Freddie Hayes as the dark and mysterious Magic Lady
YORK puppeteer and storyteller Freddie Hayes warms up for her Edinburgh Fringe return with a home-city preview of her outrageous new character comedy show, The Magic Lady, on Monday night at Micklegate Social.
“After a smash-hit run with Potatohead in 2022, I’m thrilled to be going back to the Fringe and really excited about returning to York to perform my full-hour comedy, clown and puppetry magic show,” says the playful yet poignant York performer and theatre-maker, who will head to the Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds on Tuesday for a further preview.
Expect magic and mayhem, hypnotism and ridiculous props as Freddie invites you to “enter the magic circle for your appointment with the Magic Lady in an unforgettable night of comedy, clowning and puppetry”, directed by Ecole Gaulier-trained clown Mikey Bligh Smith of The Lovely Boys.
What lies in store? “After a long and arduous career treading the boards as a glamorous assistant to some of the greats, it is the Magic Lady’s turn to rise from the ashes and dazzle the audience with a mix of chaotic comedy and questionable magic that will leave you spellbound.” says Freddie, 2022 winner of the Most Bizarre Moment in Theatre Award.
“This haphazard showbiz loon will be surprising, exorcising, escapologising and taking back what was hers once before. Watch out for the famous levitation trick! Houdini who?”
Freddie Hayes in the guise of Potatohead
Introducing her Magic Lady, Freddie says: “I’m always creating characters, and she’s sort of been brewing for a while. She wears an Eighties’ cocktail dress, and the dress came before the character. I found it in a vintage shop.
“She’s another alter ego of mine. I was interested in the role of the old Hollywood assistant, who in this case becomes the Magic Lady. That was always her dream, but she’s a deluded illusionist. She believes she was part of the Broadway world when in fact she’s in Blackpool.
“She acts very posh, putting on airs and graces; there’s a bit of Hyacinth Bucket [from Keeping Up Appearances] about her; a bit of Joanna Lumley in there, but maybe underneath all that, she’s a northerner.”
The Magic Lady has been taking shape at London gigs at the Moth Club, Hackney, and the Soho Theatre, along with the Machynlleth Comedy Festival in Wales and her first hour-long full preview at The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol.
Freddie has shared a bill with puppeteer Nina Conti too. “She’s a bit of a hero of mine. We didn’t swap notes but she did say I was funny,” she recalls.
“I always like to have a bit of the gothic and the macabre in a show,” says puppeteer and theatre-maker Freddie Hayes
“I love using puppets. I think I will always have a puppet in my shows in some sort of way. If it’s a shadow or a sock, it will always be part of my performance style – and I still have a few puppet surprises for this show. I like to keep them as surprises.”
Does the Magic Lady have a name? “She does but she will never say what it is,” says Freddie. “She’s a dark and mysterious character, quite twisted, and she alludes to the fact that she sawed one of her husbands in half. I always like to have a bit of the gothic and the macabre in a show!
“She’s has loads of affairs and she likes to put it around that she was the understudy to Liza Minnelli and how she broke Bobby Davro’s heart.”
Expect the unexpected. “Every night will be completely different, playing to how the audience are feeling, or if someone is misbehaving,” says Freddie. “I like to throw the script out of the window as I’m always keen to interact. Watch out!”
Freddie Hayes in The Magic Lady, The Den, Micklegate Social, Micklegate, York, EdFringe preview, July 29, 7.30pm. Box office: billetto.co.uk/e/freddie-hayes. Hyde Park Book Club, 27-29 Headingley Lane, Leeds, EdFringe, July 30, 7.30pm. Box office: billetto.co.uk/e/freddie-hayes; hydeparkbookclub.co.uk. Edinburgh Fringe, Hoots @Potterrow, Big Yurt, August 2 to 11, 6pm. Box office: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/freddie-hayes-the-magic-lady
Shed Seven: 30th anniversary homecoming celebrations continue at York Museum Gardens this evening
OPEN air concerts by Shed Seven, Kaiser Chiefs, S Club and James are the sound of summer as West Side Story and The 39 Steps turn up the heat too in Charles Hutchinson’s picks for the week ahead.
York festival of the week: Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Shed Seven, this evening; gates open at 5pm
SHED Seven play the second of their sold-out 30th anniversary homecoming concerts tonight, promising a different set list to Friday’s show, special guests and a choir from Huntington School, Rick Witter and Paul Banks’s old schoolyard.
The Sheds will be on stage from 8.40pm to 10.30pm. Support slots go to Apollo Junction, 5.45pm to 6.15pm; Brooke Combe, 6.35pm to 7.05pm, and The Libertines’ Peter Doherty, 7.25pm to 8.10pm. Sugababes’ festival-closing concert on Sunday was cancelled in April.
Gary Louris: The Jayhawks’ singer, guitarist and songwriter plays solo at The Crescent, York, tonight
American solo act of the week: Gary Louris, of The Jayhawks, supported by Dave Fiddler, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm
OVER three decades, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Gary Louris has co-led Minneapolis country rock supremos The Jayhawks with Mark Olson, as well as being a member of alt.rock supergroup Golden Smog, forming Au Pair with North Carolina artist Django Haskins in 2015 and releasing two solo albums, 2008’s Vagabonds and 2021’s Jump For Joy.
He has recorded with acts as diverse as The Black Crowes, Counting Crows, Uncle Tupelo, Lucinda Williams, Roger McGuinn, Maria McKee, Tift Merritt and The Wallflowers too. As an alternative to the sold-out Sheds on Saturday, look no further than this American rock luminary. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
The Unthanks: Sisters Rachel and Becky perform in an 11-piece line-up at Milton Rooms, Malton
Folk gig of the week: Ryedale Festival, The Unthanks, Milton Rooms, Malton, July 23, 7.30pm to 9.30pm
THE Unthanks bring the rich colours of their 11-piece ensemble to the Ryedale Festival. Blending traditional music from their native North East with the influence of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, Sufjan Stevens, King Crimson and Tom Waits, they stand as the most innovative English folk band in modern history.
Join sisters Rachel and Becky as they display an approach to storytelling that makes easy bedfellows of social commentary and sophisticated harmony, cool minimalism and moving empathy, tradition and adventure. Tickets update: for returns only, contact ryedalefestival.com/event/42-the-unthanks.
Putting it in black and white: from top, Finlay Butler, Kristian Barley, Kit Stroud, Rebecca Butler and Maia Beatrice in NETheatre York’s West Side Story
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in West Side Story, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 24 to 27, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
EXPERIENCE the explosive love and rivalry in 1950s’ New York City in Bernstein & Sondheim’s musical re-telling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As romance blossoms between teens from opposing gangs The Sharks and The Jets, the relationship is fated to end in tragedy, spoiler alert. Steve Tearle’s production for NE Theatre York will feature a black-and-white design. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
One of Anna Matyus’s works from her exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Anna Matyus, Helmsley Arts Centre, until August 9
ANNA Matyus’s work explores the powerful spiritual resonance of historical sacred buildings and their setting in the landscape. Using etching and collagraph printmaking techniques and a colourful palette, she seeks to bring to life the powerful geometry of the often-faded motifs and time- worn patterns and symbols of historic artefacts found in the masonry and ancient tiles of these sacred sites.
“My final prints explore and record the dynamic rhythms of three-dimensional architectural form, layered with their decorative and symbolic adornment in a graphic expression of awe and wonder,” she says.
Safeena Ladha, left, Eugene McCoy, Tom Byrne and Maddie Rice in a scene from The 39 Steps, back on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Mark Senior
Comedy play of the week: The 39 Steps, Grand Opera House, York, July 23 to July 27, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
PATRICK Barlow’s award-garlanded stage adaptation of The 39 Steps has four actors playing 139 roles between them in 100 dashing minutes as they seek to re-create Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller while staying true to John Buchan’s 1915 book.
Tom Byrne – Falklands War-era Prince Andrew in The Crown – plays on-the-run handsome hero Richard Hannay, complete with stiff upper-lip, British gung-ho and pencil moustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents and devastatingly beautiful women. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
James: Playing Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time next Friday. Picture: Paul Dixon
Coastal gig of the week: James, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26, gates 6pm
JAMES follow up Scarborough appearances in 2015, 2018 and 2021 by continuing that three-year cycle in 2024, on the heels of releasing the chart-topping Yummy, their 18th studio album, in April.
“I’m very pleased that we will be playing Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer – our fourth time in fact,” says bassist and founder member Jim Glennie. “If you haven’t been there before, then make sure you come. It’s a cracking venue and you can even have a paddle in the sea before the show!” Support acts will be Reverend And The Makers, from Sheffield, and Nottingham indie rock trio Girlband!. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/james.
Kaiser Chiefs: A night at the races in York. Picture: Cal McIntyre
Under starter’s orders: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, York, Kaiser Chiefs, July 26, 8.45pm to 10.30pm, and S Club, July 27, 5.45pm to 7.30pm
LEEDS indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, who mounted the exhibition When All Is Quiet at York Art Gallery in 2018-2019, return to York next Friday when the emphasis will be on I Predict A Riot, not Quiet. Expect Oh My God, Everyday I Love You Less And Less, Ruby et al, plus songs from this year’s Easy Eighth Album, after the evening race card.
Next Saturday afternoon’s racing will be followed by British pop favourites S Club, these days featuring Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara and Rachel Stevens. Here come S Club Party, Never Had A Dream Come True, Bring It All Back, Reach, Don’t Stop Movin’, Have You Ever, Two In A Million, Say Goodbye, You’re My Number One, Love Ain’t Gonna Wait For You and more besides. Raceday tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Ayres Extemporae: Picked by reviewer Steve Crowther and the judges alike for the first prize in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition
THIS seriously prestigious biennial competition at the National Centre for Early Music showcased an outstanding concert of “emerging talent in the world of music”. Although having just quoted from the informative programme, the eight ensembles seemed pretty much “emerged” to my ears.
The first to perform were Trio Altizans (The Netherlands): Eriko Nagayama, violin; Antonio Pellegrino, violoncello; Agata Sorotokin, fortepiano.
THEIR programme, entitled Geister Medley, opened with the Largo Assai Ed Espressivo from Beethoven’s Piano Trio no. 5 in D major, op. 70 no. 1. The Trio captured the spooky, impressionistic tone of the movement. The work is nicknamed ‘the Ghost Trio’ (a response by Carl Czerny to this eerie middle movement).
Trio Altazans: “Performance was focused, lively and the knitting together of different themes worked well”
The performance reminded me how Gothic the music is – creepy bass tremolos in the piano etc. The fragmentary motifs, harmonies that had an instability – quite modern stuff really, but they made a convincing narrative throughout.
From Beethoven to Schubert and the last movement Allegro moderato from the great Piano Trio no. 2 in E flat major, D. 929. I thought the performance was focused, lively and the knitting together of different themes worked well, as did the closing triumphant ending. Not sure of the “early music” label here but I enjoyed it none the less.
Ensemble Bastion, from Switzerland
Ensemble Bastion (Switzerland): Maruša Brezavšček, recorder; Martin Jantzen, viola da gamba; Elias Conrad, theorbo; Mélanie Flores, harpsichord.
NOW this programme, entitled Les Goûts Réunis: The United Musical Tastes “takes its name from a collection of suites by François Couperin, reflecting the high-Baroque period’s rivalry between the musical centres of Italy and France” (programme note).
The programme opened with François Couperins Échos from his Concerts Royaux. I was impressed by the stylish ornamentation and the instinctive engagement between the players. The echoes, or echo effects, were charming.
Ensemble Bastion: “Stylish ornamentation and the instinctive engagement between the players”
Arcangelo Corelli’s Sonata IV in F major, op. 5 was originally ornament-free until composer Johan Helmich Roman (among others) had his say. This was indeed ornament-rich and a joy to listen to.
They closed with Georg Philipp Telemann’s Sonata a Flute Dolce, Dessus de Viole e Basse. This was joy too, the slow movement so gently teased out. But it was the clear canonic dialogue throughout that stayed with me.
[hanse]Pfeyfferey, from Germany. Picture: Vasilisa Gorbacheva
[hanse]Pfeyfferey (Germany): Laura Dümpelmann, shawms; Lilli Pätzold, cornetto; Alexandra Mikheeva, slide trumpet, trombone; Emily Saville, trombone.
WHO could object to an early music programme entitled: Party Like It’s 1524. Their programme note didn’t start promisingly: “In addition to our unwavering commitment to authentically merge musical practice with associated musicology and theory…”
But it perked up with “…we draw inspiration from the timeless human need to enjoy good company, food, drink and music”. Amen to that.
[hanse]Pfeyfferey: “Performers radiated energy playing the music”
I had never heard of the composer Ludwig Senfl so I did a bit of Google listening. I thought the conservative sacred music was quietly impressive, but it was the secular, humanist songs that we were treated to here.
These were full of life and the performers radiated energy playing the music. So too the Improvisations. The performances so seductive, so infectious and, in the case of Isaac’s Lala Höhö and Zwischen Berg Und Tiefe Tal genuinely touching.
P.S. Ludwig Senfl studied with the great Heinrich Isaac and lost a toe in a hunting exercise. Now there’s one for the pub quiz.
Apollo’s Cabinet
Apollo’s Cabinet (UK): Teresa Wrann, recorder; Thomas Pickering, harpsichord, traverso, recorder; David Lopez Ibanez, violin; Harry Buckoke, viola da gamba; Jonatan Bougt, theorbo, Baroque guitar; Daniel Watt, percussion.
THIS programme was entitled Musical Wanderlust: Charles Burney’s European Travels In Pursuit Of Harmony. Mercifully this concert was far more enjoyable than the turgid description would have had us believe. It was an attractive musical travelogue around pre-Brexit Europe through the eyes, ok the diaries, of Charles Burney.
Apollo’s Cabinet: “Attractive musical travelogue around pre-Brexit Europe”
I absolutely loved the whole set. It reminded me a little of Red Priest, who might just have been an influence. This was revisiting Vivaldi, Buxtehude and the holiest of spiritual grails, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, from another perspective; a completely bonkers one.
Of the four prizes on offer this early music band must surely be a contender for one of them. “The most fun-filled, brilliantly whacky prize goes to…”
A PROGRAMME entitled Warblings Of Paradise didn’t seem terribly inviting. Thankfully we had a note of explanation: “In Dante’s Paradise, music is the supreme joy of mankind. The pieces we are going to perform have both sacred and secular aspects and will give full rein to the sounds of heavenly instruments; harps, lutes, vielles and voice will alternate and blend to celebrate the harmony of souls.”
THE recital opened with Guiraut Riquier’s Aisi Com Es Sobronrada (from Chansonnier Provençal – La Vallière). This is intended to be a “declaration of love made to the Virgin”. And yet…tenor Matthieu Romanens was himself seductively serenaded by Aliénor Wolteche (medieval fiddle) and Mélina Perlein-Féliers (medieval harp) without, as far as I could see, much resistance. Mr Romanens has a lovely rich tenor voice with a particularly resonant lower register, which is rare.
Rubens Rosa: “A touching intimacy and a velvety richness in colour”
Following Rubens Rosa’s very engaging rustic dance, Estampie, we were back to Hail Mary, full of grace. There was a touching intimacy and a velvety richness in colour. Very enjoyable.
As indeed was Robert Morton’s instrumental N’aray Je Jamais Mieux Que J’ai, where the introduction of the viola d’arco (Elizabeth Summers) really enriched the tonal palette. Then back to Matthieu Romanens’ tenor voice in a dignified Fortuna Desperate (Anonymous). If you closed your eyes, his voice sounded more like a baritone than a tenor.
Their recital closed with a foot-tapping, rustic Laudato Sia Dio (Dindirindin). The call and response, the energy and rhythmic hemiola shifts (think Bernstein’s America) recharged the soul. Maybe.
Pseudonym, from Switzerland. Picture: Vivianne Caragea
Pseudonym (Switzerland): Liane Sadler Baroque, traverso; Maya Webne-Behrman, violin; Stephen Moran, viola da gamba; Gabriel Smallwood, harpsichord.
PROGRAMME entitled Broken Colours. The notes describe this theme as: “To showcase the wide range of colours and sonic possibilities of this instrumentation, Broken Colours draws on various collections from different composers published throughout the first decades of the seventeenth century. Together they represent a cohesive survey of the prevailing instrumental genres and compositional hallmarks of the time…”
The recital opened with Dario Castello’s Nona Sonata à Tre (from Sonate Concertate In Stil Moderno, Libro Primo, 1621). To be honest I know very little about Dario Castello’s music but what I have heard I liked immensely. As the description “moderno” suggests, his music is progressive, exploring “new formal structures and means of expression” (programme note). I think this freshness did come across; the performance was tight, stylish and full of energy.
Pseudonym: “An infectious, foot-tapping pleasure”
Other Baroque pioneer composers also featured in the recital. I thought the ensemble’s performance of Tarquinio Merula’s Ballo Detto Eccardo was extremely expressive and gave Liane Sadler (traverse flute) an opportunity to shine. Which she did. Biagio Marini’s La Foscarina, Sonata a 3, Con Il Tremolo was pretty amazing too. The players really caught the inventive, expressive nature of Marini’s writing, this time giving violinist Maya Webne-Behrman an opportunity to shine, and she duly did.
The recital closed with Andrea Falconieri’s rhythmically driven Ciaconna And Pseudonym clearly enjoyed playing it as much as we did listening to it. An infectious, foot-tapping pleasure. What a way to sign off.
Ayres Extemporae standing outside St Margaret’s Church, the home of the National Centre for Early Music
UP to this point, I had forgotten that this was a competition. That was until Ayres Extemporae walked on to the stage and opened their recital with an X-rated, blistering account of Heinrich Ignaz Biber’s Sonata for violin and continuo in E minor, C.142.
Xenia Gogu Mensenin’s violin playing – technically brilliant, musically utterly hypnotic and completely fearless – immediately demanded attention. To be sure, there was some respite to be had in the beautiful Aria but this couldn’t last and didn’t; Ms Mensenin got her second wind, the violin bursting free of the constraints of the song, then regained the narrative of “torment” and headed for the finish line with indecent haste.
This was beyond ‘redemption’, nevertheless this remarkable Trio gave it their best shot with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Erbarme Dich from Ich Armer Mensch ich Sündenknecht, BWV 55 (arr. for violoncello piccolo, violin and continuo).
This wonderful aria is (obviously) from the St Matthew Passion. Erbarme Dich (Have Mercy) represents Peter’s weeping and distress at having denied knowing Jesus three times. Here the violoncello piccolo ‘sings’ the tenor aria.
Ayres Extemporae: “Performance was so moving and soul searching”
The performance by Víctor García García was very persuasive: meditative, expressive and genuinely moving. Whether it was persuasive enough, however, was to be found along the “path to forgiveness”. Once again, the Trio turned to Bach, this time the Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord in G major, BWV1027 (arr. for violoncello piccolo, violin and continuo).
In this version, “the cello piccolo takes the role of the viola da gamba, and the violin and the cello play respectively the right and left hand of the harpsichord part” (programme note).
The E minor Andante had a haunting quality. The violoncello (Teresa Madeira) gracefully weaving through the arpeggiated progressions. The performance was so moving and soul searching. The final Allegro moderato was a dance, a bourrée and fugal.
Thus, giving all three of these outstanding performers the chance to show how well they intuitively understood and communicated this music. A real joy and, to quote Tina Turner, Simply The Best?
Before I typed this review, I thought I knew who the winner might be. I just wished I had behaved like a true, blue-rinsed politician and popped out to place a bet before the coronation.
Friedrichs Nebelmeer Ensemble, from Switzerland
Friedrichs Nebelmeer Ensemble (Switzerland): Pablo Gigosos, flute; Mei Kamikawa, oboe; Claudia Reyes, clarinet; Andrés Sanchez, horn; Angel Alvarez, bassoon.
HAVING lived and breathed contemporary music for most of my adult life, I am not a great fan of the 20th-century Wind Quintet repertoire (Birtwistle and the tedious Schoenberg works spring to mind, and back out again). But this Baroque repertoire of Franz Danzi, Giuseppe Cambini and Anton Reicha played by the charmingly enthusiastic Friedrichs Nebelmeer Ensemble was just delightful.
We were told to “expect some fun after a seven-hour concert’”, and we did. The problem is, however, that zippy exchanges – the musical flair in, for example, the Finale: Allegretto of Reicha’s Wind Quintet in E flat major, op. 88 no. 2 – can mask the technical brilliance.
This closing movement is an energetic rondo and all of the performers embraced the solos on offer. I loved the intimacy of the sound the Ensemble generated.
The Larghetto Sostenuto Ma Con Moto from Giuseppe Cambini’s Wind Quintet no. 2 in D minor was so sweetly sung; it’s not often you hear a wind quintet blending as beautifully as this. Again, so intimate but this time with a velvety sensuous colouring.
Their recital actually opened with Franz Danzi’s Allegrettos no’s I and IV from his Wind Quintet in G minor, op. 56 no. 2, a work dedicated to Anton Reicha. Crisp staccato playing, perfect handovers of the musical motifs, lovely clear balance; and yes, it radiated enjoyment.
I do have critical observations and suggestions – not all the performances were uniform, at times not all the balance was quite as democratic as it might have been, and there were a few slips.
Glittering performance: [hanse]Pfeyffereyplaying at the NCEM
But given the quality of these Young Artists and the fact that they had two days of “informal recitals” with completely different programmes and in the company of Steven Devine, then discretion and humility are surely the order of the day.
But I will say that the programme notes, although informative and indeed often insightful, veered towards the academic, seldom a good thing, and a bit dull.
Not surprisingly the “tell us a bit about yourselves and your programme” bit was a distraction at best. To this end, I would suggest drawing from the “everyday” anecdote of Steven Devine himself.
Here Mr Devine took us through a typical York ginnel to the Three Legged Mare pub. There was a folk-blues band playing and he popped in for a pint. Through the window, he noticed some members of an ensemble looking in. He bought them a drink and left. When he returned one of the players had joined in.
One can take many things from this lovely account: that this could never, ever happen at a “classical” music concert; that this musical experience belongs to the working class, pop, rock, folk, blues culture, or that the beer in the Three Legged Mare is decidedly better than that on offer at the NCEM.
“It was wonderful to welcome these eight ensembles from the UK and Europe to what is always an enriching experience,” says York Early Music Festival administrative director Delma Tomlin
For me, it is about the love and importance of music and music making. And what an enriching experience this is. Bob Dylan and John Adams are both great composers, just different.
Anyway, back to the competition. A panel of experts in the field of Early Music, Bart Demuyt, Philip Hobbs, Elizabeth Kenny, Lionel Meunier and Emily Worthington judged that Ayres Extemporae were the winners of this prestigious York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.
Additional prizes went to: [Hanse]Pfeyfferey (Cambridge Early Music), Ensemble Bastion (EUBO Development Trust) and Apollo’s Cabinet (Friends of York Early Music Festival).
So, what a way to close this remarkable festival: with renewal. Talking of which, none of this could happen without the dedication, professionalism and creativity of Delma Tomlin MBE, director of the internationally acclaimed National Centre of Early Music (NCEM) and the York Early Music Festival.
Unfortunately, I am all out of superlatives, so how about “National Treasure”? Sorry Delma.
Belgian trio Ayres Extemporae win the 2024 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition
Winners Ayres Extemporae with the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition judging panel
AYRES Extemporae were awarded first prize at the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition last Saturday, against fierce competition from seven fellow international ensembles from across Europe.
The Belgian-based ensemble receives a professional recording contract from Linn Records, a £1,000 cash prize, a future paid engagement with the York Early Music Festival and recording opportunities with BBC Radio 3.
During the two days before the competition, each ensemble presented an informal recital at the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, with the aim of giving the musicians the opportunity to adapt to the performance space and become accustomed with festival audience members in advance of the final.
These groups were selected from a pool of 48 ensembles from across the world and were judged by an international jury of Bart Demuyt, director of AMUZ/Alamire; Philip Hobbs, from Linn Records; Elizabeth Kenny, internationally acclaimed lutenist; Lionel Meunier, director of Vox Luminis, and Emily Worthington, clarinettist and University of York lecturer.
The competition provided a spectacular finale to the ten-day festival, which connected old friends and new through concerts, recitals and workshops staged in a variety of historic venues around the city.
The recitals from this year’s final are available to watch on demand at ncem.co.uk and on the NCEM’s YouTube channel and edited highlights will be shared on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show on Sunday, November 3 2024.
Friends of York Early Music Festival Award winners Apollo’s Cabinet with festival administrative director Delma Tomlin, right
Ayres Extemporae are: Moldovan-Spanish violinist Xenia Gogu, Spanish cellist Víctor García García, playing on a five-string cello piccolo, and Portuguese cellist Teresa Madeira.
Apollo’s Cabinet, from the UK, scooped the Friends of York Early Music Festival Award, a cash prize of £1,000; Ensemble Bastion won a cash prize of £1,000, endowed by the EUBO Development Trust, for the Most Promising Young Artists specialising in the Baroque repertoire, and [hanse] Pfeyfferey scooped the Cambridge Early Music Prize, which includes a paid performance in Cambridge.
The 2024 finalists were: Apollo’s Cabinet (UK); Ayres Extemporae (Belgium); Ensemble Bastion (Switzerland); Friedrichs Nebelmeer Ensemble (Switzerland); [hanse] Pfeyfferey (Germany); Pseudonym (Switzerland); Rubens Rosa (Switzerland) and Trio Altizans (Netherlands).
The 2024 competition was presented by Steven Devine,harpsichordist, fortepianist, conductor and director of orchestral, choral and opera repertoire, and former artistic advisor to the York Early Music Festival.
At the end of the competition, Philip Hobbs, from Linn Records, who chaired the judging panel, said: “This competition is definitely one of the musical highlights of the year and Linn Records is very proud to continue this important relationship with the York Early Music Festival and with the National Centre for Early Music.
Pseudonym musiciansMaya Webne-Behrman, violin, and Liane Sadler Baroque, traverso, performing in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition
“Today’s concert illustrated an array of extraordinarily inventive musical talent, and I would like to congratulate all eight ensembles who performed.”
Delma Tomlin, NCEM director and festival administrative director, said: “It was wonderful to welcome these eight ensembles from the UK and Europe to what is always an enriching experience and an amazing opportunity to share music and enhance their skills.
“I would like to thank everyone who appeared today, once again the standard of performance was of the highest calibre. I would also like to say a huge thank-you to our panel of judges for their hard work and support and also to Steven Devine for his expertise and invaluable help.”
Winners Ayres Extemporae said: “We’re absolutely delighted and honoured to receive this amazing prize and would like to thank everyone who has supported us – our time in York has been a wonderful experience and everyone has been super-friendly.
“We’d like to thank all the other ensembles for their encouragement, friendship and brilliant musicianship, it’s been a real pleasure spending time with the other musicians. We’re really looking forward to returning to York and recording with Linn Records.”
York Early Music Festival celebrates at York Mansion House
Utopia: Flanders musicians played at National Centre for Early Music, York
THE 2024 York Early Music Festival enjoyed not one, but two celebrations in the presence of the Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Margaret Wells, last week.
Young musicians from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and even Mexico arrived in York to take part in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, held in the city every two years.
The musicians were welcomed with a drinks reception and enjoyed a tour of York Mansion House with the Lord Mayor, who revealed some of the resplendent Georgian building’s hidden secrets.
The next day, the Delegation of Flanders to the UK hosted a reception to mark Flanders Day – a major national holiday in the Belgian region – in celebration of a new partnership with the York Early Music Festival, in association with the Alamire Foundation and AMUZ, with support from the Flanders government.
Bart Brosius, General Representative of Flanders in the UK and Ireland, welcomed the delegation to York and Bart Demuyt, from the Alamire Foundation in Flanders, extended a warm thank-you to the National Centre for Early Music director Delma Tomlin for her continued hard work, giving aspiring young musicians from the UK and beyond the encouragement and recognition they deserve.
Guests included: York Central MP Rachael Maskell; Claire Douglas, Leader of City of York Council; Joan Concannon, University of York; Philip Nelson, Harrowells Solicitors; Adam Butterworth, Department for Business and Trade, and many other guests from the Flanders delegation.
Audiences enjoyed concerts by two ensembles from Flanders, Utopia at the National Centre for Early Music and Cappella Pratensis & I Fedeli at York Minster.
From Flanders with early music: Cappella Pratensis performed at York Minster
Shed Seven: Playing sold-out concerts in York Museum Gardens on Friday and Saturday
SHED Seven’s 30th anniversary open-air concerts are the headline act on Charles Hutchinson’s arts and culture bill for the week ahead. Look out for global travels, Gershwin celebrations and a Hitchcockian comic caper too.
York festival of the week: Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Jack Savoretti, tomorrow; Shed Seven, Friday and Saturday
ANGLO-ITALIAN singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti opens the inaugural Live At York Museum Gardens festival at the 4,000-capacity gardens tomorrow, when the support acts will be Northern Irish folk-blues troubadour Foy Vance, York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich and fast-rising Halifax act Ellur.
Both of Shed Seven’s home-city 30th anniversary gigs have sold out. Expect a different set list each night, special guests and a school choir, plus support slots for The Libertines’ Peter Doherty, The Lottery Winners and York band Serotones on Friday and Doherty, Brooke Combe and Apollo Junction on Saturday. Sugababes’ festival-closing concert on July 21 was cancelled in April. Box office: seetickets.com/event/jack-savoretti/york-museum-gardens/2929799.
Claire Martin: Celebrating Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue at Ryedale Festival. Picture: Kenny McCracken
Jazz gig of the week: Ryedale Festival, Claire Martin and Friends, Rhapsody In Blue – A Gershwin Celebration, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
LONDON jazz singer Claire Martin leads her all-star line-up in a celebration of George Gershwin’s uplifting music and the 100th anniversary of Rhapsody In Blue, a piece that changed musical history.
In the band line-up will be pianist Rob Barron, double bassist Jeremy Brown, drummer Mark Taylor, trumpet player Quentin Collins and saxophonist Karen Sharp. Box office: themiltonrooms.com or ryedalefestival.com.
Maria Gray in the role of The Acrobat in Around The World In 80 Days-ish at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Theatrical return of the week: Around The World In 80 Days-ish, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to August 3
PREMIERED on York playing fields in 2021, revived in a touring co-production with Tilted Wig that opened at the Theatre Royal in February 2023, creative director Juliet Forster’s circus-themed adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel returns under a new title with a new cast.
Join a raggle-taggle band of circus performers as they embark on their most daring feat yet: to perform the fictitious story of Phileas Fogg and his thrilling race across the globe. But wait? Who is this intrepid American travel writer, Nellie Bly, biting at his heels? Will an actual, real-life woman win this race? Cue a carnival of delights with tricks, flicks and brand-new bits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Katie Leckey and Jack Mackay: Co-artistic directors of Griffonage Theatre, alternating roles in Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter
Fringe show of the week: Griffonage Theatre in The Dumb Waiter, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Griffonage Theatre follow up February’s debut production of Patrick Hamilton’s Rope with Harold Pinter’s 1957 one-act play The Dumb Waiter, directed and designed by Wilf Tomlinson.
Two hitmen, Ben and Gus, are waiting in a basement room for their assignment, but why is a dumbwaiter in there, when the basement does not appear to be in a restaurant? To make matters worse, the loo won’t flush, the kettle won’t boil, and the two men are increasingly at odds with each other. Unique to this production, actors Jack Mackay and Katie Leckey will alternate the roles of Ben and Gus at each performance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
One of Anna Matyus’s artworks on show at Helmsley Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Anna Matyus, Helmsley Arts Centre, until August 9
ANNA Matyus’s work explores the powerful spiritual resonance of historical sacred buildings and their setting in the landscape. Using etching and collagraph printmaking techniques and a colourful palette, she seeks to bring to life the powerful geometry of the often-faded motifs and time- worn patterns and symbols of historic artefacts found in the masonry and ancient tiles of these sacred sites.
“My final prints explore and record the dynamic rhythms of three-dimensional architectural form, layered with their decorative and symbolic adornment in a graphic expression of awe and wonder,” she says.
Gary Louris: The Jayhawks’ singer, guitarist and songwriter plays solo at The Crescent on Saturday, York. Picture: Steve Cohen
American solo act of the week: Gary Louris, of The Jayhawks, supported by Dave Fiddler, The Crescent, York, Saturday, 7.30pm
OVER three decades, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Gary Louris has co-led Minneapolis country rock supremos The Jayhawks with Mark Olson, as well as being a member of alt.rock supergroup Golden Smog, forming Au Pair with North Carolina artist Django Haskins in 2015 and releasing two solo albums, 2008’s Vagabonds and 2021’s Jump For Joy.
He has recorded with acts as diverse as The Black Crowes, Counting Crows, Uncle Tupelo, Lucinda Williams, Roger McGuinn, Maria McKee, Tift Merritt and The Wallflowers too. As an alternative to the sold-out Sheds on Saturday, look no further than this American rock luminary. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Cutting a dash but in a hurry: Tom Byrne’s Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps. Picture: Mark Senior
Comedy play of the week: The 39 Steps, Grand Opera House, York, July 23 to July 27, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
PATRICK Barlow’s award-garlanded stage adaptation of The 39 Steps has four actors playing 139 roles between them in 100 dashing minutes as they seek to re-create Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller while staying true to John Buchan’s 1915 book.
Tom Byrne – Falklands War-era Prince Andrew in The Crown – plays on-the-run handsome hero Richard Hannay, complete with stiff upper-lip, British gung-ho and pencil moustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents and devastatingly beautiful women. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
James: Playing Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time on July 26. Picture: Paul Dixon
Coastal gig of the week: James, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26, gates 6pm
JAMES follow up Scarborough appearances in 2015, 2018 and 2021 by continuing that three-year cycle in 2024, on the heels of releasing the chart-topping Yummy, their 18th studio album, in April.
“I’m very pleased that we will be playing Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer – our fourth time in fact,” says bassist and founder member Jim Glennie. “If you haven’t been there before, then make sure you come. It’s a cracking venue and you can even have a paddle in the sea before the show!” Support acts will be Reverend And The Makers, from Sheffield, and Nottingham indie rock trio Girlband!. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/james.
TO quote Anne-Marie Evans in the Daily Telegraph, “whereas the florilegia of the 17th century were created to portray the beauty and novelty of those plants brought back from the colonies, the modern florilegium may be seen as a conservation tool, instrumental in recording for posterity collections of plants within a chosen garden”.
Florilegium’s Le Roi s’Amuse: Music For A King’s Pleasure takes this delicate analogy, a musical journey around a musical flower garden, to “explore the intimate and elegant sound world of France in the decades around 1700 and perform music by composers known to both Louis XIV and Louis XV”.
An inspired concept that rewarded us with an impeccable concert of 18th-century French Baroque music. The concert opened with Jacques-Martin Hotteterre’s Suite in D major, and despite a gentle whinge by flautist Ashley Solomon at the 10.30am start, it was impeccable.
The opening Prelude set the tone of serious elegance and refinement. The flute playing by Mr Solomon was simply divine; phrases lovingly caressed, detail rich and polished. The Sarabande oozed charm and elegance, Menuet’s I & II were fresh and vibrant and the Brione’ Gigue (La Folichon) closed with a deliciously cute signing off.
Some of the movements were christened with titles such as Le Duc d’Orléans and Le Comte de Brionne. I can only assume these referred to courtiers from the reign of Louis XIV.
Jacques Morel’s Chaconne was great fun. It started out as a sweet Sunday morning chat with the flute and viola da gamba. The dialogue became a little more animated, competitive and virtuosic but the narrative always remained within the boundaries of decency, and they did kiss and make up at the end.
Couperin’s Unmeasured Prelude No. 13 is a work written without rhythm or metre indications. The score uses long groups of phrased whole notes, a bit like an instrumental plainchant. Anyhow, the performance was just superb; a quiet, melancholic jewel.
I haven’t heard of the composer Michel de la Barre. He wrote music for the transverse flute (no keys to cover the tone holes). The performance of his Suite No. 9 in G major was ensemble music making of the very highest order.
Marin Marais’s Suite in D minor was a tour de force performed with real, almost musically primal energy and vitality by Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba). The sound world was unlike anything else on offer: muscular, grainy lower register, biting articulation, dramatic dynamic range.
Such was the sheer physicality of the playing that even the wonderful Siobhan Armstrong’s harp accompaniment came across somewhat cowed, almost apologetic and the balance, not surprisingly, uneven.
Jacques-Martin Hotteterre’s Prelude: Pourquoy, Doux Rossignol proved to be the tenderest of love songs. The playing so refined, so sensitive.
Jean-Baptiste Barrière’s Sonata a Tre proved to be a worthy finale. Here, as ever, the playing was incisive, warm and polished. There was an encore, but unfortunately I missed the name and title of the work. It was very good, however.
Florilegium – Ashley Solomon, flute, Reiko Ichise, viola da gamba, and Siobhán Armstrong, harp – clearly are a world-class period instrument ensemble. And this insightful exploration and interpretation of the “intimate and elegant” French Baroque musical world of Jacques-Martin Hotteterre, Marin Marais and their lesser-known contemporaries was an absolute joy.
The performances were invariably elegant, technically flawless and, perhaps above all, transported the listener to a quite magical place.
Shed Seven: Playing sold-out concerts in York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20
SHED Seven’s 30th anniversary open-air gigs top Charles Hutchinson’s bill. Roman emperors, Ryedale musicians, Brazilian sambas and theatrical Fools look promising too.
York festival of the week: Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Jack Savoretti, July 18; Shed Seven, July 19 and 20
ONLY 100 tickets are still available for Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti’s opening concert of the inaugural Live At York Museum Gardens festival at the 4,000-capacity York Museum Gardens, when the support acts will be Northern Irish folk-blues troubadour Foy Vance, York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich and fast-rising Halifax act Ellur.
Both of Shed Seven’s home-city 30th anniversary gigs have sold out. Expect a different set list each night, special guests and a school choir, plus support slots for The Libertines’ Peter Doherty, The Lottery Winners and York band Serotones next Friday and Doherty, Brooke Combe and Apollo Junction next Saturday. Sugababes’ festival-closing concert on July 21 was cancelled in April. Box office: seetickets.com/event/jack-savoretti/york-museum-gardens/2929799.
Jack Savoretti: Opening the inaugural Live At York Museum Gardens festival on Thursday
Tribute show of the week: The Illegal Eagles, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
IN their 24th year on the road, The Illegal Eagles return with a new production rooted as ever in the greatest hits of the American West Coast country rock band, from Hotel California to Desperado, Life In The Fast Lane to Lyin’ Eyes.
The latest line-up features former Blow Monkeys drummer Tony Kiley, Trevor Newnham, from Dr Hook, on vocals and bass, Greg Webb, vocals and guitars, Mike Baker, vocals, guitars and keys, and Garreth Hicklin, likewise. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron: Artist in residence at 2024 Ryedale Festival
Classical festival of the week: Ryedale Festival, running until July 28
THIS summer’s Ryedale Festival features 58 performances in 35 beautiful and historic locations, with performers ranging from Felix Klieser, a horn player born without arms, to trail-blazing Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron to violinist Stella Chen, the Van Baerle Piano Trio to Rachel Podger on her Troubadour Trail.
Taking part too will be Royal Wedding cellistSheku Kanneh-Mason, Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, Brazilian guitar pioneer Plinio Fernandes, choral groups The Marian Consort and Tenebrae, actress and classical music enthusiast Dame Sheila Hancock, jazz singer Claire Martin and Northumbrian folk group The Unthanks. For the full programme and ticket details, head to: ryedalefestival.com.
Mary Beard: Revealing the truths and lies behind the emperors of Rome at Grand Opera House, York
History lesson of the week: Mary Beard: Emperor Of Rome, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm
CLASSICIST scholar, debunking historian and television presenter Mary Beard shines the spotlight on Roman emperors, from the well-known Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to the almost-unknown Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).
Venturing beyond the hype of politics, power and succession, she will uncover the facts and fiction of these rulers, assessing what they did and why and how we came to have such a lurid view of them. Audience questions will be taken. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Maria Gray in the role of The Acrobat in Around The World In 80 Days-ish at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Theatrical return of the week: Around The World In 80 Days-ish, York Theatre Royal, July 18 to August 3
PREMIERED on York playing fields in 2021, revived in a touring co-production with Tilted Wig that opened at the Theatre Royal in February 2023, creative director Juliet Forster’s circus-themed adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel returns under a new title with a new cast.
Join a raggle-taggle band of circus performers as they embark on their most daring feat yet: to perform the fictitious story of Phileas Fogg and his thrilling race across the globe. But wait? Who is this intrepid American travel writer, Nellie Bly, biting at his heels? Will an actual, real-life woman win this race? Cue a carnival of delights with tricks, flicks and brand-new bits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Katie Leckey: Alternating the roles of Ben and Gus with Jack Mackay in Griffonage Theatre’s The Dumb WaiterJack Mackay: Alternating the roles of Ben and Gus with Katie Leckey in Griffonage Theatre’s The Dumb Waiter
Fringe show of the week: Griffonage Theatre in The Dumb Waiter, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 18 to 20, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Griffonage Theatre follow up February’s debut production of Patrick Hamilton’s Rope with Harold Pinter’s 1957 one-act play The Dumb Waiter, directed and designed by Wilf Tomlinson.
Two hitmen, Ben and Gus, are waiting in a basement room for their assignment, but why is a dumbwaiter in there, when the basement does not appear to be in a restaurant? To make matters worse, the loo won’t flush, the kettle won’t boil, and the two men are increasingly at odds with each other. Unique to this production, actors Jack Mackay and Katie Leckey will alternate the roles of Ben and Gus at each performance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Four go into three: Cast members James Aldred, Peter Long, Lucy Chamberlain and Charlotte Horner of The Three Inch Fools
Open-air theatre at the double: The Three Inch Fools in The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII, Scampston Hall, Scampston, near Malton, July 20; Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York, July 23 and Helmsley Walled Garden, August 6; The Comedy Of Errors, Helmsley Walled Garden, July 19, all at 7pm
THE Three Inch Fools, brothers James and Stephen Hyde’s specialists in fast-paced storytelling and uproarious music-making, head to Scampston, York and Helmsley with their rowdy reimagining of the story of the troublesome Tudor king in The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII as he strives to navigate his way through courtly life, while fighting the French again, re-writing religious law and clocking up six wives.
The Play That Goes Wrong’s Sean Turner directs the Fools’ innovative take on Shakespeare’s shortest, wildest farce The Comedy Of Errors, with its tale of long-lost twins, misunderstandings and messy mishaps. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
Barbara Marten, York actor, oil on canvas, by Steve Huison, on show at Pyramid Gallery
Exhibition of the week: Steve Huison, Portraits, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until August 31
THE Full Monty actor and artist Steve Huison is exhibiting 12 studies of colleagues in the acting profession, musicians who have inspired him, an adventurous Greenland chef and a famous Swiss clown.
On show are portraits of fellow actors Paul Barber, Arnold Oceng, Barbara Marten, Will Snape, Clarence Smith and Joe Duttine, musicians Abdullah Ibrahim, Quentin Rawlings and Flora Hibberd, counsellor and therapist Dr Tanya Frances, chef Mike Keen and Grock the Clown. Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
THE director of Ensemble In Echo, cornetto player Gawain Glenton, introduced the concert with: “Happy to see a full church”. Well, Amen to that, although I’m not quite sure whether this was a compliment or a dig.
Talking of digs, Mr Glenton did give 21st century Western [music] a kick up the sackbutt with regard to fetishising newness and innovation, considering them to be “the defining elements of true”.
There is some truth here, but this certainly doesn’t apply to 20th century jazz, although this point was made later in the informative programme notes.
The programme header, Metamorfosi – Italian Transformations, epitomised the 2024 festival theme of ‘imitation being the sincerest form of flattery’. And some. The whole concert brimmed with music based on composers’ refashioning of music of other composers.
Take, for example, Jacob van Eyck’s Amarilli Mia Bella. This piece is in effect a set of continuous variations based on Giulio Caccini’s beautiful but somewhat artificial song My Lovely Amaryllis:
“My lovely Amaryllis,
Don’t you know, O my heart’s sweet desire,
That it is you whom I love?
Open my breast and see written on my heart:
Amaryllis, Amaryllis, Amaryllis, is my love.” (English translation by Paul Archer)
If you replace ‘Amaryllis’ with ‘Horse’ (Father Ted), then the artificial translates into delicious farce.
Anyway, the performance was quite wonderful. Trombone calls, sunshine-bright string responses and one of the most beautifully ornamented melodies I have ever heard (Gawain Glenton, recorder).
Didier Lupi’s Susanne Un Jour is a song setting of a 16th-century French poem by Guillaume Guéroult. And again, artificiality is the poetic driver:
“One day, Susanne’s love was solicited
By two old men coveting her beauty.
She became sad and discomforted at heart,
Seeing the attempt on her chastity.”
Lupi’s chanson setting was reworked by di Lasso, transforming it into a five-voice setting, which in turn was reworked into this virtuosic showpiece by Giovanni Bassano. The performance was again a jaw-dropping delight: trombone and strings creating velvety curtains of sound contrasting a fun-filled duelling duet by the violin (Oliver Webber) and cornetto. The melodic embellishment was breathtaking and delivered with true panache.
Ornamental transformation was seriously on offer with Silas Wollston’s harpsichord performance of Giovanni Maria Trabaci’s Ancidetemi Pur. This had an earlier incarnation as a plain four-part madrigal by Jaques Arcadelt. However, I am far from sure if the actual respect and recognisability of Arcadelt’s madrigal is at all meaningful.
The harpsichord realisation in Mr Wollston’s performance was delightfully bonkers. Blistering scales, ornaments, contrapuntal overload with an occasional contemporary tonal twist or inflection. It did indeed remind me of Gawain Glenton’s take: “As with 20th century jazz standards, the interest with such works lay in hearing an admired musician’s ‘take’ on a particular piece.’”
The performance of Allessandro Striggio’s Ancor Ch’io Possa Dire (originally a 16th century smash hit) was another tour de force, but the lineage of musical begetting passed me by.
By contrast, the intimacy of Gabriello Puliti and Pietro San Giorgio’s setting and responses to Vestiva I Colli came as welcome relief. The former brought Gawain Glenton’s cornetto back to the frontline, gently firing bursts of richly decorated joy. Goodness me, this was good.
The San Giorgio featured a tender duet with Oliver Webber (violin) and Rachel Byrt (viola), adding some sober dignity to the proceedings.
Philippe Verdelot’s Dormendo Un Giorno brought some welcome relief as Mr Glenton took a well-earned break. It was a beautiful lament, sounding as if they actually missed him. How sweet.
After the loveliest of trios by Vincenzo Ruffo, the concert ended with Giovanni Grillo’s seven-part instrumental Sonata Prima.
Not only did the composer embrace the antiphonal music of Giovanni Gabrieli, who in turn embraced and exploited the architecture of the great Italian basilica at San Marco in Venice. But also, in the words of Mr Glenton, “Grillo plainly inserts not one, but two of the most popular secular songs of the 16th century: Susanne Un Jour and Vestiva I Colli. Grillo quotes both pieces at length in a manner that must have brought a smile to all who heard it.”
Now that is a shedload of musical imitation, metamorphosis and flattery. The performance was full of joy and engagement with a delicious, bubbling signing-off.
Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron: One of six artists in residence at Ryedale Festival. Picture: Victoria Cadisch
IN the words of guest speaker Dame Sheila Hancock, “classical music thrills, comforts and amazes me. When I begin to lose faith in the human species, it reminds me what the best of us can do.”
“That seems a good motto for the Ryedale Festival 2024,” says director Christopher Glynn, introducing the programme of 58 events at 35 locations that begins today.
“Our aim at the Ryedale Festival is simple: to make North Yorkshire one of the best places in Europe to enjoy and encounter classical music, and to do it with a sense of vision and adventure.
“I look forward to welcoming audiences from near and far to enjoy internationally renowned performers this summer, from Angela Hewitt performing Bach to Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing Bob Marley – and all in beautiful Yorkshire locations.
“Just as importantly, the festival offers opportunities to hundreds of local young people and a platform for emerging talent, as well as breaking new ground with seven world/UK premieres. Above all, it’s a team effort involving thousands of people who all believe in the important and life-enhancing role that music can play in our communities.”
Dame Sheila Hancock: “Classical music is one of the biggest comforts and joys of my life,” she says. Picture: Neil Spence
Actress and author Dame Sheila, 91, will reflect on her life and introduce live performances of favourite works by Mahler, Dvorak, Shostakovich, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd in My Music: An Afternoon With Dame Sheila Hancock at Duncombe Park on July 25 at 3pm.
“I love classical music. It’s my stabiliser,” says Dame Sheila, who will be joined by the Carducci Quartet, soprano Caroline Blair and interviewer Katy Hamilton. “It’s one of the biggest comforts and joys of my life. And I want everybody to have the opportunity of that – I really do. We need people to know that it’s for everybody.”
Violinist Rachel Podger: Troubadour Trail at St Oswald’s Church Filey (24/7/2024, 11am), Christ Church, Appleton-le-Moors (25/7/2024, 11am) and Church of St Michael and All Angels, Garton on the Wolds (26/7/2024, 3pm)
Pianist Angela Hewitt opens the festival tonight with an 8pm programme of Bach’s Partita No. 6 in E minor, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Scarlatti’s Three Sonatas and Brahms’s Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel at Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering.
The festival has no fewer than six artists in residence: international horn player Felix Klieser, who was born without arms and taught himself to play with his feet; trailblazing guitarist Xuefei Yang, whose musical journey began at a time when the guitar was banned as an “hooligan” instrument in China; mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, born to a British father and Singaporean mother; violinist Stella Chen, the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year; the Van Baerle Trio and baroque violinist Rachel Podger, whose Troubadour Trail solo programme takes her to three North Yorkshire churches.
Nigel Short conducts the choir Tenebrae in A Prayer For Deliverance at Ampleforth Abbey on July 17 at 8pm when highlights include Joel Thompson’s title work Richard Rodney Bennett’s tribute to Linda McCartney, A Good-Night, and Herbert Howells’ Requiem to his young son Michael.
Violinist Maria Wloszczowska directs the Royal Northern Sinfonia in Mozart In Scarborough, a 7pm programme of Mozart concertos and Prague symphony at Church of St Martin-on-the-Hill on July 20.
Royal Wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs music from Brahms’s Hungarian Dances to Bob Marley’s Redemption Song, Burt Bacharach’s I Say A Little Prayer to Antonio Carlos Jobim’s The Girl From Ipanema, Laura Mvula’s Sing To The Moon to Dvorak’s Song To The Moon, on July 27 at both St Peter’s Church, Norton (1.30pm), and Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York (6pm).
Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Two concerts in one day. Picture: Ollie Ali
He will be joined by violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason, guitarist Plinio Fernandes, Fantasia Orchestra and conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh at both St Peter’s Church, Norton (1.30pm), and Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York (6pm).
“You can spot stars of tomorrow, such as Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili (who started as a child pop singer and even won The Voice), conductor and ‘spark to watch’ Tom Fetherstonhaugh, Brazilian guitar pioneer Plínio Fernandes, and an array of others, including our own Ryedale Festival Young Artists,” says Christopher.
“All are welcome to Come and Sing Fauré’s Requiem [A Tenebrae Effect Workshop] at St Mary’s Church, Thirsk or promenade through a Triple Concert at Castle Howard [Van Baerle Trio, Long Gallery; Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain, Great Hall; Marian Consort, Chapel).
“You can also picnic in the interval of a Double Concert [Piatti Quartet and Katona Twins] at Sledmere House and Church, enjoy the Orchestra of Opera North [Final Gala Concert] at Hovingham Hall, or join us at new venues such as Selby Abbey[Marian Consort, In Sorrow’s Footsteps, Allegri’s Miserere, July 25] and stunning locations on the Yorkshire Wolds, North York Moors and coast.”
Jazz, folk and world music feature too. Claire Martin & Friends mark the 100th anniversary Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blues at the Milton Rooms, Malton, on July 19, and Northumbrian folk band The Unthanks perform there with an 11-piece line-up on July 23.
Becky and Rachel Unthank: July 23 concert at Milton Rooms, Malton
Fleur Barron and pianist Julius Drake will be joined by Hibiki Ichikawa (shamisen) and Suleiman Suleiman (actor/dancer) for Spring Snow, a meditation on sound and silence, solitude and communion, love and loss, built around the Kabuki play Yasuna and Schubert’s Winterreise as shamisen music meets Japanese dance-theatre at St Peters Church, Norton, on July 16.
Family concerts, talks, masterclasses, late-night candlelit concerts, choral evensong, Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band and seven world/UK premieres will be further highlights.
For the full programme, visit: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777 or ryedalefestival.com.
The Sixteen: Master Of Imitation programme at York Minster
A SURPRISE introduction: as per usual the concert was prefaced by a clerical welcome plus loo, safety and mobile phone instruction. This closed with a prayer, which I thought was a bit of a no-no. But then I got the (possible) subtext: England were to embark on a penalty shoot-out. And it worked; we won!
The Sixteen’s Masters Of Imitation celebrates the art of parody in renaissance music, focusing on the works of Orlande de Lassus to link this inspired programme together.
Today we are very used to the term ‘parody’ meaning to imitate, to exaggerate the style of a particular writer or artist but to comic effect. Here Lassus’s parody works are akin to creating a musical patchwork quilt: taking musical bits, passages from his own historic compositions or his great predecessor Josquin des Prez, for example, and reworking the material into an entirely new composition. This latter process being a dedicated act of homage.
The concert opened with the timeless beauty of the plainchant Lauda Jerusalem Dominum. It was performed as a processional with the tenor calls answered with soprano responses. There is invariably a deep simplicity of beauty in these non-metric, homophonic lines and this, being The Sixteen, was no exception.
Lassus’s reworking of the plainchant (it has the same text) was a thing of beauty. Here melodies rising high into the air, the singing just glorious. But there was also a sense of fun, of joy as the music rhythmically danced. And word painting too. I think it was this sense of warmth, of Lassus’s humanity that was communicated so effectively.
Lassus’s motet Osculetur Me Osculo Oris sui is scored for two choirs and the composer exploits the different sonorities to dramatic effect, such as Trahe Me Post Te. I was reminded of the music of the Gabrielis, but doubt I’m the only one to have made this connection.
And then there was the sensuous setting of some quite juicy texts:
“Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth;
for thy love is better than wine
Thy name is as oil poured out;
therefore the young maidens have loved thee.”
Be rest assured, the Latin text gives these lines a “cloak of decency” (Bob Dylan).
To be honest, I had never heard of Maddalena Casulana. According to a leading authority in these matters, Wikipedia tells us “she was an Italian composer, lutenist and singer of the late Renaissance. [Casulana] is the first female composer to have had a whole book of her music printed and published in the history of western music, dedicated to her female patron Isabella de Medici”.
Her pretty radical dedication reads: “These first fruits of mine, flawed as they are … show the world the futile error of men, who believe themselves patrons of the high gifts of intellect, which according to them cannot also be held in the same way by women.”
Of the two madrigals I found the second much more rewarding. The choir was reduced by half, which added some welcome relief from conductor Harry Christophers’ insistence on performing the programme with a full complement of singers. Greater clarity of line and text massively enhanced enjoyment. This love song was a real gem.
It is perhaps worth noting that this rediscovery and promotion of Maddalena Casulana’s music –this may be the first time these works have been committed to a CD recording, Masters Of Imitation, available at all good record shops near you – is clearly significant.
In The Sixteen’s 2023 Choral Pilgrimage, Harry Christophers programmed the world premiere of two commissioned works by female composer Dobrinka Tabakova.
I struggled with Lassus’s eight-part Credo from his Missa Osculetur Me. There was just so much wonderful contrapuntal detail unable to escape from the Minster acoustic black hole. At times passages hung in the air, just a haze of sound, albeit a beautifully sung one. And yes, the closing coming together and Amen final cadence was delicious.
Jean Guyot de Châtelet’s arrangement of Josquin, adding six extra parts to Benedicta es Caelorum Regina, was thrilling, if somewhat eccentric. There were juicy false relations and a spine-tingling Amen. This is original music composition and performance of the highest order.
Other memorable highlights included Josquin Desprez’s Benedicta es Caelorum Regina with its exquisite tenor opening, its slightly whacky atmosphere of splendour and its forceful, dramatic descending scales prosecuting the message-with-a-twist:
“The Word became flesh from you,
by whom all are saved.”
Lassus’s Magnificat Benedicta es Caelorum Regina was another, with its clear contrapuntal lines and exciting antiphonal exchanges that seemed to dissolve or evaporate, allowing the light to shine.
Although there is no doubting the brilliance of Bob Chilcott’s choral music – surely every choir in the UK worth its salt must have Chilcott in its repertoire – his music just doesn’t “turn me on” (John Lennon). But this specially commissioned sacred parody of Lassus’s secular madrigal, Lauda Jerusalem Dominum, undoubtedly called for a personal rethink.
The setting was pretty conservative – no surprises here, Chilcott is a pretty conservative composer. But there were truly magical moments. For example, the delicate ostinato soprano patterns, beautiful on their own terms, then as a gorgeous backdrop for the soaring melodies.
I would have liked greater contrasts in scoring and dynamic, but the rich tonal harmonic identity, distinctive variations in colour and ending delivered a tasty punch. The performance was of the usual exemplary quality; instinctive melodic shaping, expression and care for detail. And so musical.
The concert as a whole showed yet again Harry Christopher and The Sixteen’s deep understanding of repertory and, just as importantly, communicated an infectious engagement in the music itself. The audience response was both instinctive and rapturous.
Mezzo-sopranoFleur Barron: Residency at Ryedale Festival. Picture: Victoria Cadisch
RYEDALE Festival tops the bill for Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations. A tribute to tribute acts, Grimm tales, Roman emperors, Brazilian sambas and theatrical Fools look promising too.
Festival of the week: Ryedale Festival, July 12 to 28
THIS summer’s Ryedale Festival features 58 performances in 35 beautiful and historic locations, with performers ranging from Felix Klieser, a horn player born without arms, to trail-blazing Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang, mezz-soprano Fleur Barron to violinist Stella Chen, the Van Baerle Piano Trio to Troubadour Trail host Rachel Podger.
Taking part too will be Royal Wedding cellistSheku Kanneh-Mason, Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, Brazilian guitar pioneer Plinio Fernandes, choral groups The Marian Consort and Tenebrae, actress and classical music enthusiast Dame Sheila Hancock, jazz singer Claire Martin and Northumbrian folk group The Unthanks. For the full programme and ticket details, head to: ryedalefestival.com.
Re-Bjorn each show: Sarah-Louise Young in I Am Your Tribute at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Fringe show of the week: Sarah-Louise Young, I Am Your Tribute, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
AFTER An Evening Without Kate Bush, the Julie Andrews-focused Julie Madly Deeply and The Silent Treatment, Sarah-Louise Young returns to Theatre@41 with her Edinburgh Fringe-bound new show, I Am Your Tribute.
In her “most ambitiously interactive performance yet”, she invites you to help her create the ultimate tribute to an act of your choosing. Along the way she will teach you the tricks of the trade, share her greatest hits and uncover the occasionally darker side of living in someone’s else’s shadow. Expect music, wigs and wonderment. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Happily ever after: Rowntree Players cast members in Grimm Tales
Fairy tales of the week: Rowntree Players in Grimm Tales, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm
AMI Carter directs Rowntree Players in Carol Ann Duffy’s adaptation of Grimm Tales, dramatised by Tim Supple, with Chris Meadley in the role of the Narrator.
The cast of 15 takes a journey through a selection of delightfully bizarre stories from the Brothers Grimm collection to reveal their true origins and to discover that the path to a happy ending can, indeed, be a little grim. Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mary Beard: Roman emperors, the truth and the lies, at Grand Opera House, York
History lesson of the week: Mary Beard: Emperor Of Rome, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 7.30pm
CLASSICIST scholar, debunking historian and television presenter Mary Beard shines the spotlight on Roman emperors, from the well-known Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to the almost-unknown Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).
Venturing beyond the hype of politics, power and succession and into the heart of the palace corridors, she will uncover the facts and fiction of these rulers, asking what they did and why, and how we came to have such a lurid view of them. Themes of autocracy, corruption and conspiracy will be explored and audience questions will be taken. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Andrew Methven: Playing a Lazy Sunday Session at Milton Rooms, Malton
Afternoon entertainment: Lazy Sunday Sessions, Andrew Methven & Joseph Wing, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm
HEADLINER Andrew Metheven, from Bradford, pens lo-fi folk songs about births, hills, decay and daydreams and too many about birds, as heard on his June 2024 debut album, Sister Winter, available via Bandcamp. Singer and guitarist Joseph Wing, from Malton band Penny Fleck, will be the support act. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Madness: Welcome to the House Of Fun at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gig of the week: Madness, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Friday, gates 6pm
MADNESS, the Nutty Boys of Camden Town, return to the North Yorkshire great outdoors for Suggs and co to roll out such ska-flavoured music-hall hits as Our House, One Step Beyond, Baggy Trousers, It Must Be Love, House Of Fun, Michael Caine, Wings Of A Dove, Night Boat To Cairo, My Girl, Driving In My Car, Tomorrow’s Just Another Day and Embarrassment. Standing tickets are still available at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/madness.
Fernando Maynart: Showcasing new album at Helmsley Arts Centre
Brazilian sambas of the week: Fernando Maynart, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
BRAZILIAN singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist Fernando Maynart introduces his new album, TranSambas, showcasing the different rhythmic nuances of samba rooted in Africa via the West African slave trade and the Afro-Brazilian religion.
Maynart, whose set also features songs by Brazilian maestro Dorival Caymmi, will be accompanied by Brazilian flautist Daniel Allain and drummer/percussionist Denilson Oliveira, plus Ryedale multi-instrumentalist David Key. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Four go into three: James Aldred, Peter Long, Lucy Chamberlain and Charlotte Horner of The Three Inch Fools
Open-air theatre at the double: The Three Inch Fools in The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII, Scampston Hall, Scampston, near Malton, July 20; Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York, July 23 and Helmsley Walled Garden, August 6; The Comedy Of Errors, Helmsley Walled Garden, July 19, all at 7pm
THE Three Inch Fools, brothers James and Stephen Hyde’s specialists in fast-paced storytelling and uproarious music-making, head to Scampston, York and Helmsley with their rowdy reimagining of the story of the troublesome Tudor king in The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII as he strives to navigate his way through courtly life, while fighting the French again, re-writing religious law and clocking up six wives.
The Play That Goes Wrong’s Sean Turner directs the Fools’ innovative take on Shakespeare’s shortest, wildest farce The Comedy Of Errors, with its tale of long-lost twins, misunderstandings and messy mishaps. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
