Christopher Morley's essential guide - with contributions from his team of specialist reviewers
CBSO Prom
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Apologies to all
In my excitement over the piece my fingers ran away with me, and I forgot to credit Ethyl Smyth as composer of the Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra.
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY ENJOYED THREE ENCHANTED EVENINGS AT EASTBOURNE'S GRAND HOTEL
SOME ENCHANTED EVENINGS
Appassionata at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne *****
Eastbourne's breathtakingly magnificent Grand Hotel, so imposing yet also so welcoming, has an impressive roster of visiting musicians since its opening in 1875. Among the many luminaries who have crossed its portals are Debussy (who completed La Mer here), Kreisler, Caruso, Nellie Melba, Ysaye, Paul Robeson, Myra Hess… the list goes on.
Latest to join them is the young vocal quartet Appassionata, who, together with pianist Will Sharma, presented a three-night entertainment "Some Enchanted Evenings" at the end of March. It began with baritone Matthew Siveter, already a much-loved veteran of Gilbert and Sullivan productions, presenting his one-man show "A Source of Innocent Merriment", drawing material from the likes of G&S themselves, Noel Coward, Flanders and Swann, Tom Lehrer, as well as d
THE MUSIC BEHIND THE E-CARDS
MIKE HUGHES-CHAMBERLAIN AND JACQUIE LAWSON E-CARDS
by Christopher Morley
It's always a joy when an e-greetings card plops into your inbox, not least at festive times of the year. It's easy to understand why the sending of these cyber-messages has become so popular, given the huge cost of postage nowadays
At the forefront of this trend are the e-cards produced by Jacquie Lawson, and in addition to the attractive artwork, witty and sensitive storylines, and interactive opportunities offered by these little gems, comes the input of music, atmospheric and appropriate.
Whether specially composed or arranged from other sources, these sound-pictures are masterminded by Mike Hughes-Chamberlain, who has made the seamless connection between a musical education and Information Technology in order to create scores for these scores of delightful little gems.
He was brought up in Hindhead in Surrey, where his mother founded a music school in 1975.
A Gimmick Too Far CBSO at Symphony Hall Music: + ★★★★★ “ Concept”: – ★ What a review of a CBSO concert should be exclusively concerned with is the music making. I make this glaringly self-evident and undeniable point simply because the way in which it was presented and packaged makes it impossible to do so. This is a source of regret because the performances of Richard Strauss’s ‘Don Quixote’ and Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’, symphony were not merely very fine but blazed, coruscated and invigorated. The CBSO’s energy and glorious playing, inspired by the irrepressible Kazuki Yamada, were a joy to hear. These performances were gems, brilliant diamonds which deserved a setting worthy of them rather than a visual “Concept” of incredible vacuity, banality and distracting irrelevance. The CBSO’s new Chief Executive Officer Emma Stenning, microphone in hand, welcomed us to her brave new world and exhorted us to share our opinions of it with her. Read on Ms Stenning. Anyone who missed this ca