Summer Concert
by Chris Holmes A
rts Week at King's College began in
style with an extremely polished
Summer Concert in the Chapel.
This traditional opener to the last week of
the Summer term always attracts a good
audience, and this year was no exception.
The Brass Group began proceedings with
That's a Plentyby Williams and Creamer,
arranged by Henderson. There was
certainly plenty to enjoy here, tight
ensemble playing, a rich, punchy sound,
and excellent rhythmic control. Emily
Dalwood and Lucy Dunham gave us a
somewhat seismic shift of tone colour
when they gave a beautiful performance
of the duet from West Side Story, A Boy
Like That. Their voices are beautifully
matched, and they sang with great
musicianship.
The String Group gave a vibrant
performance of the first movement from
Grieg's Holberg Suite, lots of rhythmic
verve, and a good warm string sound.
Their principal cellist was soon in action
again, but this time with a slightly smaller
instrument. David Bidgood has delighted
purists for the last five years with his
wonderfully musical recorder playing, and
he bowed out tonight with a Bossa Nova
by John Golland. This was a performance
full of detail, nuance and shading, along
with some extremely nimble fingerwork.
The String Group were then augmented by
wind and brass in an arrangement of part
of Rossini's William TellOverture, and this
hurtled along at breakneck speed,
featuring some exhilarating percussion
work in particular.
The Chamber Choir then took the stage
for the centrepiece of the concert,
performing four favourites that have
delighted audiences consistently in the
last year or so. I have written on them
before, and, if anything, the pieces and
their performances have matured with
age, their thrilling dissonances and
challenging note clusters filling the
cavernous spaces of the Chapel.
Two more leavers had their final say on
the King's concert platform, Flora Webster
with Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Wishing You
Were Somehow Here Again(a really
touching performance, beautifully
controlled), and Robin Danaher with the
first movement of the Saxophone Sonata
by Phil Woods, a hybrid of classical
procedures and jazz influence - Bob
Chilcott for saxophone if you like. This
was a majestic performance, and exacted
prolonged applause.
The Wind Band brought things to a close
with two new pieces, O Nata Luxby Guy
Forbes, and Windjammerby Robert
Buckley. This ensemble continues to
showcase its considerable strength of
sound, indeed it somehow hit new heights
of power and punch - a truly resounding
end to a terrific concert.
52