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“Magnificent”, “Fantastic”, “The Best Yet”. These were just some of the comments heard last Saturday as the packed audience left Congleton Town Hall after the Choral Society’s first ‘Night at the Opera’.
It had been a gamble that had paid off well – to bring a night of opera to Congleton, which already boasts two excellent operatic Societies. But the evening was going to be one of choruses and arias from Grand Opera, and it was pleasing to see in the audience many members of the Congleton operatic societies, together with the Congleton and Macclesfield MP’s Lady Ann and Sir Nicholas Winterton, the Borough Mayor and his wife Councillor Doug and Hilary Parker, and Councillor David Brown, the Congleton Town Mayor, and his Consort.
Also present was Gladys Worthington, the Founder of the Choral Society in the early 1970’s, who looked very proud of her creation.
Just before 7.30, members of the orchestra and then some of the choir wandered onto the stage, chatting and waving at their friends in the audience; other bunches of singers also came noisily onto the stage. Where was the precision and discipline that had been the hallmark of all the society’s previous concerts? Then the Music Director swept into the hall, raised his baton, and we were off into the ‘Chorus of Wedding Guests’ from Verdi’s ‘Lucia di Lamermoor’. The chorus continued chattering whilst the orchestra started to play; the audience was transfixed and bemused; this was certainly to be a completely different evening to anything experienced at a Choral Society concert before.
The Choral Society always manages to gather together wonderful instrumentalists to form their ‘Cantilena Orchestra’. These young professional musicians, as David Johnson the Music Director often remarks, give one such hope for the future of music. For this concert, under their Leader, Simon Robertshaw, they excelled themselves. A full symphony orchestra in size, they played with such talent and precision.
And the choir – dressed in ‘casual’ for the evening – were equally as brilliant. Ladies sported a range of colourful attire, but some of the men had obviously raided their ‘war chests’ and were wearing flamboyant waistcoats, polished medals, and even some strange ‘foreign’ decorations (especially those worn by the Society’s Chairman Dr Russ Bromley).
The opening chorus also gave the first of the evening’s soloists to shine. All were from the Royal Northern College of Music, and tenor Petro Wychrij, gave a foretaste of what was to come. Of mixed Ukrainian and English parentage, he has danced his way around the world, and it seemed as though he wanted to dance his way through the chorus from Lucia di Lamermoor!!
Next came Bizet’s ‘Habernera, with the enticing mezzo-soprano, Karin Lucas, succeeding in charming all the men in the audience (as well as those in The Society!) as she sang this aria from Carmen. Karina has won many singing prizes at the RNCM, and it was obvious to see why.
Jonathan Pugsley the bass, chose ‘The Toreador Song’, also from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, for his first solo. He posses a fine powerful bass voice and a real sense of stage presence, and there was an audible humming from the audience as he launched into the famous words ‘Toreador, now guard thee’.
The good thing about the evening, from this writer’s perspective, was that it wasn’t all a big sound. The choir and orchestra gave spine-chilling performances of Mozart’s ‘Voyagers Chorus’ from Idomeneo; some movements from his opera ‘Cosi fan tutti’; and the final chorus of Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’. It was during the Purcell that the audience had the opportunity to hear the soprano soloist, Kate Brian. Here was another star of the future. Her voice was clear and resonant, which was complemented with a wonderful acting ability.
In his excellent commentary throughout the evening, David Johnson made mention of the length and breadth of the pieces being performed that evening. As he said, the Polotsvian Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin had been “a good idea at the time”, but pulling it all together during the afternoon rehearsal had been “slightly difficult”. He needn’t have worried. The orchestra was superb; the choir fantastic; and the difficult changes in rhythms were carried off with aplomb. The continued applause at the end of this particular piece indicated what the audience thought of the performance of this particular piece.
David Johnson also explained how difficult it was to conduct Puccini, with the varied rubato and expression required by the music. In Kate Brian’s aria from Puccini’s Madam Butterfly ‘Un bel di vedremo’, all the skill of conductor, orchestra and soloist was harnessed, as this electric aria was performed to tumultuous applause.
This tension then gave way to the quiet reflection of ‘The Humming Chorus’ from Puccini’s Madam Butterfly. Pizzicato strings accompanied the choir’s humming – which ended on a most magical top B flat!!
Karina Lucas then sang the coloratura arai ‘Una Voce’ from Rossini’s opera ‘The Barber of Seville’ and probably got the loudest applause of the evening, following which the choir, soloists and orchestra ended the first half with ‘Brindisi’ from Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’.
At the end of the interval, David Johnson spoke about the ‘Martyn Doladson Music Trust’, which was being featured that evening. Martyn was the son of the Society’s accompanist, Andrew Donaldson, and had led the Cantilena Orchestra on a number of occasions in the past. Martyn tragically died on 17 th September 2002, and his family and friends set up the ‘Martyn Donaldson Music Trust’ (http://www.mdmt.org.uk) to provide a lasting legacy of his achievements, and in particular to support music-making both here and in Kenya, where Martyn was a volunteer music teacher for two years.
Then followed the raffle – and the first prize of a hamper was won by Sir Nicholas Winterton, who generously donated it to be auctioned in aid of the Martyn Donaldson Music Trust. Second prize, a bottle of wine, was won by David Johnson – who promptly gave it to Simon Robertshaw, the leader of the Cantilena Orchestra – to be drunk after the concert!!
The second half of this excellent concert did not falter one iota. Indeed, the interval seemed to have renewed everyone’s spirits, and proceedings started with an absolutely mesmeric performance of the ‘Triumphal Scene’ from Verdi’s opera ‘Aida’.
Karina Lucas and Jonathan Pugsey then performed an amusing duet ‘La ci darem la mano’ from Mozart’s opera ‘Don Giovanni’, where their operatic experience and stage presence were shown to great effect. Petro Wychrij then gave a most moving account (in Russian) of ‘Lensky’s Aria’ from Tchaikowsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’, and Jonathan Pugsey sang the famous ‘Non piu andrai’ from Mozart’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’, which had the audience smiling at his facial characterisations.
It was then left to Kate and Karina to join together to sing the ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakme by Delibes.
After thanking everyone for coming and supporting the Choral Society, and saluting the orchestra and soloists again, David Johnson introduced the final item – the ‘Chorus of Hebrew Slaves’ from Verdi’s opera ‘Nabucco. The invitation to the audience to ‘sing along’ was eagerly taken up – and a few MP’s and Mayors could be heard humming away!!
What next – well, maybe another ‘Night at the Opera’ in 2006, and the Society is thinking of arranging a ‘May Prom’ in 2005.
But on Monday 28 th June at 7.30 in St Peter’s Church Swettenham, the Society will be giving a concert to celebrate the 700 th Anniversary of the Church. There will be varied fare on offer, including Vivaldi ‘Gloria’. Andrew Donaldson will also be playing the organ.
And On Saturday 6 th November, in Trinity Methodist Church Congleton, the Society has arranged for a day-long ‘Choral Workshop’ to be led by Nigel Perrin, the ‘High Voice’ of The Kings Singers. Lots of interesting and varied music, for singers of all ages and abilities.
See you there!!
See photos of last year's tour to Belgium - 25-29th October 2003. Download photo descriptions.
See more photos.
Previous concerts, including 13 year old Young Musician of the Year, Jennifer Pike, joins the Choral Society for their May concert, 2003, Baroness takes to the stage, Bach's St John Passion, Handel's Messiah with the Parliament Choir at the Central Hall, Westminster.
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