Regular readers will know how much I enjoy Opera North’s lunchtime concerts at Dewsbury Town Hall – the next one is The Romantic Violin on Wednesday, 15th May – well, here we had a bonus edition at Howard Assembly Room in Leeds. The starting time was a little earlier, being 11.00am and instead of sandwiches, soup and cake being on sale prior to the event, there was tea and biscuits afterwards. A very civilised way to spend a Thursday morning.
It was advertised as being ‘a joyful morning of music, ranging from jazz to modern day classical’ to ‘explore how music can tell different stories.’ I think that whomever wrote the blurb is about the same age as me as one of the composers who wrote ‘modern day classical music’ died in 1881! That matters not as the piece included was one of my favourites.
Conductor/Presenter Ellie Slorach, with broad smile setting the tone of the concert.
The concert was conducted and presented by Ellie Slorach who gave us comprehensive introductions to, and explanations of, the works played by the Orchestra of Opera North. I always find this fascinating, especially when I am familiar with the piece in question, as what was intended by the composer is often not how I have interpreted it, which is what art is all about really.
The first item on the agenda was Stoptime Rag by Scott Joplin. I remember the huge surge in popularity of Mr Joplin’s work after it was featured in the 1973 film The Sting. Although composed for piano, this piece had been arranged for orchestra by Iain Farringdon. It was a jaunty tune and just the thing to kick-start the programme.
Mr Farringdon also arranged the next work, by Englebert Humperdinck – not that one – the Prelude to Hansel and Gretel, which, in 1923, was the first complete opera ever to be broadcast in full on the radio.
Richard Strauss was the next composer featured, this time with an aria called Morgen! which is German for tomorrow and exudes optimism. I know this because Charlie Drummond, the soprano who sang the piece, read a translation of the poem before captivating us with her amazing voice. The triumvirate of Humperdinck, Strauss and Drummond all have amazing back stories, although dramatically different: Mr H began young, having composed two operas by the time he was 13 years old; Strauss upped the ante by composing works from the age of 6 whereas Ms Drummond entered the musical world after working as a chef until she was 25, thus arriving fashionably late for the party, however, it doesn’t matter what time you get there, just as long as you do. Her voice had quite a range for a soprano and was seemingly employed effortlessly in this elegant song, arranged by George Morton.
Charlie Drummond, soprano – and chef.
Caroline Shaw, the only composer featured who is still with us, wrote the fourth piece, Plan & Elevation: IV The Orangery, which she arranged herself. Her aim when composing is to imagine a world of sound which has never been heard before, in this case her inspiration being the garden of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. It was played by a string quartet and conjured up a picnic under the branches by the climbing wisteria and ivy. I obviously read that bit in the programme, I couldn’t tell a wisteria from a cactus, but I did find the piece very evocative.
Then came the oldest dish on the menu, Night on a Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky, to which I referred earlier. This was another Iain Farringdon arrangement of a work by a young clever clogs, whose mother taught him to play the piano, allowing him to make his debut at the age of 9. A great plan to get the kids out working for a living asap. The music tells the tale of a debauched party by a coven of witches on the aforementioned peak. I am guessing that he had aged a few years before writing this, if not, he could probably have given Keith Richards a few lessons in how to have a good time. To listen to a version of it please click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuyV37WQo2k It starts with the strings depicting the witches flying in for the do. Like most parties the music is a bit constrained at first but as the bash gets into full swing the tempo increases but then at about 6 minutes the church bell tolls and all goes quiet as the witches scatter.
Next we had Adoration by Florence Price, who was the first black woman to be acknowledged as a serious composer, even though she started by writing and performing organ works for silent movies. A sort of early version of John Williams. This piece was written later as a string quartet and today arranged by George Morton.
Members of The Orchestra of Opera North, conducted by Ellie Slorach with Charlie Drummond, soprano.
The penultimate piece was written by the slacker Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who didn’t begin composing until he was 15. It is a piece, arranged by George Morton, called Scheherazade 1. The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship. It is based on the tales of the Arabian Nights when the sultan, who is not into committed relationships, takes a new wife every day and has them executed the following morning. Surely he could have got Deliveroo to bring them a Breakfast McMuffin and slipped them their bus fare home, like we proper gentlemen do. Anyway, his latest wife, Scheherazade, sees what is going on and hatches a plan. She offers to tell the sultan a bedtime story but suggests they consummate the marriage before she finishes it, leaving a cliff-hanger. The following day the sultan cancels the execution so that he can hear the concluding part of the tale, but of course, his new missus is up to the challenge and continues the story, leaving things hanging in the air yet again. The process continues for 1,001 nights, at which time the sultan decides that she is a ‘keeper’ and makes the executioner redundant. This yarn about Sinbad is one of the episodes.
Finally we had a note of optimism in the wonderful song, Summertime, from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. Ellie Slorach informed us that it is the most covered song in history with over 25,000 versions. This arrangement by George Morton was sung by Charlie Drummond who imparted the sensitivity and intimacy required for a lullaby, especially one relying on passing on hope and optimism to the infant, in spite of all the odds being against them.
So, there we have it, a wonderful, laid back, late morning concert which seems to have done the trick, in that since it was staged, the weather has improved no end. So hush, little baby, don’t you cry.
To see what is coming to Howard Assembly Room please go to https://www.operanorth.co.uk/event-tag/har/
For everything else Opera North related it is https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on
Photographs by Stan Graham
Tyke It To The Limit 