Our annual songs meet

I love my jazz and other gigs but my longed-for favourite each year has to be NCO with CCS.  That's a full orchestra and choir at Llewellyn; 120 or more on stage and some fabulous music.  I've played a string of these including Beethoven, Carl Off, Monty Python (?!), Haydn, Brahms... Playing in such orchestral strength with a capable massed SATB choir is a huge thrill.  This year was perhaps more modern, story-telling, filmic with 2 modern pieces.  First up was the occasionally jovial recounting of the experience of migration to Australia and the surprises and loves of process and outcome created by 2 immigrants, composer Elena Kats-Chernin and librettist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, telling stories from Chinese migration at the time of the gold rush, post-WW2 migrants, Vietnam refugees and more.  The lyrics were lengthy and not always so easy to catch but suffice to recognise an ode to Vegemite and an immigrant's surprise at topless bathing at Bondi.  How Aussie!  The bass could be repetitive, other than for one fiendishly tricky quick movement, so perhaps the voices defined the pleasures, but I languished in the pleasure and good humour of it all.  Then an interval and surprisingly similar approach (repetitive accompaniment, filmic accompaniment, more complex lyrics with inviting melodies) from a one-time member of Soft Machine and now composer of a British Classic FM Hall of Fame no.2 hit.  This was the Kosovo-inspired mass for piece, The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins.   Again inspiring if mostly for the voices, but quite touching and apt for out times.  Suffice to say, this was again a deeply thrilling outing and another for the diary.  And as for the post-concert party and Martin's dip, well, that's another story of joy.

National Capital Orchestra and Canberra Choral Society under Louis Sharpe (conductor, NCO MD) and Dan Walker (CCS MD) performed Human Waves and The Armed Man at Llewellyn with soloists Jillian Halleron (soprano) and Liam Meany (cello) and Bilal Berjaoui (vocals) performing the Call to prayers.  The bottom enders were Henry South, Juliet Flook, Mel Fung, Jeremy Tsuei and Eric Pozza (basses).

Haydn's Canberra Seasons

The concert was on 1 April so our practice in the morning, somewhat stilted and desperate, must have been a trick played on us, because the 3pm concert was an absolute blast.  This was NCO's annual get-together in Llewellyn Hall with CCS and a few singers out front and the music was Haydn The Seasons.  Now, this is a big work (a CSO member suggested "massive") and the orchestra practiced it for perhaps 8 weeks and only met with two of the singers on the Monday before the Saturday, and the other singer and choir only on the Friday night.  The arias and choral pieces were pretty much all there, but the repetitives were mostly removed, I guess to relieve the singers of such a massive task in preparation, and in a nifty and local way, they were replaced by a series of Canberra-related spoken word introductions form no other than Laura Tingle, ABC TV journo but also a member of CCS (I've seen her singing before).  I couldn't hear Laura from my location, but the proxy was well received and a very clever local innovation talking of magpies and trips to the coast and possums the like.  As for the performance, I'm not the only believer in the "she'll be right on the night" line, and the performance just proved the proposition.  It was a blast.  The were some moments of indecision or missed lines (Haydn is full of explosive and hugely challenging phrases, not just for the winds and others, but even for the basses) but the performance was thrilling and the exhilaration from choir and orchestra and singers on song was ever present.  And there were several fugues (3?), one at truly breakneck speed, all thrilling and structurally complex.  I love these things. And the gloriously delicate start to, what, winter?  And plenty more of interest.  Talk of massive, it was 2 hours playing with the repetitives removed!  Massive indeed.  But we did it and, as is the way, we partied and chuckled about it all after.  Just a blast, again, from our NCO/CCS collaboration.

National Capital Orchestra and Canberra Choral Society gather for their annual performance at Llewellyn Hall to play Haydn The Seasons.  Sarahlouise Owens (soprano), Ryan O'Donnell (tenor) and Sitiveni Talei (bass) sang.   Laura Tingle (narrator) replaced the repetitives with a Canberra Seasons theme.  Louis Sharpe (conductor) conducted and Dan Walker (chorus master) prepared the choir.  Our bottom end comprised Juliet Flook, Jennifer Groom and Eric Pozza (basses).

This is CJBlog post no. 2,600

Hairpins

Another fun outing. I am enjoying this orchestral lark. This was National Capital Orchestra with Matt Withers and Leonard Weiss performing Westlake Antarctica Suite, Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez and Cesar Franck Symphony in D minor. The Westlake is an arrangement of a work originally accompanying a documentary movie of Antarctica. The music is sparse and expansive, sometimes dramatic, sometimes shimmering, with some odd times and difficult counts, and a lovely interlude for the Penguin Ballet. I loved this piece although I have to admit to missing some cues (not alone?). Then Rodrigo. Everyone knows this one, not least Miles fans. Attractive and lively and again with some challenging counting. We strings are not used to sitting out and counting (that's the job of brass and percussion). Then an interval and Cesar Franck Symphony in D minor. This is not a numbered symphony: he only wrote one. It's big, dynamic, lyrical, oddly repetitive in different keys (D minor sounds OK, and 4xb or 5x# but 7x#?). There's big dynamics, too. Leonard did a great job on that: we were variously almost indistinct, then blaring with brass (I didn't miss this, it being just over my shoulder). TheQ had a wonderful clarity after our rehearsal venue, the lights and sound (the JBL foldback for guitar was a winner) were great and the seats were virtually sold out. So, a great outing. Next NCO is Koehne, Boieldieu and Dvorak at TheQ with Alice Giles in May, sandwiched by Sunday concerts from Brindabella and Maruki. Hard work but great fun and immensely satisfying.

The reference to hairpins is oblique. I have never seen so many hairpins scattered as in the loading bay at TheQ. I guess they remain in heavy use in theatre.

National Capital Orchestra performed Westlake Antarctica Suite, Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez and Cesar Franck Symphony in D minor at TheQ with Matt Withers (guitar) under Leonard Weiss (conductor) and Therese McMahon (concertmster). The bass section was Jo Guthridge, Juliet Flook and Eric Pozza.