Vital Recitals Repertoire 2008

A sunny day in early June found the Quartet playing for a lovely wedding at Kingston Bagpuise House and later that month we performed in the tiny candle lit church of St Peter’s Upper Oddington for the North Cotswold Branch of the Arthritis Society. It was a super evening where we performed songs and instrumental music including a lovely arrangement of Amazing Grace, Opera Arias and a Last Night of the Proms finale.

An afternoon recital at The Old Prebendal House gave us the opportunity to indulge in some lovely classics like Benjamin Goddard’s Angels Guard Thee and the Swan from Carnival of the Animals.

We started our busy August with a rousing concert at Ascott Church including Handel’s Let the Bright Seraphim, songs by Gershwin and Smetana’s Dance of the Comedians.

The first of two open air concerts took place on the decking of the secret garden, bounded by the river Windrush, at The Plough Pub in Witney. It poured with rain whilst our stalwart audience, enjoyed songs and arias, several with watery themes, including favourites O Mio Babbino Caro and Bizet’s Pearl Fishers duet arranged for two sopranos! Followed by a performance of Dvorak’s string quartet op 96 ‘The American’, Delicious food was served at the interval.

The next day Opera Anywhere required the services of a soprano and ‘cellist, who also happens to be a very good punter, to entertain Japanese visitors on a trip up the river Cherwell, thankfully in fine weather. The next week in a field in Ramsden another brave, cold but enthusiastic audience sang along to Villia from The Merry Widow and other opera highlights at the Wychwood Network’s summer picnic. They enjoyed pastoral arias from Handel’s Messiah and Where ere you Walk from Semele and a lively flag waving Radetsky March by Strauss.

After the holiday season we were in the right mind for a concert with a strong Spanish flavour. We had been invited to perform at a fund raiser for the Iberian Lynx and had lots of fun finding tenuous feline references and performing everything from All Creatures Great and Small to the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen. At very short notice we performed the same recital at the O3 gallery in Oxford. We rather enjoyed including Andrew Lloyd Weber’s ‘Cats’ for the Oxford Lieder Festival Fringe!