Opera, again?

What is this? Me, opera? Again? It's a surprise to me too but I enjoyed it well enough. Canberra Opera is a community company. They performed at the High Court prior to their upcoming season of Die Fledermaus and they were good and they were entertaining. This was mostly a hot shot set of arias, so not the whole story, with piano accompaniment, so not the full orchestral treatment, but the voices were good and there was a sense of drama and performance even if often enough just tongue-in-cheek. Opera is different in this respect from other singing: it's dramatic and it shows even in these snippets. This was a good 90 minutes, from Carmen, Handel, Tannhauser, Don Giovanni, Donizetti, Gounod, Tosca and the like, and a collection of tunes to finish up from the upcoming Die Fledermaus. There were some jokey love songs and one with two women vying for one mild man and a champagne chorus with empty glasses as props (the thought as there) and a few more serious numbers, not least a song from Rachmaninov. There were a string of singers, I guess mostly tenors and sopranos, and one piano backing the lot. The audience is keen at the High Court and the singing was vibrant and pleasurable and often fun, so this was a pleasurable outing, and it's so great to see our local amateur opera company is working away. Congrats to Opera Canberra.

Opera Canberra singers included the Chorus plus Lachlan McIntyre, Karyn Tisdell, Elisha Holley, Catherine Martin, Stephanie McAlister, Andrew Barron, Madeline Anderson and Keren Dalzell. Peter Smith was host.

The Requiem the end

It was another she'll be right on the night and it was. Maruki played a combined concert with Canberra Community Voices and a few soloists. The main work was most of Mozart Requiem (what a pleasure to play that one!) but also a few other pieces to fill out the first half, not least with soprano soloist Lousie Keast (who also plays cello with Maruki when not singing up front). Particularly interesting for the bass section was our guest Chris Bainbridge (whose Mum and Dad were also performing, in orch and choir). He's a graduate of Maruki, ANU and ANAM and now studying in Vienna and an AYO bassist who's just toured Europe and China, performing, not least, at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. We were blessed. Four basses, a strong section. Loved it and I, for one, learnt a bit from playing with Chris. Otherwise, we played a gloriously beautiful piece, Mozart Ave verum corpus, a few overtures from Wagner and Rossini, some songs from Bizet and Puccini and some majestic choral numbers, Vivaldi Gloria and Handel Hallelujah chorus. And the soloists were excellent: Louise Keast (soprano and coordinator of the singers for this event), Veronica Thwaites-Brown, (interestingly, an excellent Maria in the Sound of Music that I played, amongst other more traditional performances), Lachlan McIntyre and Colin Milner. The Canberra Community Voices were directed by Kenneth Teoh (who, I read in the program, has played clarinet with the Berlin Phil, no less; a match for conductor John's time with the London Symph). But nothing can match the grandeur and beauty of great music like the Requiem or the pleasure in navigating the glorious and sometimes twisted basslines. A great pleasure all round.

Maruki Orchestra performed under John Gould (conductor). Canberra Community Voices is led by Kenneth Teoh (musical director). They performed Mozart Requiem and more at Albert Hall with singers Lousie Keast, Veronica Thwaites-Brown, Lachlan McIntyre and Colin Milner (vocal soloists).

Songs sung

Louise Keast got together a few friends for this Wednesday lunchtime gig at Wesley. I know Louise as a capable cellist in Maruki. I hadn't heard her as a singer. She started the gig singing a duet with fellow (but quite differently-sounding) soprano Karyn Tisdell with piano accompaniment by Emily Leong. This was a dream. The piece was Delibes Sous le dome epais (Flower duet) from Lakme. Everyone knows this and it's a gloriously beautiful melody. I could only melt, from the song itself and the singing, especially when paired. Fabulous. Then tenor Lachlan McIntyre supported by a string quartet singing Vaughan Williams Silent noon and baritone Jared Lopez with piano and string quartet singing the longest work of the day, Faure La bonne chanson, with many parts and lasting perhaps 25 minutes. The final one was obviously the major work and, I understand, arranged by Jared. The Faure was long and complex and impressive and the VW was a stately period piece, but I must say the beauty of the Delibes was the winner for me. But nice work all around.

Louise Keast (soprano, cello) collected singers and instrumentalists for a performance at Wesley: Karyn Tisdell (soprano), Lachlan McIntyre (tenor), Jared Lopez (baritone), Emily Leong (piano), Clara Barrs and Elisha Adams (violins) and Anne Bicknell (viola).

Arrayed forces

This Brindabella Orchestra concert was something like that: arrayed forces. Because it was big. Brindabella played with Weston Winds and some guests, so the stage was packed with players and the roof lifted when the brass let loose. And the theme was WW1, the Great War, with tunes from the era, so often touching, occasionally bombastic and nationalistic. Yes, and because we played God save the King (for king he was as that time) and our own little number, Advance Australia Fair. It all worked a treat, better than I'd hoped (especially after a few weeks away with no practising) and was a blast when the whole outfit started up. Not that I liked the overt nationalism that is people standing for the anthem. We are more nationalistic and overtly proud these days (Anzac Day in the '60s was nothing like it is now, but then we had many returned soldiers who knew the hell it really was. There are fewer surviving returnees these days (mostly some Vietnam vets, Middle East, perhaps Korea and WW2) and we mostly just have pollies using and abusing and playing at militarism, viz, Operation Fortitude as the latest dangerous blunder). So, I felt uncomfortable when the audience stood but I have a very nice male voice on the recording, singing along, so not all bad. The program was made up of a few pieces for Weston Winds, a few for the Orchestra, a few combined and one song with piano. I liked our Tunes from the tranches medley, not least the appearance of Land of hope and glory (I am not immune from these emotional stirrings), and Banks of green willows (George Butterworth) and Elegy for strings (FS Kelly) were touching and all colours and spaces, as are poems and pieces from those who experienced the war. The Winds played Holst First suite in Eb 1st mvt and I was taken by a spot that was all the world like a jazz solo played by saxes with band accompaniment, and otherwise some nice melody passed through the band. Lachlan McIntyre, currently studying at ANU School of Music, sang By a bierside by Ivor Gurney, which BBC Four describes thus: "Surrounded by the chaos of the trenches, serving soldier Ivor Gurney composed a number of haunting songs, including 'By A Bierside'." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01w9ry3). Orchestra and Winds played well and the program was nicely constructed, so, a very successful and nicely themed concert.
Brindabella Orchestra and Weston Winds were conducted by Peter Shaw in "From Gallipoli to the Somme and beyond : music from the WW1 era". Lachlan McIntyre (vocals) featured. Too many perfomers to list.