Rather joyless rendition

Guest performers at Wednesday's Marama Hall lunchtime concert were 15 members of the Southern Youth Choir, conducted by George Chittenden.

This auditioned choir's repertoire covers many genres and choristers presented a bracket of three well-known American songs.

With Mr Chittenden accompanying at the piano, the choir lacked direction and attitude. Onsets were at times tentative, and although well-balanced and blended, the overall delivery lacked vitality. 

What a Wonderful World (Thiele and Weiss) was first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967, and a choral arrangement by Mark Brymer suited this group, but apart from a few singers, bland faces showed no attempt at interpretation of text.

George Gershwin's popular jazz standard Embraceable You (1930), first performed on Broadway by Ginger Rogers, with lines such as "I love all the many charms about you - Above all, I want these arms about you'' should have been ideal for this age group to express with youthful enthusiasm.

A little more spirit was evident for the faster-paced arrangement by Mark Hayes of New York, New York (Kander and Ebb), first sung by Liza Minnelli in the film of the same name (1977) before Frank Sinatra took it as one of his signature tunes.

Yesterday's performance was one of the choir's last with Mr Chittenden, who has been appointed organist at Sankta Maria Kyrka, in Helsingborg, Sweden.

The programme continued with Handel's Trio Sonata for Two Cellos and Piano in G Minor (Heleen du Plessis, Peter Lee cellos and Jieying Liew piano).

The cellos were impressively well-matched in the "duo'' passages of the andante and the well-paced allegro displayed clarity and sympathetic articulation.

Voice students soprano Beth Goulstone and tenor Harry Griggs also performed, accompanied by Tom McGrath.

-By Elizabeth Bouman 

 

 


Lunchtime Concert

 

Marama Hall

Wednesday July 27

 


 

 

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