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Review of Christmas Concert December 2010

Baslow Choir’s Christmas Concert (given on two successive evenings) was a delightful and entertaining mixture of old and new. It was interspersed with lively contributions by Stephen Godward (of whom more later) and lusty participation by the audience, when let loose on some popular carols, especially after the interval nourishment of mince pies and mulled wine.

For this reviewer it was a joy to attend a Christmas concert where the listener is challenged by new or little-known works and not just regaled with the old and familiar. Thus it was that the choir gave performances of Ebeling’s “All my heart this night rejoices” (a far from easy work skilfully sung by the choir unaccompanied), and a gentle Italian cradle song,“Ninna-nanna a gesu bambino”, and – to end the first half – a very jolly and catchy French carol entitled “Masters in this hall” in an arrangement by Sir David Willcocks (who celebrates his 90th birthday at the end of this month). There was a fine performance of a lovely work, composed by David Ornac (who was in the audience at the Friday concert), to the words “Veni Immanuel.” It had been first performed by the choir in 2002. Alison Wheeldon ably provided the flowing and, by the sound of it, demanding piano accompaniment. There was a first performance of a moving and imaginative song called “There is no rose of such virtue” dedicated to the choir by its musical director and conductor Andrew Marples. Coming to more familiar items the choir gave a spirited rendition of Handel’s “Unto us a child is born” from his Messiah. This was appropriate not least as 2009 has marked the bicentenary of the composer’s death.

Rather than rely on the very well-known versions of “Ding dong merrily on high” and “The twelve days of Christmas” the choir adopted a more imaginative approach. They treated us to a jaunty, syncopated version of the former and a hilarious and (to your reviewer) original rendition of the latter. This took the form of a series of letters read by Nicky Wright, who succeeded in keeping a straight face as she did so, with replies by the equally poker-faced Robert Wright. Each exchange marked the arrival, on each of the twelve days, by the gift of the items that the song describes (sung with gusto by the choir). As the days progress and the flow of gifts gets ever greater (what does one do with “ten lords a-leaping”?) the letters describing the arrivals get progressively stiffer and less grateful in tone, culminating in – horror of horrors – a threat of legal action as the cascade of arrivals becomes wholly unmanageable by the twelfth day. It was all greatly enjoyed by the audience.

In recent years there has been delightful handbell-ringing. On this occasion these slots in the programme were filled by the rich bass-baritone voice and accomplished acting of Stephen Godward. He certainly knows how to move and entertain his audience. He began with a stirring performance of Handel’s “The trumpet shall ring” (also from the Messiah). It was a pity, if understandable, that there was no trumpet to accompany this splendid aria: the combination of singer and trumpeter can make for a spine-tingling experience. Instead, Andrew Marples rose to the challenge with his piano accompaniment to this and other items on Stephen’s menu. These included John Rutter’s lovely “Lord, open thou mine eyes” and that wonderful aria, “Non piu andrai”, from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Together with songs by Peter Cornelius and William Sterndale Bennett  and that evergreen from the 1890s, “Love could I only tell thee,” Stephen ended his very varied and versatile contributions with some knockabout, in particular what the programme described simply as  “Tonga”. Suffice it to say that this item would have brought a blush to the cheeks of some, but not so to this audience which relished the saucy good humour.

The choir concluded the evening with a rousing medley of well-known songs arranged by Goff Richards. Thus entertained, the audience dispersed contentedly into the chilly winter night.

Mention should be made of the able lead provided by Andrew Marples. He has the important knack of keeping the choir, especially the lady members, fully attentive to his directions (although there is a need for some additional support in the tenor range) and the habit (which this reviewer appreciates) of introducing the programme items with a few words of explanation, thereby involving the audience in the proceedings. Also to be mentioned – and commended – are the individual choir contributions of Norma Clough, who provided a solo in Andrew’s arrangement of “Silent night”, and some gentle humour in readings given by Rosemary Thomas and Bill Hale. Not to be forgotten is the accompaniment given at various times during the concert by Alison Wheeldon on the piano and Robert Girdler on the organ. Their very professional contributions are easily overlooked precisely because they melded so well into the choir’s singing.

Bill Blackburne