Monthly Archives: December 2011

2011 and 2012’s resolutions

There were no obvious musical high points to 2011 but a lot of things I’d wanted to do for a while actually happened. I sang in Leicester Cathedral and Wakefield Cathedral; this means that Bradford Cathedral is the only Church … Continue reading

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Lots of carol-singing: outside church

A few days before Christmas I did something I haven’t done before: joined the Chandos Singers for carol-singing at Bath’s Green Park Station (for non-Bathonians, this is a former railway terminus which now houses shops and a brasserie). One of … Continue reading

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Purcell’s monument

While on a shopping trip to London, I found time to go to evensong at Westminster Abbey, which I’d never done before (I’ve been at evensongs there, but singing them!) The attraction was Byrd’s Great Service, a setting I’ve never … Continue reading

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Lots of carol-singing: in church

This year I’ve done/heard more carol services than usual; fortunately there was plenty of variety on offer. The festive marathon began with my singing at the Bathwick 9 Lessons, where there’d been a lot of illness in the soprano section. … Continue reading

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O magnum mysterium

This was the theme of the Chandos Singers’ Christmas concert, which we put together fairly quickly after the Russian folk-song performances. The first half of the concert was built around Victoria’s mass and motet on this text, both familiar repertoire … Continue reading

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The Golden Apples

The Chandos Singers ventured outside the usual concert format and took part in performances of Russian folk-tales given by Fire Springs (alongside on one evening a one-act opera by our conductor, which I wasn’t involved in) at the Rondo Theatre, … Continue reading

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Bath Mozartfest 2011 (4): the Hallé

The final Mozartfest event attended by family members was the concert in the Forum given by the Hallé Orchestra. There was a brief talk at the beginning which addressed the question of whether the orchestra had performed in Bath before; … Continue reading

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Bath Mozartfest 2011 (3): Padmore/Watkins/Drake and Grace Francis

We snapped up a few tickets while the Festival was in progress and so ended up going to lots of concerts. Some of the family went to hear Mark Padmore in the Guildhall accompanied by Julius Drake and alongside Richard … Continue reading

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Bath Mozartfest 2011 (2): Imogen Cooper and the Sitkovetsky Trio

Some family members went to hear Imogen Cooper (a regular at festivals in Bath) playing at the Assembly Rooms. As a pupil of Alfred Brendel’s, she is very much in the same tradition of unshowy interpretation.  The least successful piece … Continue reading

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Bath Mozartfest 2011 (1): The Sixteen

My first Mozartfest concert was The Sixteen in Bath Abbey. Having missed their ‘choral pilgrimage’ when it came to Wells a few weeks ago I wanted to catch them especially as they were doing Purcell. Purcell is in fact a … Continue reading

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