Love and lust

9:07am Tuesday 26th August 2008

Howard Ferguson wrote his Overture for an Occasion (Opus 16) for the 1953 Coronation, and it certainly got ‘Love and Lust’off to a rousing start, Expertly orchestrated, with touches of Walton, Elgar, Vaughan-Williams and Eric Coates thrown in, it makes a great opener and is definitely a work to hear again.

Tha animals came in two by two

9:06am Tuesday 26th August 2008

Britten’s Noyes Fludde may have been written for children and amateurs, but the performance recently at The Three Choirs Festival in Worcester’s Baptist Church by the Singworks course confirmed that opera can be serious and at the same time a very enjoyable event for people of all ages, audience included. The score contains some novel and startling innovative effects. We had gangs of children, artfully disguised as all sorts of animals, a handbell choir, several groups of mostly amateur orchestral players, together with three central roles: God (spoken), Noah and Mrs Noah. Robert Swinton’s speaking part, delivered from a side balcony, was solemn yet effective, while William Coleman’s very well-presented Noah was suitably contrasted by Claire Stoneman’s Mrs Noah as his henpecking wife, and both their roles were acted and sung with care and an obvious enjoyment of the wonderful music. Even the capacity audience were induced to join in, which we all did with gusto.

A concert of contrasts

9:07am Tuesday 26th August 2008

You might naturally assume that the cynical and sometimes pessimistic poetry of AE Housman would lead to its being set to music in a similar vein. You would be wrong, as tenor Adrian Thompson, along with players from the Philharmonia Orchestra, proved in his Huntingdon Hall recital. The two works performed, Vaughan-Williams’ cycle On Wenlock Edge and Ludlow and Teme, Ivor Gurney’s cycle from 1919, combined very well in spite of their stylistic difference and it was interesting to hear the same poetry evoking quite different musical responses. Both are settings of lines from Housman’s A Shropshire Lad and both are scored for the same combination of voice, piano and string quartet, and neither met with Housman’s approval – he particularly hated the Vaughan-Williams work.

Money to help schools get creative

1:25pm Thursday 21st August 2008

CREATIVE Partnerships, the government’s flagship creative learning programme, designed to develop the skills of young people and raise their aspirations and achievements, has secured funding to roll out its programme over the next three years.

Festival chance for youngsters

1:24pm Thursday 21st August 2008

NEXT year’s Malvern Festival, its 80th anniversary, will see one talented youngster awarded the title of Young Musician of Malvern and a prize of £500.

From Bizet to the Bee Gees

1:26pm Thursday 21st August 2008

THIS year’s Summer Proms and fireworks at Malvern Showground promises some exciting orchestral manoeuvres from the English Symphony Orchestra as they present A Night at the Opera on Saturday, August 30.

Tenor takes Three Choirs festival by storm

1:14pm Thursday 21st August 2008

TENOR James Gilchrist is blessed with a wonderful lyric voice, a pianissimo which must be the envy of his fellows, and a warm and engaging platform manner.

Plans well underway for Three Choirs' return to Hereford in 2009

1:15pm Thursday 21st August 2008

AS The Three Choirs Festival 2008 ends, plans are already well under way for the 2009 festival which takes place in Hereford and has the seasons as its central theme.

Access for local artists

1:53pm Thursday 7th August 2008

FOUR artists will again get the chance to use Hereford College of Arts facilities through the national Artists Access to Art Colleges project – and HCA is seeking applications.

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Students given the run of The Rodd

1:59pm Thursday 7th August 2008

FINE art graduates and final year students from Hereford College of Arts were invited by the Sidney Nolan Trust to The Rodd and given the run of the ancient farm buildings, the tudor manor, Rodd Court, and the 250 acres of the trust’s organic farm and woodlands to create new work.

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