The Choir offers a huge “Thank you” to Margaret Jackson of Fairlight for writing to the Manly Daily to express her appreciation of last Sunday’s Afternoon at the Opera.  It’s great for us to receive such unsolicited public praise.

Thank you again, Margaret.

This afternoon’s concert proved something of a triumph in more ways than one.  For a start, the weather was perfect for the drinks and nibbles on the terrace afterwards.  Secondly, the soloists were terrific.  Thirdly, we in the Choir acquitted ourselves very well by singing most pieces better than we had ever sung them in rehearsal.

Best of all, it was quite clear from the audience’s response that we gave a lot of people a most enjoyable Sunday afternoon.  Musically the concert was up to our usual quality, if the applause was anything to go by.  And socially, that we were still clearing up over an hour after the end of the concert suggests that people were more than happy to linger over drinks in such a pleasant atmosphere.

For this correspondent, there were a number of highlights.  Joel Scott’s singing was amazingly fluent and varied in mood.  His voice has a lovely timbre, which he flexed to create moments of tenderness and others of passion.  Kathryn Williams brought the house to its feet at one point with a brilliant display of coloratura, yet also merged in with the Choir most effectively.   The Choir sang confidently throughout, with firm entries and clear cut-offs, following Carlos’ directions to give the music light and shade.  Singing through the Porgy and Bess Suite without stopping for not quite the first time was quite a bonus.

The afternoon had many stars.  Kathryn, Joel, the Choir, and of course Carlos, on whose shoulders rests the full responsibility of making the afternoon a success.  If there was to be a prize for the hardest working person, it would unquestionably go to Angela Ferguson, our accompanist.  We have become so used to her coping at rehearsals with anything she might be asked to play that we almost take her for granted.  But today was a performance, not a rehearsal, and she played a succession of very difficult and complex piano reductions of orchestral scores to a demanding performance standard.

It has been fun to sing these operatic excerpts.  They have been difficult to learn, especially the French and Italian words.  But, once learnt, they have almost sung themselves. Most importantly, the audience clearly felt that they formed an ideal program for a sunny winter’s afternoon.

Thank you to Mark Renton for the photo at the top of the page.  For some more photos, click here.

It’s not often that M W Choir rehearsals finish early, especially final rehearsals at the Cardinal Cerretti Chapel.  It’s more usual for Carlos to keep tidying up and polishing the  music way beyond the official end time, being the perfectionist that he is.

However, last night the final rehearsal for An Afternoon at the Opera did finish early.  “Why”, I wondered to myself on the way home.  There was a clue in his remarks at the end of the rehearsal, when he urged us to relax but yet to concentrate; above all to fully enter into the character of each piece and to enjoy singing such luxurious music.  Maybe, I thought, Carlos reckons that we are singing accurately, and we know what we are supposed to do with expression.  Hence he has done as much as he can, and it’s now all up to us to respond at the performance.

So that is our challenge for Sunday.  Concentrate and enjoy!

The early bath?  Those of us from England of a certain age will remember the Rugby League TV commentator Eddie Waring.  Whenever a player was sent off for a misdemeanour, he would say that they were going for an early bath, a hot communal tub being the sole method of recovery in those days.  Whereas for such players, an early bath is a punishment, for us last night it was a compliment and a bonus.

It is well know in military circles that one soldier undertaking a courageous duty infects others to do the same.  It is also well-known in sporting circles that the presence of one really good player in a team raises the performance of others – hence the phrase “raising their game”.

So it was at last night’s rehearsal.  As we arrived, Carlos and Angela were rehearsing with our soprano soloist, Kathryn Williams, and she stayed on to rehearse the choruses where she sings with us.  And it turned out that she not only had a lovely voice and great presence, but she also was ready to listen to Carlos and take his ideas on board.  What an example for us to follow!

The rehearsal started a bit slowly and, frankly, a bit flat, in all senses of the word.  But it did not take long for that to change, and we soon started responding to Carlos’  pleas  for more meaning and expression in the music – in addition to singing all the right notes, of course.

Even after Kathryn had left, the mood of the rehearsal remained positive and inspiring: she had indeed been instrumental in “raising our game”.

All we need now is for that mood to continue to infect us as we run through the music at home; as we make final preparations at next Thursday’s key rehearsal; and of course on the day of the performance itself.

We are very privileged to sing with such inspirational musicians.
Let’s make the most of it.

Yes, I know that our forthcoming concert is called “Great Opera Choruses”.   By one of the many strange quirks of the English language, Chorus can mean either the song to be sung, or the people singing it.  This post is about the Opera Chorus – the people doing the singing.

Why should I write about the people in the Chorus?  Because I have just realised what they do, and how much we should appreciate their consummate skill.

The first thing which prompted these thoughts was when Jim Abram, taking last night’s rehearsal, asked why we could not look at the conductor while we were singing just one long single note, so that he could show where it should finish.  There we all are, heads in our books – it must be very dispiriting for the conductor.  And if we are just singing a single note, surely we do not need the support of the notation in the book to remind us what we are doing!

The second prompt came as I stepped out of the shower this morning to hear ABC Classic FM playing the introduction to the Anvil Chorus.  Right, I thought, here’s my chance.  There is no time to find the score, so I will sing along from memory, perhaps even with some imaginary sashees across the imaginary stage.  Well…………..I got the notes right – mostly.  I got the louds and softs right, even remembering to do a gradual crescendo through each of the long phrases.  I got nearly all the entries on time.  But the words – oh dear!  I was completely at sea.  And then of course I did not have to worry about any stage directions, prancing around the bathroom clad only in a towel – I could make them up for myself.

That made me realise just what it takes to be in the Opera Chorus.  Not only do you have to have a great voice, and be able to move graciously around the stage, but you have to remember so much.  Notes, expression, words, your own movements, other peoples’ movements, when to watch the conductor, and no doubt many other things besides, all potentially dressed in some fearfully uncomfortable costume.

So let’s hear it for the members of the Opera Chorus.  And let’s think of them when we rehearse and perform our own concert.  Let’s even have a go at emulating them, and committing at least some of the words and music to memory.  It’s worth it, just to be able to follow Carlos at key points, and so to make music of which we can be justifiably proud.