We had two new pieces ready for this concert. ‘Don’t tell anybody,’ said Elizabeth, ‘then they won’t know.’ Well, not until we sing that is.
“Eliza Jane” was always going to be a bit of a lottery, so Elizabeth suggested that, ‘We enjoy it and bounce it along, no one will notice.’ And nobody did.
One of the problems for choir members when they review concerts is that they are not in the audience, obviously. We do however get great views of the backs of people. Saskia’s strappy strapless number for example. Simply terrific. And the flute sounded lovely.
Elizabeth arranged a few private cues for the choir’s amnesia sufferers. “Marry me” was to be signaled by her wedding ring. All seemed well as she went over them one final time just before kick-off, until she raised her left hand. The choir to a man shouted “ring”.
‘The Mastersingers’, lead by Alan Simmons, are polished performers in the style of Ray Burkinshaw and ‘The Mike Samms Singers’. They love what they do. In the first half, “The Wind Beneath My Wings” from Beaches was beautiful, as was Gershwin’s “You do something for me”, which began unaccompanied. When the backing trio came in, particularly the double bass and snare drum, the piece was just as good or even better. The contrast illustrated how integral those instruments are to their sound.
There were three highlights after the interval. “Swing Low” got them smoothly underway. Then ‘Queen’s’ “Bohemian Rhapsody” showed that they could knock out a raunchy number with the best. Finally, it was back to the silky skills with ‘The Four Season’s’ “Rag Doll”.
How did we do? Don’t know but very well I think. The compere thought so. He looked surprised by how good we were.
