An Evening of Opera

It was my pleasure to deputise for Bruce Wyatt at Stourport Choral’s summer concert, ‘An Evening of Opera’. The programme of beautiful choral pieces was an absolute joy to behold. Whilst it was a particularly hot and humid evening, the members undertook the pieces with enthusiasm and gusto. I certainly didn’t envy them but they seemed completely undeterred and looked to have really enjoyed participating in the evening concert.

Stourport were joined by two extremely talented guest singers: Soprano - Sian Roberts and Mezzo Soprano – Samantha Oxborough. Both sang solo’s, Sian’s ‘O Mio Bambino Caro’ and Samantha’s ‘Voi Che sapete, non-so piu, Parto, Parto’ were remarkable only exceeded by their stunning duet of Delibes ‘Flower Duet’. The soloists also joined the members in a number of their choral pieces.

The Musical Director, Dexter Drown, guided us through the evening with a synopsis of each piece, he was comical and informative and almost a potted history lesson. An extremely talented young man who is obviously passionate about his art.

The balance and crispness of Wagner’s ‘Procession & Corale’ was a great start to the evening, particularly the crescendo! There was wonderful control in Dido’s ‘lament;’ the ‘round’ style was extremely hard but mastered well. The theatrical antics during Handel’s Alcina’ was a nice touch and had the audience chuckling in appreciation. Borodin’s Prince Igor is a particular favourite of mine although often more associated with the plagiarised ‘Stranger in Paradise from Kismet’ version by many. Samantha joined Stourport and it was lovely, although there was a bit of a race in the middle and I’m not sure who won. It is always difficult following music whilst watching the MD and although the majority managed to achieve this, some really didn’t. My congratulations to the superb abilities of Accompanist, Angie Allard who kept control the whole time.

Act two introduced me to some pieces I was not familiar with, for example: Wagner’s Wedding march is probably the most popular entrance for any bride but I had never heard all of it. It was wonderful and I will be listening to it again, very soon. Beethoven’s ‘Prisoners Chorus and Mozart’s ‘Voyagers Chorus’ were well sung and enjoyable and Wagner’s ‘Pilgrims’ Chorus finished the evening in a rousing manner although, in my humble opinion, was outshone by Puccini’s ‘Humming Chorus’ and Verdi’s ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ which were beautifully executed and obviously enjoined by performers and audience alike.

Thank you for your hospitality Stourport Choral, it was a truly lovely evening and I look forward to seeing you all again in November.

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