FOLK big band Bellowhead are to reunite next year for a tenth anniversary tour of their Broadside album.
Among the 18 dates will be Yorkshire concerts at Harrogate Convention Centre on November 25 2022 and Sheffield City Hall two nights later.
During lockdown in 2020, the 11 members first re-connected online to record New York Girls – At Home remotely, prompting Bellowhead to reconvene in person for a one-off performance, streamed to mark the tenth anniversary of 2010’s Hedonism.
Thousands of fans watched one of the biggest online streams of 2020, confirming contemporary prog-folk act Bellowhead still to be in big demand despite not performing their traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties live since 2016.
The stream led to pleas for more and now the stars have aligned for Jon Biden, John Spiers, Sam Sweeney and co to assemble once more next autumn to toast fourth album Broadside’s tenth birthday.
Sam Sweeney: Playing with Bellowhead and providing the tour support with his own band. Picture: Elly Lucas
Produced by John Leckie for release on October 15 2012, Broadside gave Bellowhead their first Top 20 entry in the UK Official Album Charts and features the BBC Radio 2-playlisted singles Roll The Woodpile Down and 10,000 Miles Away.
Bellowhead say: “The reaction to the online concert was overwhelming and we really did enjoy playing together again. The tenth anniversary of Broadside presented an opportunity for us to take things one step further and get back out on the road. We couldn’t say no! It’s going to be lots of fun. Hope you’ll join us for the party.”
Support on all dates will come from Sam Sweeney and his band. Stroud fiddler Sweeney is not only a Bellowhead “veteran” (serving from 2008 to 2016 and now back on the front line) but also former artistic director of the National Folk Youth Ensemble.
Last year, Sweeney released his second solo album, Unearth Repeat; last Friday, he played a sold-out gig at the National Centre for Early Music, York, with Jack Rutter, acoustic guitar, Louis Campbell, electric guitar, and Ben Nicholls, double bass.
Bellowhead formed in 2004; played to thousands of people at festivals and on tour; recorded five studio albums, selling more than 250,000 copies; received two silver discs and won eight BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards before parting ways in 2016. Next autumn’s reunion itinerary is being billed as a “special one-off tour”.
Tickets go on general sale on Friday (26/22/2021) at 10am at gigst.rs/bellowhead.
Avalanche Party: Party night at Young Thugs Studio in York. Picture: Jason Ferdinando
YOUNG Thugs Studio is marking the refurbishment of its recording studios in South Bank Social Club, Olvington Terrace, York, with a Saturday launch party from 7pm to 11pm.
This celebration of “some of the best music our region has to offer” will feature feral North York Moors garage-punk psych rock band Avalanche Party and Hull’s fast-emerging Low Hummer.
Formed in 2014, Avalanche Party revel in an “intense and immediate sound, so new yet so familiar, brimming with an urgency that explodes off the stage like the front lines of a war you didn’t even realise was being fought”.
Every note is played through white knuckles, every word spat through gritted teeth, as heard on 2019’s debut album, 24 Carat Diamond Trephine.
Low Hummer’s “woozy indie pop with a beautiful world view” was last heard in York when they opened for Manic Street Preachers at York Barbican on October 4.
Saturday’s gig will be preceded by a formal opening, conducted by the Lord Mayor of York, the Reverend Councillor Chris Cullwick, at 10am that morning.
“It’s going to be wonderfully inspiring when people can go and see bands again. I can’t wait,” says Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall
SIMPLY Red will head back to Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer for the first time since 2016.
Mick Hucknall’s pop-soul band will play on the East Coast on July 22, with tickets going on sale on Friday at 9am at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Looking forward to his stage return, Hucknall, 61, says: “I’ve spent most of my life going out and singing for people, so it feels strange not to have that. I miss being able to express myself. It’s going to be wonderfully inspiring when people can go and see bands again. I can’t wait.”
Simply Red have notched up more than a billion hits on You Tube and sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, five of them going to number one in the UK: A New Flame in 1989, Stars in 1991, Life in 1995, Greatest Hits in 1996 and Blue in 1998 .
All 12 Simply Red studio albums since 1985 debut Picture Book have made the British top ten; the latest, 2019’s Blue Eyed Soul, peaking at number six.
1991’s Stars was the best-selling album for two years running in Britain and Europe; Holding Back The Years and If You Don’t Know Me By Now both topped the US Billboard singles chart.
Simply Red: Mick Hucknall has retained the same line-up since 2003
Manchester-born Hucknall has been the songwriter and bandleader since Simply Red formed in 1985, working with the present line-up since 2003.
Simply Red join the ever-expanding diary of headliners at Scarborough OAT in 2022: Lionel Richie, Lewis Capaldi, Bryan Adams, Crowded House and Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Peter Taylor, of venue programmers Cuffe and Taylor, says: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Simply Red back to Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
“Mick Hucknall is a music legend and he and his band sound as relevant and as fresh today as they did when Simply Red first burst into the public consciousness almost 40 years ago.
“We’ve had so many requests for them to return, so we are delighted to oblige and reveal they will be back at this special venue next summer.”
Forty years on: ABBA’s voyage back to the recording studio
NOW, even podcaster Graham Chalmers has bought into ABBA’s return after 40 years, buying comeback album Voyage.
Hear his verdict in Episode 65 of Two Big Egos In A Small Car, under questioning from Charles Hutchinson. Together they then recommend 2022 releases that could just be fabber than Abba.
Under discussion too are next January’s relaunch of bespoke Charm gigs in Harrogate; seeing/not seeing Soft Cell’s home-coming 40th anniversary show in Leeds…and Colin Firth’s hair in Eva Husson’s new upstairs/downstairs film Mothering Sunday.
Queen’s counsel: Ben Elton, director of 20th anniversary tour production of We We Will Rock You. Picture: Trevor Leighton
WRITER Ben Elton is to direct the 20th anniversary tour of We Will Rock You, the futuristic musical he scripted for Queen. Week two will bring his 2022 cast to the Grand Opera House, York, from February 14 to 19.
“I can hardly believe it’s been 20 years since We Will Rock You premiered in London, or that much of what we thought was science fiction in the script back then has turned into science fact,” says Elton, the Eighties’ godfather of political stand-up comedy, writer for stage and screen and novelist.
“I guess Queen were always ahead of the game! I’ve directed this show all over the world and I can’t wait to bring it home to the UK with a brand new production and a fabulous cast of young Bohemians, Bohemians, most of whom were rocking in their cradles when this adventure first began.”
Queen guitarist Brian May: musical advisor for We Will Rock You. Picture: Rankin
Powered by 24 Queen songs, We Will Rock You tells the story of a globalised future without musical instruments where a handful of rock rebels, the Bohemians, fight against the all-powerful Global soft company and its boss, the Killer Queen, in the cause of freedom, individuality and the rebirth of the age of rock.
Scaramouche and Galileo, two young outsiders, cannot come to terms with the bleak conformist reality, joining the Bohemians to embark on the search to find the unlimited power of freedom, love and rock.
The tour cast will be led Ian McIntosh as Galileo and Elena Skye as Scaramouche, with Jenny O’Leary as Killer Queen, Adam Strong as Khashoggi, Michael Mckell as Buddy, Martina Ciabatti Mennell as Oz, David Michael Johnson as Brit.
We Will Rock You: Touring 27 venues on 20th anniversary tour. Picture: Johan Persson
The ensemble will include Laura Bird, Kate Leiper, Joanne Harper, Anna Davey, Edward Leigh, Spin, Karen Walker, David Muscat, Damien Walsh, Laura Ava-Scott, Victoria Collins, Joseph Connor, Louis Clarke-Clare and Jacob Fearey.
The idea for the musical emerged from a meeting between Hollywood actor Robert De Niro and Queen musicians May and Roger Taylor in Venice in 1996.
De Niro’s daughter was a fan of the ubiquitous British band, prompting De Niro to ask if the rock legends had ever thought of creating a musical based on their songs.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor: Musical advisor on We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You was born, premiered at the Dominion Theatre in May 2002, with May and Taylor as musical advisors, and the musical has since played to 16 million people in 19 countries.
Kicking off at the Kings Theatre, Portsmouth, the 2022 tour will visit 27 venues, including a second Yorkshire run at Sheffield City Hall from August 29 to September 3.
York tickets are on sale at 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/york; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.
Paul Winn: Co-director of 3rd York Blues Festival next April
THE 3rd York Blues Festival will be held on Saturday, April 2 2022 at The Crescent community venue, York, with live music from 1pm to 11pm.
Co-director Paul Winn says: “After the stresses involved with organising and rescheduling the 2nd York Blues Festival four times amid the pandemic, we were eventually able to hold the event on July 24, a whole five days after Government restrictions were lifted.
“Naturally, crowd numbers were down on the day but this did not detract from what was a fantastic occasion.”
Tickets for next spring’s festival are on sale at thecrescentyork.com. Head to yorkbluesfest.co.uk for further information.
Raven’s Sarah Dew, left, Karen Chalmers, Sally Lidgley, Nia Davidson, seated, Jaye Lewis and Pat Edmond: Playing Christmas concert at Scarborough Spa on December 18. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
SCARBOROUGH singers and multi-instrumentalists Raven will perform their home-town Christmas concert in Scarborough Spa’s Sun Court Suite on December 18.
Combining enchanting harmonies and haunting melodies, Raven’s magical Christmas journey will take in traditional festive songs and their own original music.
Formed in 2004, the versatile six-piece has performed at Grassington Fringe Festival, Coastival, Woodend, Filey Festival, the Spotlight Theatre, Bridlington, Helmsley Arts Centre, Selby Abbey, Castle Howard and Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
In the line-up are: Jaye Lewis, tenor recorder, flute and percussion; Karen Chalmers, vocals, keyboards, piano accordion, recorder and percussion; Nia Davidson, vocals, ukulele, recorder and percussion; Pat Edmond, vocals, guitar, recorder and percussion; Sally Lidgley, vocals and percussion, and Sarah Dew, vocals, keyboards, penny whistle, bass guitar and percussion.
Raven have created original soundtracks for Scarborough’s Animated Objects Theatre Company’s large-scale community projects Leviathan and Orpheus The Mariner and are working on The Odyssey, a three-year project for the Yorkshire Coast.
Tickets cost £12 from Raven’s Pat Edmond on 07757 765196 or via Raven’s Facebook page.
So frustrated: Paul Chowdhry has his say on Covid, fame, England’s football team and Tom Cruise’s chopper at the Grand Opera House, York, tonight
IMAGINE if you could have a busy week ahead? Let Charles Hutchinson fill your diary.
Angriest comedy gig of the week: Paul Chowdhry, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 8pm
AFTER barely surviving the pandemic, British-Asian stand-up Paul Chowdhry tackles the UK’s handling of the Coronavirus crisis and why the rules of six only worked for white people in Family-Friendly Comedian (No Children).
Two years of pent-up frustration go into this new tour show, where Londoner Chowdhry also discusses fame, England football fans and Tom Cruise landing his helicopter in someone’s garden. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/york.
Chesca Cholewa: Writer of Imagine If Theatre Company’s My Old Man
Studio play of the week: Imagine If Theatre Company in My Old Man, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm
IMAGINE If Theatre Company, from Leeds, is touring a part-theatre, part-film production of Chesca Cholewa’s humorous and heartfelt play My Old Man.
When Michal Piwowarski’s granddaughter, Tasha (played by Cholewa), finally moves out, his whole world changes. The school dinner-lady becomes his favourite person, a new neighbour moves on to the street, and Michal (Paul Shelley) has to face his biggest battle yet as My Old Man follows the trials and tribulations of this old, blind Polish soldier. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorkthreatreroyal.co.uk.
Songs and Stables’ leadership: Kate Stables brings her band This Is The Kit to The Citadel tomorrow night
Experimental gig of the week: This Is The Kit, The Citadel, Gillygate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
KATE Stables’ experimental folk quartet This Is The Kit return to York for a special show at The Citadel, the former Salvation Army HQ, presented by Please Please You, The Crescent and Brudenell Presents. Support comes from Nuala Honan and Pavey Ark. Box office: brudenellsocialclub.seetickets.com.
York artist Karen Winship, taking part in the Inspired Christmas event at York Cemetery Chapel
Christmas shopping? Opportunity presents itself at Inspired, York Cemetery Chapel, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
INSPIRED, the annual Christmas show by York artist and designer makers, will be held at York Cemetery Chapel, in Cemetery Road, York, this weekend.
Taking part will be Jo Bagshaw and Richard Whitelegg, jewellery; Catherine Boyne-Whitelegg, pottery; Petra Bradley, textiles; Sally Clarke, collage printmaking; Angela Newdick, collage and surface pattern design; Adi French and Karen Winship, painting, and John Watts and Wilf Williams, furniture.
PQA York’s poster for Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr at the JoRo
Children’s show of the week: PQA Productions in Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow and Saturday, 7.30pm
PAULINE Quirke Academy (PQA) York journeys under the sea with Ariel and her aquatic friends in Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr, adapted from Disney’s Broadway show and film, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of sacrifices made for love and acceptance.
Young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her magical ocean home and fins behind for the world above. First, however, she must defy her father, King Triton, make a deal with evil sea witch Ursula and convince Prince Eric she is the girl whose enchanting voice he has been seeking. Separate casts perform the two shows. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Adam Sowter, Florence Poskitt, Alexandra Mather and Andrew Roberts in rehearsal for Saturday’s Fladam and Friends’ Musical Comedy Hootenanny
Witty and warm songs of the week: Fladam and Friends’ Musical Comedy Hootenanny, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
FLADAM duo Florence Poskitt and pianist Adam Sowter take to the Theatre@41 stage with thespian friends Alexandra Mather, Andrew Roberts and Andrew Isherwood for two shows of musical comedy joy.
Fladam’s own topical witty ditties will be complemented by a celebration of Morecambe & Wise, Bernard Cribbins, Victoria Wood and more. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Scarlett Waugh, left, and Libby Anderson: Sharing the role of Dorothy in NE Musicals York’s production of The Wizard Of Oz
Sparkling slippers of the week: NE Musicals York in The Wizard Of Oz, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Tuesday (23/11/2021) to Saturday
DIRECTOR Steve Tearle has assembled a cast of 60 for NE Musicals York’s energetic staging of The Wizard Of Oz, led by Libby Anderson and Scarlett Waugh, who will alternate the role of Dorothy.
Further roles go to Maia Stroud as Glinda; YO1 presenter Chris Marsden, the Wizard of Oz; Perri Ann Barley, Wicked Witch of the West; Finley Butler, the Scarecrow; Kristian Barley, the Tin Man, and Tearle himself as the Cowardly Lion.
Expect an all-singing, all-dancing production with special effects by Adam Moore’s team at Tech247. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Phoenix rising again: Phoenix Dance Theatre celebrate their 40th anniversary this autumn, opening their tour at York Theatre Royal
Dance celebration of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre in 40 Years Of Phoenix, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday and Wednesday, 7.30pm
PHOENIX Dance Theatre launch their milestone 40th birthday programme at York Theatre Royal, bringing together highlights from the Leeds company’s groundbreaking history.
Phoenix will combine celebration and reflection in a show featuring Lost Dog duo Ben Duke and Raquel Meseguer’s Pave Up Paradise; former artistic director Darshan Singh Bhuller’s Heart Of Chaos; Henri Oguike’s Signal; Shapiro and Smith’s satirical piece Family and Jane Dudley’s 1938 masterpiece Harmonica Breakdown. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Director Nik Briggs, left, choreographer Emily Taylor and lead actors Sophie Hammond and Damien Poole at the launch of York Stage Musicals’ festive show, Elf! The Musical
Christmas musical of the week: York Stage Musicals in Elf! The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 25 to December 3
YORK Stage Musicals present the York premiere of Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguelin, Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin’s Elf! The Musical, directed by artistic director Nik Briggs.
Based on Will Ferrell’s 2003 film, Elf! follows orphan child Buddy to Santa’s North Pole abode, where, unaware he is human, his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth.
Given Santa’s permission, Buddy (Damien Poole) heads to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity and help the Big Apple to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Amaka Okafor: Taking part in the staged readings of Lucy Kirkwood’s Maryland at Friargate Theatre, York
Play readings of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company presents Maryland, Friargate Theatre, York, November 26, 6.30pm and 8.30pm
TWO staged readings of Lucy Kirkwood’s 30-minute protest play will feature Amaka Okafor, from the original Royal Court Theatre cast, Laura Pyper, Mark Holgate, Cassie Vallance, Kesiah Joseph, Patricia Jones and Meg Blowey.
Kirkwood wrote Maryland as a “passionate and furious act of resistance to draw attention to the shocking numbers of women who repeatedly suffer violent abuse throughout Britain. The play is not specific; it addresses issues of police behaviour and a culture of violence against women and girls”.
After sold-out performances in London, the Royal Court offered Maryland for free for theatre companies to perform in solidarity and protest. York company Riding Lights has taken up that opportunity, with associate director Bridget Foreman directing the readings. Box office: 01904 613000.
James: Teaming up with Happy Mondays for a Manchester night out in Leeds
Gig of the week ahead outside York: James and special guests Happy Mondays, Leeds First Direct Arena, November 25, doors, 6pm
ALL of 33 years ago, Factory label mates James and Happy Mondays first toured together. Now, two of Manchester’s champion bands reunite for a November and December arena tour.
“Last played with them in 1988, hopefully this time they won’t steal our rider or try and spike my drink,” tweeted Tim Booth, James’s Clifford-born frontman, when announcing the dates with rapscallion rascals Shaun Ryder, Bez and co.
James, who played Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer, will be showcasing their “sweet 16th” album, All The Colours Of You, released in June. Box office: firstdirectarena.com. Stage times: Happy Mondays, 7.30pm; James, 9pm.
THIS Is The Kit, Kate Stables’ experimental folk quartet, return to York on Friday for a special show at The Citadel, the former Salvation Army HQ in Gillygate, York.
Rearranged from March by promoters by Please Please You, The Crescent and Brudenell Presents, this will be a standing gig with balcony seating above at the home of the York City Church .
At the heart of the gig will be This Is The Kit’s fifth album, October 2020’s Off Off On, and its June offshoot of offcuts, the seven-track Off Off Oddities EP.
For her follow-up to 2017’s Moonshine Freeze, Stables decided to work with producer Josh Kaufman, New York musician, Hold Steady collaborator and member of Bonny Light Horseman and Muzz. Stables had first met him when working with Anaïs Mitchell on a cover of Osibisa’s Woyaya, their paths later crossing at the People residencies in Berlin and Brooklyn.
“We were on the same page about a lot of musical ideas, as well as doing things I wouldn’t do musically,” says Kate. “It was a lovely mixture of ‘you’re exactly in my brain and exactly at the opposite end of my brain’.”
The artwork for This Is The Kit’s fifth album, Off Off On, released in October 2020
After the band – completed by Rozi Plain, bass/vocals, Neil Smith, guitar, Jesse D Vernon, guitar/keyboards, Jamie Whitby-Coles, drum/vox – reunited for cold-water rehearsals in Wales, they headed to Wiltshire’s Real World Studios, finishing just in time for everyone to head home for lockdown.
Kate explains the meaning behind the album’s stand-out song, This Is What You Did. “It’s a bit of a panic attack song. The negative voices of other people that are your own voice. Or are they? Hard to say when you’re in this kind of a place. How to get out of this place? Needing to get outside more,” she says.
“Cosmically topical, what with these recent days of being inside all the time. Knowing the things, you should do because they’re good for you and make you feel better but for some reason you still stay inside and fester in your own self-doubt and regret and self-loathing. Fun times!
“We all get into negative mind loops sometimes. Especially when you’re not getting the fresh air and outside time you need to stay healthy.”
Since 2008’s debut, Krulle Bol, This Is the Kit have unpicked emotional knots and woven intriguing stories, with Off Off On being a beautifully clear distillation of Stables’ song-writing gifts. By the end of 2018, This Is The Kit had finished touring Moonshine Freeze, but Stables’ natural impulse to start the next record was diverted when she was invited to join The National on tour in a continuation of the role she took on the Cincinnati band’s album I Am Easy To Find.
“We all get into negative mind loops sometimes. Especially when you’re not getting the fresh air and outside time you need to stay healthy,” says Kate Stables, pictured outdoors
“I think it did me loads of good,” says Kate. “It was so brilliant when I was writing to be away from my songs and the responsibility of overseeing a band or a project – just to forget about that for a while and be a minion in someone else’s band was brilliant. I loved it. I think it really helped my writing and my getting through whatever I needed to get through.”
Off Off On ensued, followed this summer by Off Off Oddities, an EP on Rough Trade made up of Recommencer, featuring Mina Tindle; Was Magician (Live at L’Épicerie Moderne); Found Out (Horns Version); Coming To Get You Nowhere (Joe’s Garage Version) Keep Going (Desert Island Version); Slider (Lorenzo Saxophone Dub) and a cover of New York City supergroup Muzz’s Bad Feeling.
“In the making of an album, there are inevitably bits and bobs that don’t get used,” says Kate. “And sometimes you feel like sharing them with folks to kind of show a bit the story and geology and important people who played a part in the album’s making and releasing.”
Will even newer material feature in Friday’s concert? Wait and see.
This Is The Kit play The Citadel, York on Friday, supported by Nuala Honan and Pavey Ark; doors, 7pm. Box office: brudenellsocialclub.seetickets.com.
NEW Kind Of Neighbourhood, a new festival curated by and featuring This Is The Kit at Leeds Brudenell Social Club on Sunday, has sold out. Doors open at 3pm for a bill of The Brackish, The Magic Lantern, Masi Masi, Nuala Honan, Rachael Dadd, Rozi Plain, Yusuf Yellow and headliners This Is The Kit.
Composer Lillie Harris: “Commissioned piece will stand alone well as an introit or anthem”
ON the eve of Remembrance Sunday, there could be no more perfect choice of repertory than A German Requiem, Brahms’ non-liturgical memorial to the dead. It was given in the original German to the composer’s own piano-duet version, alongside a short unaccompanied new work commissioned from Lillie Harris.
Like so many performers during lockdown, Chapter House Choir under Benjamin Morris has struggled to stay together and survive. So this was a test of its mettle, as well as being the first post-lockdown ticketed musical event at York Minster itself.
While it is true that Brahms intended a “human” requiem, he did not mean a humanist one, as implied by the programme note. The two words are not interchangeable. He selected exclusively biblical texts for his work – as did Miss Harris, who used only texts selected by Brahms, understandably but also courageously, given that comparisons were bound to be made between old and new.
Her motet, entitled Comfort, began with a prolonged hum incorporating a three-note motif. At first this seemed to be the link between the five brief sections of text. But like the grass withering, it faded and the tonality became more diffuse, in a manner reminiscent of Eric Whitacre, with a slight loss of focus.
Alex Ashworth. “Forthright at the top of his range”. Picture: Debbie Scanlan
The ending – “so will I comfort you” – resolved beautifully, speaking of a technique capable of offering more challenges than were on offer here. My feeling is that this piece will stand alone well as an introit or anthem but will tend to be overshadowed in the company of a whole requiem, like a tugboat sheltering beside an ocean liner, largely overlooked.
Commercial nous was what drove Brahms to write this four-hands at one piano version of his Requiem, which was quickly demanded after the success of the orchestral original. It makes for a more intimate atmosphere but should not be regarded as a complete replacement.
A smooth line was immediately apparent in the choir, with sopranos pinging their high notes satisfyingly. In ‘For all flesh is as grass’, each return of the opening unison was progressively firmer and the closing fugato appeared in a crisp staccato.
Soprano Susan Young: “Maternal, consolatory tone”
In the first of his two contributions, baritone Alex Ashworth was forthright at the top of his range while sustaining an impressive legato. The mood-change at “the souls of the righteous” was almost jaunty; no reason why not, given Brahms’ positive attitude and keenness to avoid prolonged lugubriousness.
It was in “How lovely are thy dwellings” that it became clear that the pianists, Eleanor Kornas and Polly Sharpe, who were otherwise unfailingly tasteful, needed to come to the fore at moments when the choir was not involved rather than remain in the background. They were not, it should be added, blessed with a piano in ideal shape: it sounded particularly tinny in the upper reaches.
The maternal, consolatory tone that soprano Susan Young found for “You now therefore have sorrow”, suggesting that a silver lining lay round the corner, was just about ideal. She polished it off with a beautifully controlled piano that distilled the very essence of Isaiah’s words of comfort.
If the last trump fell slightly short of sending shivers down the spine and the fugue that followed it lacked clarity because individual entries were not given enough prominence, there was considerable compensation in the finale, ‘Blessed are the dead’, which was clean, confident and comforting. The Chapter House Choir is back and in fine fettle.
Adam Sowter, Florence Poskitt, Alexandra Mather and Andrew Roberts in rehearsal for Saturday’s Fladam and Friends’ Musical Comedy Hootenanny
