The end of another week.  As the dust settles, it’s in order to set down a  note of the enjoyment provided by Bryn’s concert at the RFH on Wednesday.

Having carped about ’sing the CD’ concerts in connection with Renee Fleming’s rather mediocre effort the week before, I have to say that this show, based on Bryn’s recent (and, in my humble opinion., rather good) CD release ‘Bad Boys’, worked rather well.  The reason lies principally in Bryn’s force of personality, which made you forgive the orchestra being not top-notch, the chorus being a little less than that, and the whole thing having a distinct whiff of marketing, not least in the £5 Gubbay programmes (no libretto/translation, please note).

Different costumes accompanied each number, even if it was only a differently-coloured scarf draped around his suit jacket, which conjured up a rather raffish Poirot dinner party image.  A rifle accompanied Kaspar for the number from Der Freischutz and Dr Dulcamara carried his potions in a capaciously-pocketed cloak.  This included a bottle of the beer which was, I assume, of the brand with which Bryn’s programme bio gleefully reported him as having a “proud association”.  With so many proud associations, my side-on slips seat (which was worse than the website implied, SBC please note) suddenly seemed steep at £35.  Surely Rolex et al were subsidising it?  Oh, silly me, there’s the Grubbay factor.  Why do I feel so out of step with the world of today?  Sigh.

The numbers were, however, reasonably generous.  Freischutz, Faust, Mefistofele, Tosca (the highlight), Sweeney Todd (not the best choice from that piece), Threepenny Opera, Otello and an encore from Les Mis. But the stop-start feeling was generated by the regular detours to display the Sinfonia Cymru’s skills:  Danse Macabre, Faust ballet music, Night on Bare Mountain, that sort of thing.  The Faust Soldiers’ Chorus (sung in English) was a good display of full-on singing by the London Welsh Chorale, but I fear that their other interventions sounded less exciting: it all seemed a bit woolly and whispy in alternating measure.  Sinfonia Cymru were good, I thought, and gave us both full-throttle and sensitive moments with finesse and, to be honest, rather fewer horn-fluffs than there had been in the LPO’s Wagner/Scriabin concert of the other week.

The Sweeney Todd number was “Ballad of Sweeney Todd” instead of the CD’s offering of the Epiphany, presumably because the chorus were present rather than a Mrs Lovett (I’m not sure that Anne Sofie von Otter will make a landmark Mrs Lovett based on the disc’s evidence…)  However, in the audience there was one Maria Friedman so I did briefly entertain hopes of a call for ‘is there a Mrs Lovett in the audience?’, but alas…  She sat a couple of seats from Sir Ian McKellen, who provided one of the unintentional highlights of the evening when he cringed endearingly at the broadcast of his exhortation to switch off our mobiles, not cough, etc.  Awww…

We sang Bryn happy birthday as well (“better than Cardiff,” he admitted sotto voce), albeit at his own instigation which is rather cheeky.  And it was in these little moments that any misgivings evaporated about the marketing hype, Grubbay-managed, over-priced roadshow quality of the evening.  Despite some stilted verbiage in between numbers, those numbers were delivered with absolute commitment and in fine voice, with all of the dramatic engagement and nuanced singing that we expect from Bryn Terfel.  All in all, it was good fun, even if (despite all I’ve just said) the only really, absolutely top-flight number that really got the goosebumps going was the Tosca number that closed the first half.  I still don’t like the ’sing the CD’ roadshow concept, but I do think Bryn brought it off:  with the starchy formal classical concert atmosphere set aside, enough fun prevailed to banish the misgivings. 

Then there was a signing in the Foyer, so I have pictures and we have a pleasant scrawl across the programme from our reigning operatic villain.  Lovely.  We trotted off home humming Stars from Les Miserables (not the best thing of the night, but the last thing of the night – and it stuck in my head!) and smiling.  For a Wednesday, what more can you ask?  Ta Bryn!

[A further quick note:  the 'other half' took himself off to Angela Gheorghiu at the RFH the other day.  Summary: far from full, which raises the question of whether the postponement had pee'd people off a bit too much, but she sang reasonably generously, gave four encores, spent some time singing to the people in the choir (which feels like quite a nice gesture) and at one point she forgot the words and stopped the number to consult the conductor's score... Oo-er.]

Inlägget med dagens bildskörd inleds med musik att lyssna till medan du tittar på bilderna – om du vill förstås. Tro det eller ej, men det finns en tanke bakom musikvalet. Jag ska berätta mot inläggets slut. Låter inspelningen knastrig och brusig? Det har sin naturliga förklaring. Dame Clara Butt gjorde insjungningen omkring 1915.

En vägg med oregelbundna former att beundra och njuta av. Den lilla gluggen får bli pricken över i.

Från färgglatt till stramt grått i olika toner samt svart och vitt.

Leka med skuggor. Många kameratalibaner får spunk närhelst de ser en skugga och måste genast lätta upp den; helst utplåna den helt. Eftersom jag föredrar att lägga den tiden på att exempelvis fotografera, hanterar jag oftast problemet på mitt vis genom att försöka låta dem vara en del av kompositionen.

Mose brinnande buske kan man ha i trädgården. Här i datorn kan man kolla på “Staffans brinnande fasad”.

Slut på musiken? Då får Bryn Terfel sjunga för dig. Lyssna och njut medan du fortsätter att kolla på bilderna!

Något avvikande som bryter av en smula är inte fel att få med på bild. Världen är full av spännande upptäckter att göra. Jag har just läst en bok om kreativ fotografi. Eftersom jag delvis redan ägnat mig åt den formen, känner jag starkt att det är sådant jag vill fortsätta att göra på olika sätt. Ta över helt kommer det inte att få göra, så var lugn – bloggbilderna kommer att vara ungefär som förut. Förhoppningsvis är jag lite bättre om ett år och ännu lite bättre om två år och så vidare. Utveckling kallas det visst.

Torn hör inte till vanligheterna att jag fotograferar, men varför inte ta med ett nu? Färgskalan påminner mest om en förstudie till ett vykort, men det tar jag inget extra för.

Reflexer kan komma väl till pass. Egentligen avskyr jag det här huset i Gamla stan på grund av dess grälla färg, men huset har flera intressanta saker att visa upp, så en dag kommer jag att utforska det närmare med kameran. Detta fordrar dock ett jämnare och mjukare ljus än dagens knallhårda så det får bli en annan dag.

Varför all denna musik med glädje som tema då? Enkelt, jag blir helt enkelt lycklig av att fotografera och med färsk inspiration känns det ännu roligare. Man ska inte krångla till saker i onödan – fotografera och lev istället!

A concert performance of Don Giovanni on Medici.tv (how awesome is that project?) – in combination with a hedge-trimming/bush-sculpting competition that is apparently taking place in the neigborhood – it’s a perfect Wednesday morning music.

Tosca, Royal Opera, July 2009. The main reason I bought tickets for this revival was to see Deborah Voigt as Tosca, with Marcello Giordani as Cavaradossi. Unfortunately Ms. Voigt cancelled due to acute colitis, and is being replaced by two other ladies: Angela Gheorghiu and Nelly Miricioiu. Ms. Gheorghiu sang on the first night, and I saw the second night on July 11 with Ms. Miricioiu. Bryn Terfel was Scarpia, and the conductor was Jacques Lacombe. Last year this same production by Jonathan Kent was superbly conducted by Antonio Pappano, and this time around Jacques Lacombe also did an excellent job, reminding me of his wonderful Ariadne auf Naxos in Berlin five months ago.

As Tosca, Nelly Miricioiu gave a fine performance, and though her singing lacked perfection her acting was superb. For my money she was far preferable to Micaela Carosi last year, who lost her pitch on some of the sustained notes and lacked the pathos essential to this role. Nelly Miricioiu had the pathos and never went over the top — she is a wonderful singing actress. I’m not sure the interaction with Marcello Giordani worked as well as it might, because he started off very strongly in Act I, but seemed to flag towards the end. I was slightly reminded of his performance opposite Karita Mattila as Manon in the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Manon Lescaut of February 2008, though as Sharpless in the Metropolitan Opera simulcast of Butterfly in March 2009 he sang like a god.

What really made this evening terrific was the riveting performance of Bryn Terfel, who gave a strong and nuanced interpretation of Scarpia, showing him to be manipulative and incorrigible rather than purely evil. He exuded a smouldering sexual power, and in Act I of this production, where Scarpia stands at a lower level than the main floor of the church, Terfel’s powerful stage presence provided a fitting close to the end of the act. In that act, Kostas Smoriginas was a sympathetic Angelotti, and Jeremy White a convincingly foolish Sacristan. With Martyn Hill doing a fine job as Spoletta, this was an excellent cast, well-rehearsed by Stephen Barlow, who was the revival director. In fact there were significant improvements from last year, and the activities of the soldiers in Act III did not distract from the music in the way they did before.

This was the first night of a new production by Tim Albery, with set designs by Michael Levine, and modern costumes by Constance Hoffman. As soon as the overture started we found ourselves witnessing a vivid musical performance under the baton of Marc Albrecht, with Bryn Terfel giving a powerful and controlled portrayal of the Dutchman. Senta was well sung by Anja Kampe but with too much vibrato for my liking, Hans-Peter König was a convincing Daland, and Torsten Kerl a suitably distressed Erik. The chorus, which included a large extra chorus for the crew of ghosts, sang superbly.

As to the production, the high point for me was the sudden centre-stage appearance of the Dutchman’s ghostly crew near the end. They emerged in a large hollow, scattering Daland’s crew, who had previously been laughing and joking in the same space, and when a huge lid came down on these pale-faced men clothed in black, the effect was quite eerie. The costumes for Daland’s crew, by comparison, were rather too colourful, looking as if they’d been carefully arranged by the wardrobe department of an opera house — a bunch of shipmates just don’t look like that. Several aspects of this production were too contrived, and the spinning chorus was a case in point. The girls worked at sewing machines in four rows factory-style, but some of them rose and wandered around, removing cloths that were being worked on, putting them in hampers and randomly distributing them to other machines. This served to emphasise the idle pretence of what was going on, and while the production may settle down and become more natural as it continues, the music speaks of anguish and redemption, which I found lacking. The director portrayed Senta as obsessive, playing with a model ship earlier on, but in the end she merely collapsed on stage, after failing to get the Dutchman to take her away. This change to Wagner’s ending removes the final redemption, which is the main point of the opera. Without it the Dutchman will continue to sail the seas, and Senta is just another lost soul.

Chandos Milestones – 30 Years of Chandos

ANNI0030 (30 CDs for the price of 3)

Buy from amazon.com
Buy from amazon.co.uk

Albinoni: Oboe Concertos – Robson, CM 90, Standage
Bax: Symphony No. 4, etc. – Ulster Orchestra, Thomson
Boulanger: Choral works – BBC Philharmonic, Tortelier
Chopin: Études – Louis Lortie
Delius: Sea Drift, etc. – Terfel, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Hickox
Elgar: Violin Sonata, etc. – Nigel Kennedy, Peter Pettinger
Grainger: The Grainger Edition, Vol. 1 – BBC Philharmonic, Hickox
Grechaninov: Passion Week – Phoenix Bach Choir, Kansas City Chorale, Charles Bruffy
Handel: Chandos Anthems, Vol. 1 – The Sixteen, Christophers
Harty: An Irish Symphony, etc. – Ulster Orchestra, Thomson
Holst: The Planets – Scottish National Orchestra, Gibson
Hummel: Piano Concertos – Stephen Hough, English Chamber Orchestra, Thomson
Hummel: Masses, Vol. 1 – CM 90, Hickox
Janáček: Glagolitic Mass, etc. – Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mackerras
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6, etc. – Scottish National Orchestra, Järvi
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas – Kirkby, Taverner Players, Parrott
Rachmaninov: Trios élégiaques Nos. 1 and 2 – Borodin Trio
Respighi: Belkis, Queen of Sheba, etc. – Philharmonia Orchestra, Simon
Shostakovich: Violin Concertos – Mordkovitch, Scottish National Orchestra, Järvi
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1, etc. – Shostakovich Jr, I Musici de Montréal, Shostakovich, Turovsky
Stanford: Songs of the Sea, Songs of the Fleet, etc. – Finley, BBC National Chorus and Orchestra of Wales, Hickox
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (highlights) – Kenny, Tomlinson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Parry
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 – Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Jansons
Vanhal: Symphonies – London Mozart Players, Bamert
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony, etc. – London Symphony Orchestra, Hickox
Vaughan Williams: Film Music, Vol. 1 – BBC Philharmonic, Gamba
Walton: Music for the film Henry V – Plummer, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Marriner
The Complete Champions – Black Dyke Mills Band, Peter Parkes
The King’s Singers: Debut Album – The King’s Singers
Music from the novels of Louis de Bernières: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and the ‘Latin’ Trilogy – Craig Ogden, Alison Stephens

Founded by Brian Couzens, Chandos quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading classical labels. To celebrate thirty years in the classical recording world, Chandos releases a limited edition thirty-disc set featuring highlights of the company’s recording history.

Each CD is packaged in a CD wallet featuring the original artwork, and the 2009 Chandos catalogue will be included within each set.

I can’t believe I found this. This is, without a doubt, the most amazing duet in the best possible piece ever. … I can’t even begin to stress how important this version (the album version) of this song is to own in your own personal collection. This has been in my top five tracks for over about 5 years now, since I first heard it. … I would say with a good certainty that this is tied for my #1 vocal track EVER.

That is the video to a live performance. … That’s… the part I can’t believe I found. I stumbled upon it actually. I’ve been looking for it forever. Anyways, watch it and turn the volume up as high as possible. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT THE SONG WITH THIS POST. Thanks.

Oh, and it’s Bryn Terfel with Andrea Bocelli presenting “The Pearl Fishers Duet (Au fond du temple saint)”. You can find this on Bryn Terfel’s album “Bryn Terfel Sings Favorites”.

Els camins d’Internet són inescrutables i, si tens temps per perdre-t’hi, no saps si arribaràs a Roma o a qui sap on. El pretext, veure un vídeo que t’envia un amic de la interpretació de Gundula Janowitz i Lucia Popp de la «Canzonetta sull’aria» de Le nozze di Figaro; d’aquí passes al mateix duet interpretat per Renée Fleming i Cecilia Bartoli; d’aquí a un altre duet de Mozart, de La flauta màgica, interpretat per Bryn Terfel i la Bartoli, que et porta a una reina de la nit interpretada per Natalie Dessay, d’on saltes a una altra reina de la nit interpretada per Beverly Sills i acabes… bé, vegeu-ho vosaltres mateixos. No tinc paraules, només llàgrimes als ulls de tant riure. «I can sing higher – hojotoho-oh»!

This week I attended a concert by Bryn Terfel, the world’s best baritone and also an avid United supporter. It was a wonderful experience with the highlights probably being his renditions of “Credo in un Dio crudel” from Othello and “Ehi! paggio!…L’onore! Ladri!” from Falstaff. The program, amazingly, ended with “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. But Mr Terfel was careful to point out that “the scousers think this is a song about their football team, but in fact it’s Rodgers and Hammerstein”. He tried to make us sing along, but full marks to the audience who seemed totally unfamiliar with both the tune and the lyrics.

Also present was a representative of leading West Ham-blog Bubbleview. Still Mr Terfel sensibly refrained from a “Forever Blowing Bubbles” encore.

Recommended recording: Cecilia & Bryn (Decca).

Another nice old London church, another concert…

This was at St George’s Hanover Square, a fine 18th-century building designed by John James in 1721-24, with connections with George Frederick Handel.  Broad, handsome, light and spacious, it is a fine church and a great venue for music (…but MIND YOUR HEAD if you’re going to the loo …)

Wednesday’s lunchtime concert was part of the Midweek Music in Mayfair series, given by the BERKELEY ENSEMBLE, a chamber group formed from members of the Southbank Sinfonia – including my niece Rosie on bassoon.

They played two pieces:  Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, K581, and the Octet by Howard Ferguson (1908-1999) – surrealistically misprinted in the programme as ‘Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006)’, a jazzer who did indeed have an octet but didn’t write this one.

The Mozart featured John Slack on clarinet – one of the current breed of ultra-cool clarinettists, which is nice because he doesn’t intrude when it isn’t his solo, but he seemed almost too laid back to the point of disappearance on occasion, and it took him a while to warm up to pitch (which is odd:  shouldn’t the strings have tuned to him?).  Oddly, the first violin, Tatiana Bysheva, also seemed to disappear at times, but that might just have been from where I was sitting.  Otherwise the strings provided a rock-solid support, warm, dependable and very pleasing – Rebecca Mathews on 2nd violin, Dan Shilladay on viola (relishing his ‘sighing’ moment in the second Trio of the Minuet:  I always imagine that this part was originally played by Mozart himself), and, above all, Gemma Wareham holding everything together from below with her authoritative (but discreet) cello playing.   [click here for biographies of the players]

I came away thinking (as always) ‘What a wonderful piece this is’, which was the right reaction!  The clarinet (as played in the 1780s and 90s by Anton Stadler) brought out the best in Mozart;  I can never quite work out whether the thematic unity of the Quintet is deliberate, or if Mozart just came out with the same thematic shapes whenever he imagined the sound of the clarinet.  Either way it makes for a most satisfying and tightly-knit experience.

Then the Howard Ferguson:  I have to confess I was expecting something typically ‘English’ and characterless, and of course I was agreeably surprised.  The opening has a bittersweet, acid-drop quality (think of the Forlane from Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin, perhaps) – basically tonal harmony subverted by chromatic twists and turns.  At first I thought ‘Frank Bridge’, but my brother Tony said ‘somewhere between Finzi and Bax, which is a place I didn’t know existed’… The four movements do not disappoint, although the idiom varies at it goes along:  the slow movement is more conventionally tonal, but beautiful, and the Finale wanders off in the direction of Walton (big swoopy tune for viola and cello in unison), Britten (triadic string fanfares) and almost Tchaikovsky (a big horn tune) before the opening theme from the first movement comes round again.

A piece that definitely knows what it’s about:  great sounds, big-boned and very satisfying structure, very tricky to bring off, very well played.  It’s not special pleading to say that the bassoon has a particularly awkward part – difficult notes needing to be ‘joined up’ in angular but lyrical lines – but Rosie did a terrific job.  She was not helped, alas, by the clarinet’s diffidence once more;  I feel it really needed more leading from the front (incidentally, what an awkward line-up this is:  clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet and double bass – the model is of course the Schubert Octet).  The players sat in a rather confrontational layout:  string quartet in a line facing the three wind players and some distance away, with the double bass almost as a mediator between them.  Perhaps they could shuffle a bit closer together?

But I really have no quibbles.  It’s a fascinating piece and they played it brilliantly. This time the first violin (Tatiana Bysheva) really stood out when required, as did all the strings with their various solos.  The horn player was the apparently imperturbable Paul Cott – always spot on, big solid tone but careful not to drown the others.  A very nice way to spend a lunch hour.

And so, in the evening, to Cadogan Hall and the ECO, who gave us the most fabulous performance ever (which is saying something) of the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, K364, with Stephanie Gonley on violin and the amazing Lawrence Power on viola.  But that’s another story…

I have christened Lawrence Power ‘the Bryn Terfel of the viola’ – and explained to him that it’s meant as a compliment!

Do you have any idea of how popular the last night of the proms is abroad? It’s rather like the Famous Five. Any uncomfortable connotations disappear and you see only something wonderfully charming and eccentrically English. That must be why my friend Pippi has gone to Glasgow from her native Gothenburg for the third year running, to attend the Glasgow prom in the park. I think she has missed the finer differences between Scotland and England, but never mind.

We spent Saturday night channel hopping between the different parks, but failed to see Pippi and her friend on Glasgow Green. With so many concerts to choose from, it was hard to decide which one to pick, but I managed to catch José Carreras a couple of times in Hyde Park, and I love Terry Wogan at all times. Worried I’d miss Bryn Terfel in the Albert Hall, but got to hear most of his singing, too. (Pippi reports that Bryn is coming to Gothenburg soon, but will NOT pay 990 kronor to hear him sing. Maybe if he wears the fetching little number from the Albert Hall, that made Daughter gasp in horror?)

The Glasgow conductor Robert Ziegler sported what looked like a cross between a cactus and a spider in his button hole, which at least is different from the pink carnations (?) in London. The witch couldn’t help but notice that her primary school’s teaching of God Save The Queen is still intact, unlike that of Offsprings’ school which never taught it in the first place. And luckily Sir Roger Norrington didn’t fall over those pink ribbons swirling about on the stage. But why was he wearing a chef’s jacket?

For the last few days I’ve been talking with some guys about starting a band making some experiemental dance/noise gaze something-whatever-core music. One of the guys threw Atlas by Battles my way and I haven’t stopped listening to it. I dismissed Battles about 6 months ago at the Big Day Out because I wanted to see Tucker (who was amazing, both times I saw him) and almost went to the Battles sideshow just to see Tucker, but it was on the same night as The Police. Sting won.

Anyway, that was a stupid decison in hindsight because now I’m having kittens over Battles, not to mention I had to sit through a very awkward hour watching Fergie mangle everyone’s faces off in the booking mismatch of 2008. Where am I going with this? Towards Pivot, who have a new album out called O Soundtrack My Heart on August 18th on Warp. Didn’t I Furious keeps getting stuck in my head, and you can download that on their website anytime you like. They also made Band of the Day! Woo hoo!

When I was down in Melbourne I bought a shitload of vinyl, one of which being Cryptograms/Fluorescent Grey LP/EP by Deerhunter. These guys also have a new album called Microcastles coming out soon, which isn’t bad because they were apparently breaking up or something as of late last year. Hit up their blog for many mixtapes as well as this link showing you the sonic assault of My Bloody Valentine (“will he EVER shutup about them?” “No Honey, he won’t.”) which begs the question: Do the people hold their hands over their ears because it’s expected of them, or because it’s really THAT loud? I’m not questioning the fact that MBV is louder than Bryn Terfel with his nuts in a vice, but it almost seems like a courtesy to show the band “Hey! I can’t fucking hear!”.

Despite all that, I really admire the guy still bopping his head along to the noise. Dude, wicked.

Another (apparently – I can only tell from photos) amazing live show is by Saul Williams. His latest one produced/co-written/released/flogged to death by Trent Reznor is about to get a physical release hopefully in July. On the album is five extra tracks, one of which being a reworking of another song off the album, one being a re-release from his first album due to the song being in a Nike commercial, and another being from the NIN remix album for Year Zero (I ain’t gonna be the one to retype that l33t speak shit here).

Pitchfork put up one of the new songs World on Wheels, and it’s a catchy little ditty. Also some tour dates, but none for Australia.

Anyway, back to work.

A él le entrego desde este instante mi corazón entero… a quien es un extraño que no resultará extraño; no importa si aún no nos conocemos. Su educación me asombra porque no irrumpe en los instantes de mi existencia donde no tengo mucho tiempo o espacio para brindarle mi boca… a él le canto y con él vivo en dimensiones paralelas.

Tantritas

Bryn Terfel sings ‘Some enchanted evening’ (Richard Rodgers)

Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
you may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her
Again and again.Some enchanted evening
Someone may be laughin’,
You may hear her laughin’
Across a crowded room
And night after night,
As strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter
Will sing in your dreams.

Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try.

Some enchanted evening
When you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
Or all through your life you
May dream all alone.

Once you have found her,
Never let her go.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go!

Llueve de encantos

We’re now more half way though ‘I’d Do Anything’, and the pressure is mounting on the remaining contestants… but I have been wondering – is it really an all-or-nothing situation for the girls who are left, or have they already overcome the hardest hurdle by making it this far?

When the BBC was under attack from critics for broadcasting ‘an extended advert for the musical’, some fans (including myself) defended it on the basis that it is likely to help make a career for the majority of the stars of the show. Having written that in my response to Kevin Spacey, I thought I should actually test whether that was true based on previous series…

After a bit of research, I was somewhat surprised by what I discovered – all but one or two of the finalists have made been successful, but it relied massively on Bill Kenwright, the producer who was a judge in the last series…

Who has made it in their own right?

• Lee Mead is still playing the part of Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre, and has almost certainly guaranteed himself a successful West End career after winning the show
• Ben James-Ellis and Daniel Boys are the 2 finalists who have made it to the West End without the help of Bill Kenwright, and both appear to have proved that they have what it takes to succeed, despite not even making it to the final 3 in last year’s competition!
• Ben is now starring in Hairspray, and was seen as the host of one of the Nancy challenges in this series of ‘I’d Do Anything’
• Daniel is now starring in Avenue Q, having already been in a Fringe hit, I Love You Because and a concert performance of Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall opposite theatre stars Bryn Terfel, Maria Friedman and Philip Quast.
• Lewis Bradley is also starring in the West End, but only when Lee Mead is on holiday! Andrew Lloyd Webber has picked him to understudy Lee, so whilst he hasn’t made it yet, he’s on the way…

Who has made it thanks to Bill Kenwright?
Remarkably, 6 of the finalists have been given work by Bill Kenwright since they finished on the show:

• Craig Chalmers, Keith Jack and Chris Barton are all in Kenwright’s touring production of Joseph – Craig as joseph, Keith as the narrator, and Chris as Benjamin (also understudying Joseph)
• Chris Crosby (the first Joseph to be eliminated) starred in Bill Kenright’s touring production of Half a Sixpence and then did Cinderella in panto (also BK produced!)
• Jondeep More has done a few different shows – a small musical at the Landor Theatre (a very well-respected fringe theatre), a touring production of Nevermind the Broadway, and last but not least, Cinderella in panto (the Kenwright factor!)
• Seamus Cullen has been quiet since the show ended but was recently announced in another Bill Kenwright show – the upcoming touring production of Evita, in which he’ll be playing one of the leading roles – Che

So, who’s left?
If you count up the names I have mentioned so far, you’ll see that there are 10… so, what has happened to the last 2?

• Anthony Hansen (the youngest finalist as far as I’m aware) was offered the chance to go to a top drama school – Mountview – after the show finished to get some real training. In fact, rumour has it that it was John Barrowman who got him the place. Unfortunately, John is now probably quite frustrated, as Anthony has already dropped out of Mountview after less than a year. Why? To join a boyband – more of that in a moment…
• Rob McVeigh was last seen on television trying to win the nomination to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest – unfortunately for him, he didn’t make it past the first round. He has also done panto in his hometown, but it looks like he’s still waiting for his big break in the theatre

The boy-band – Dream On
Not content with just casting a number of finalists in his productions, Bill Kenwright also put together a boy-band with 5 of the finalists – Anthony Hansen, Chris Barton, Chris Crosby, Craig Chalmers and Lewis Bradley. In case you’re interested, you can buy their CD on amazon… personally, I WILL NOT!

In conclusion
So, almost all of the finalists are now making a career in theatre – and whilst they are not all in the West End, there’s still time for them to make the jump.

Having seen these fact though, should the final Nancy’s be worried about the fact that there is no producer on the judging panel this time around? Will Bill Kenwright still be keeping his eye on the contestants, with plans to cast them in his shows after the series is finished? They should definitely have their fingers crossed!

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The finalists’ websites (the 9 I have found!)
Ben James-Ellis
Chris Barton
Craig Chalmers
Daniel Boys
Jondeep More
Keith Jack
Lee Mead
Lewis Bradley
Seamus Cullen

On April 23rd, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel performed at the Ordway.  This was the only vocal recital I saw this year at the Schubert Club and it was quite enjoyable.

Early on it became clear that Terfel is a good performer, not just his great singing, but also his comfort with the audience, his stage presence.  I have seen singers with orchestras that just stand and sing, but have no real stage personality, Terfel is not one of those singers.  Probably the best example was a few years ago when the Baldwin sisters (Christina Baldwin and Jennifer Baldwin Peden) were on stage with the Minnesota Orchestra with two male singers for the Mozart Opera concert of the Casual Classics series.  The two guys just stood in their tuxes and sang, while the Baldwin sisters demonstrated great stage craft, the best was looking through the open frame like they were looking through a mirror.

Reading the text of the songs, especially of English language songs, it seemed that a few times either Terfel or the text was a bit off since they didn’t quite match a couple of times.

During the last set of songs, Songs of the Celtic Isles, Terfel solicited some audience participation for the last two songs.  For Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night) he had the audience humming with the music.  For the last song, Molly Malone, he had the audience singing with the chorus part.  At first we were pathetic and he stopped and had us stand to sing better.  The audience clearly enjoyed it, I think it is a sneaky (but fun) way to ensure a standing ovation, which he would have receive anyway.  The other strange thing with the Celtic Isles is that he skipped Cariad Cyntaf (First Love).

For an encore, he sang a nice song, can’t remember the name.  I don’t know if this was a true mistake, or part of the fun that we were lead to with the audience participation, but pianist Malcolm Martineau had the wrong music when Terfel announced the piece from the stage.  I am guessing it was planned, as Terfel went up to the piano while Martineau was off stage getting the right music and played a few notes of the music he had brought out originally and nodding it was the wrong music.  During the encore, Terfel hopped off stage and sung to women in the audience, holding hands, kissing hands, and playing footsie.  Once again showing his skills as a performer, and with his ability to get back on stage his skills at moving quickly.

It was a great performance and a nice end to the Schubert Club’s International Artist Series for the season.

-Josh

It’s that time of night again. I’m relaxing with my bottle of water, Andrea Bocelli & Bryn Terfel are singing the Pearlfishers’ Duet on my iTunes player, I’m Twittering away – briefly discussing spectacle frames with Sean Bonner – and reflecting on the events of the day.

It’s been rather a good day today as it happens. I’ve had a couple of good sessions on Call Of Duty 4 with my Xbox Live chums. Sadly, my shameless persuasive comments directed at Stephen Fry have not paid off. Not that he’d be able to play the Xbox with his broken arm at the moment, but still!

I managed to catch up with the action from the WRC Rally Sweden too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or known a Rally Sweden to be so devoid of snow. Yes, there was a little on a couple of the early stages but that soon vanished. I’m very glad Jari-Matti Latvala did well and became the youngest ever person to win a World Rally. Crikey, did the boy drive well!? Bad luck for Sebastian Loeb though. It just did not seem like his weekend. Neither did it seem like Henning Solberg’s weekend either. I really like the Solberg brothers and they’re top of my ’supporting’ list. Henning was hoping for a podium finish this year and was well on his way to achieving that…right up until the WRC Car + Bridge Barrier interface.

Every day I find myself checking the search term results for my blog but unlike The Richard Madeley Appreciation Society I never have people visiting my site after searching for something funny or interesting. I’ve had queries like “water”, “Kate Beckinsale” and “a2 supersonic” (remember, it’s HYPERsonic, people!) but nothing that really stands out.

The only vaguely interesting search term someone has used to find my site today has been:

“Scotland black residue tap water”
The only thing I can think of to answer your query is that you have inadvertently tried drinking from the back of a bitumen truck, an oil can or any other similarly viscous hydrocarbon containers. Don’t do this, it comes with serious health implications. Not only that, it’s not very palatable.

I also popped out this evening to watch the ISS and Atlantis pass overhead. Space fascinates me so it’s always nice to see the ISS and various other satellites hurtling across the sky at mind-boggling velocities. Atlantis docked today and is up there to deliver the

“primary research facility for European payloads aboard the ISS, providing ten International Standard Payload Racks and mounting locations for external experiments.”

We wish them well!

That just leaves tonight. I didn’t actually have anything to blog about tonight until Sean Bonner’s Blog pointed me towards 90 Day Jayne. Some background info for you…

I had never heard of the website 90 Day Jane and, quite frankly, my life is no better or worse now that I do know about it. In fact, it’s probably a bit worse because I wasted time going to the site. Curiosity and cats spring to mind but the whole concept is utterly moronic – in my humble opinion.

To save you making the same mistake I did by actually going to the 90 Day Jane site, here’s the idea:

“I am going to kill myself in 90 days. What else should i say? This blog is not a cry for help or even to get attention. It’s simply a public record of my last 90 days in existence. I’m not depressed and nothing extremely horrible has lead me to this decision. But, does it really have to? I mean, as an atheist I feel life has no greater purpose. My generation has had no great depression, no great war and our biggest obstacle is beating Halo 3. So, if I feel like saying “game over”, why can’t I? Anyway, I hope you enjoy my thoughts as the clock runs out. Also, if blogspot takes this down before i’m gone just go to www.90dayjane.com. Please don’t attempt to “help” me. If you want to truly help, please send me ideas on how to do the deed. thx-Jane”

There, no need to waste precious moments.

90 Day Jayne however, is worth clicking and reading through, because it’s simply brilliant. The idea is:

“I’m gonna kill Reavers in 90 days. What else should i say? This blog is not a cry to the cap for help or a sign to the doc that I need attention. It’s simply a public record of the Reaver’s last 90 days in existence. It’s not like I haven’t stockpiled hundreds of weapons on my trips throughout the local systems that’s led me to this decision. Hells no! Who’s to say that one imposing guy (like myself) with several thousand flux grenades can’t make things just a little bit better? My generation has had to deal with these 他妈的 Reavers gettin’ in the way of our putting stakes in the ground of uncharted planets where we’d planned to just camp out and chill. So, if I feel like saying ”game over” to the Reavers, why can’t I?!? I hope you enjoy my thoughts as the Reaver’s clock runs out. Please don’t attempt to ”help” me cuz you’ll just get in my 他妈的 way. If you want to truly help, please send me ideas on how to do the deed. Thx-Jayne”

You know, sometimes the internet – ignoring all the spam and the porn – brings us beautiful things.

It didn’t bring us Kate Beckinsale though. Let’s not forget that.

Goodnight.

P.S. If the latin in my title is incorrect, please let me know!

digg story

 From a post at the real third world county–newly moved to new hosting and feeling… pretty much OK about it.

That’s me: staying warm n toasty and “pigging out” on Bryn Terfel while enjoying some home brewed wheat beer (yeh, yeh: from a kit ).

*heh*

This kinda stuff can easily carry me through New Year’s Day.

Bryn Terfel – We’ll Keep a Welcome

and

Mr. Beer Whispering Wheat Weizenbier Refill Brew Pack