumental explanation of a2 (a due) was fine; it made perfect sense. However, the dramatisation of opposites – a response to the ‘remnants of the wall in Bernauer Strasse’, a tale of contrasting cities, of brutally conflicting ideologies representing oppression and freedom in 1945 Berlin – did not.
To be fair to the composer, he clearly stated that the musical and extramusical could not be separated; they are two aspects of the same song. But for me the piece did not (and could not) deliver an image of complete opposites: because the most striking and distinguished aspect of Simaku’s music is its mastery of an organic, cellular and uniform musical language. The uncompromising, almost violent, gestures and mood swings worked perfectly well on and in their own terms.
However, the piece was jaw-droppingly good and technically seriously accomplished. I thought the fast, driving conclusion with its spent, exhausted epilogue was very effective indeed. The performers were on top of their game, and they needed to be.
Just one minor whinge before the interval: what was it with the photographer taking shots from the back of the auditorium? It was distracting and utterly unnecessary.
After the interval we were treated to the most illuminating performance of Messiaen’s Quartet For The End Of Time. For what it’s worth, the balance of the opening Crystal liturgy didn’t seem quite even, but given the quality of performers and the excellent acoustic, this is more likely due to my ears waking up again after the 20-minute break.
The second movement Vocalise, for the Angel who announces the end of time, was sublime. The control needed and delivered by clarinettist Martin Adámek was extraordinary. The effect was otherworldly, visionary; beautiful, delicate but definitely bleak.
The Interlude was an utter, quirky delight. Were there echoes of Shostakovich? I thought so. Possibly. Renaud Déjardin and Dimitri Vassilakis’s performance of Praise To The Eternity Of Jesus was the best live version I have heard.
Nothing quite prepares you for this experience; it was so hypnotic, so compelling. I think this is due to the piano ‘accompaniment’ which came across so powerfully. At first, a pulse, a heartbeat, gradually driving the cello song with almost hammer-like intensity before they melt into ecstasy, resolution. Quite extraordinary.
The Dance Of Fury, for the seven trumpets, was technically perfect. It delivered a unity of purpose and energy. Edge-of-the-seat stuff. The penultimate Tangle Of Rainbows…was brimming with physicality. It both looked back, specifically to the second Vocalise, as well as to the future and the final movement in particular. The performance of Praise To The Immortality Of Jesus, was simply divine.
