Carlisle Festival - 3 - 11 July 2010

Here is a selection of excerpts from the published reviews of concerts that formed part of the 2010 Carlisle Festival. You can look forward to the Carlisle Festival 2011 to be held from 2nd – 10th July. Details of the programme will be available early in 2011.

Saturday 3rd July

Opening Concert in the Chapel of Austin Friars St Monica’s School

Manchester Sinfonia
A near capacity audience was treated to a delightful programme of music for string orchestra which juxtaposed well known pieces with the unfamiliar.

Although only twelve players strong, the recently formed Manchester Sinfonia, under the guidance of their talented leader Richard Howarth played with a warm and cohesive sound which belies their size…

The most substantial work of the evening Tchaikovsky’s Op 48 Serenade for Strings brought this enchanting and well thought out concert to its conclusion and it is difficult to imagine a more fitting start to Carlisle Festival’s 11th season. May there be many more.

Tuesday 6th July

Concert in the Chapel of Austin Friars St Monica’s School

London Concertante's Gypsy Strings
Gypsy Strings is a new project from London Concertante. They perform new arrangements of traditional gypsy tunes from Eastern Europe and gave a rousing performance to an enthusiastic audience. The group consists of two lead violinists: Adam Summerhayes and Bulgarian fiddler Emil Chakalov, back by other string players… The music was a thrilling cross between classical, folk and modern composers… and a lot of the music was fast and athletic… Technically the two soloists were thrilling to watch and they seemed to get enormous pleasure from communicating their love of this music… We hope to see them again soon.

Wednesday 7th July

Concert in the Cathedral

Fine Arts Brass with Carlisle Cathedral Choir
Carlisle Cathedral echoed to the sound of Choir, Brass and Organ in a concert of music written in the last one hundred years by British and American composers… There was much to enjoy in this concert: James Macmillan’s atmospheric A New Song, Harold East’s glorious To the Trinity be Praise, the exuberance and beauty of Bob Chilcott’s jazz setting of the Mass and Duke Ellington’s spiritual Suite from the Second Sacred Concert. The centrepiece of the concert was the first performance of a setting of a John Dunne sonnet by the Scottish composer John McLeod…

The Fine Arts Brass Quintet has an international reputation and it was a great privilege to hear them in such resonant acoustics, displaying an incredibly high standard of virtuosity in a wide range of pieces… This was a tour de force of a concert with brilliant playing from the Brass, masterly accompaniment from Edward Taylor on the organ and piano and beautiful singing from the Choir. Jeremy Suter is to be congratulated on presenting and directing such a wonderfully varied programme.

Thursday 8th July

Candlelit Concert in the Chapel of Austin Friars St Monica’s School

Cantabile
This year’s Festival has been not only musically thrilling but extremely entertaining. A high point was the London Quartet (previously known as Cantabile) whose unique style seemed to combine the comic talents of Danny Kaye with the vocal abilities of John Mark Ainsley. The four singers had no accompaniment but a tuning fork… They were completely at home with every style: they started with some 16th century part-songs but were quickly on to the comical Suzette… It was certainly felt that the false walls between popular and classical music were being brought down…

The jokes came fast and furious in the second half: a wonderful rendition of the weather forecast in the style of a psalm followed by a hilarious scamper through the history of western music including the Ride of the Valkeries! Musically impeccable and one of the funniest ever evenings at a concert.

Saturday 10th July

Lunchtime Recital in St. Cuthbert’s Church

Nicky Spence tenor
Julia Cobby piano
The audience on Saturday lunchtime was disappointed that Stephen Anthony Brown had been obliged to cancel because of illness. But quick action by the Festival management had secured a brilliant alternative in the form of Nicky Spence. His able accompanist was Julia Cobby, one of Cumbria’s most distinguished pianists.

There was no evidence in Nicky Spence’s performance – 18 songs sung faultlessly from memory – that there was anything hasty about his programme preparation or his arrival in Carlisle.

He presented a tour of Europe, starting in the early 19th century Italy and passing via the France of the Belle Époque to mid-20th century Britain…

The recital was a tour de force both in itself and as an achievement by the Festival in creative response to an emergency.

Come and Sing in the Cathedral

Vivaldi’s Gloria and Fauré’s Requiem
Beneath the Cathedral’s richly coloured east window, voices waxed and waned in a glorious tapestry of sound – bringing to life Vivaldi’s exuberant Gloria and Fauré’s hauntingly beautiful Requiem.

It is hard to believe that most of the choir were volunteers who had gathered for the first time just several hours before. Their voices were a superb instrument. It was played skillfully by the Cathedral’s Master of the Music, Jeremy Suter, his delicate movements in turn adjusting volume, softening voices, and at times pulling exhilarating crescendos from this or that section of the choir… Perhaps the most impressive achievement was the performance of the 150 singers who earlier in the day came armed only with music reading skills, talent and courage. If this was an experiment, it was a resounding success – and a fitting finale to this year’s Carlisle Festival.

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