Arrangements were made to have some professional photographs of our recent combined concert at the Sage. There are two views available – one with the choir seated and one in full performance mode. Click on either of the links below and the photograph should come up for you to save or print as you require.
Thanks to JF for providing .mp3 versions of the Messiah tracks on the DVD of our 2014 Christmas concert.
If the link below does not work directly then please copy and paste the link below into the address bar of your browser and you should then be able to download them from Dropbox.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1wfxxsmmioin8uv/AADeKnVw4KAyA2POb_Rc5fD8a?oref=e
Enjoy reliving the moment!
Thanks to MA for spotting this Facebook recording of our pop-up concert in the Bridges.
The following is a review prepared for publication in The Northern Echo of the joint concert by Orchestra North East, Bishopwearmouth Choral Society and Ryton Choral Society performed at The Sage, Gateshead on Sunday 14th June 2015.
Orchestra North East treated its audience to an exquisite performance featuring two of Guiseppe Verdi’s signature works at Sage Gateshead.
Expertly directed by renowned local pianist and choral trainer, David Murray, the programme began with the overture to La Forza del Destino. With its spine-chilling opening chords from the brass section, depicting vengeance, to its virtuosic close, the orchestra played with verve and style.
Of particular note were the solo performances by flautist Margaret Borthwick, oboist Philip Cull, and clarinettist Jennifer Murray.
For the second work, Messa da Requiem, Orchestra North East joined forces with two excellent regional choirs; Bishopwearmouth Choral Society and Ryton Choral Society.
Murray displayed impeccable mastery in his direction of both choir and orchestra, his economical style finding the perfect balance of passion and control.
Memorable amongst the seven sections of the Requiem was the Dies Irae. Depicting beautifully the wrath of God, the oversized bass drum was put to good use. Trumpets positioned high above the audience – answered in clarion by their onstage counterparts – provided an ethereal moment before the huge orchestral climax.
Soloists Claire Rutter, Deborah Humble, James Edwards and Stephen Gadd expertly interpreted Verdi’s intensely melodic work with its surging passions, drama, and radical changes of mood.
Together in harmony, Orchestra North East, choirs and soloists produced a performance of truly professional standard, which received the recognition of an appreciative audience.
Founded almost 30 years ago and comprising both amateur and professional musicians from across the North East, Orchestra North East come together for three major concerts each year. Their next performance, featuring the works of Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninov, takes place in Durham Cathedral on Saturday October 10.
David Thornber
The latest rehearsal and concert arrangements (as at 9.6.2015) are:
VERDI REQUIEM CONCERT ARRANGEMENTS
| Wed. June 10th |
Rehearsal 7.30 p.m. Sunderland Minster.
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| Sat. June 13th
CHANGE of VENUE
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Rehearsal 2 till 5 p.m. will now be in Gateshead Old Town Hall (GOTH), West Street, Gateshead, NE8 1HE. Choir timing to be confirmed.
The GOTH café will be open before and during the rehearsal.
GOTH is a few minutes walk from the Gateshead Interchange & Metro Station and parking is available nearby at £1/hour or £4 per day. Staff have advised parking in nearby Tesco’s where 4 hrs is free.
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Sun. June 14th |
Rehearsal 2.30 till 5.30 p.m. Hall One in Sage.
Choir timing to be confirmed.
Choir members to enter via the West Door and go straight to Barbour Room to sign in. Reduced cost parking permits and refreshment discount cards (15%) will be available in the Barbour Room.
A concert photograph is to be taken and the present suggestion is that all are onstage at 7.25 p.m. and could stand / sit as needed.
Concert 7.30 p.m. Programmes (£2) will be on sale at the interval (of 30 minutes) as well as at the start.
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please be aware that there may need to be further changes.
A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster starting at 7.30 p.m., conducted by David Murray.
Soloists : Laurie Ashworth (Soprano), Samantha Price (Mezzo-soprano), Richard Pinkstone (Tenor), and Alexander Robin Baker (Baritone).
Tickets £14.00 for Nave (£8 concessions for full-time students and on income related benefits) or £8.00 (Gallery – limited view). Accompanied under 16s free. Tickets are available from members of the Society, at the door, or on-line from http://www.wegottickets.com/BCS – who also have a direct link on the home page of this website.
MOZART: Mass in C minor K.427 “Great Mass”
The Mass in C minor is by far the most ambitious and elaborate of Mozart’s church works. Hence it came to be known as the ‘Great Mass’. It is full of Mozart’s very individual capacity for tenderness, humanity and compassion.
Mozart began work on the Mass in C minor in the summer of 1782. The Mass was written to honour his wife Constanze. When it was first performed, in Salzburg in October 1783, Constanze herself sang one of the soprano solo parts.
The work was left incomplete – there is only part of the Credo and no Agnus Dei. It is likely that, for the first performance, he filled in the gaps with music from other compositions. Others have tried to complete it – our performance will only be of Mozart’s music.
MOZART: Solemn Vespers K339
The ‘Vesperae Solennes de Confessor’, written in 1780, is a jubilant and finely crafted sequence of the traditional psalm settings for Vespers. Mozart chose to set Psalms 110, 113, 117 and the Magnificat.
The presence of trumpets and drums suggests that the score was intended for use on the eve (or possibly on the day) of a Festum Pallii, an important feast-day in Salzburg.
As you will hear, ‘Solennes’ (solemn) does not, in this context, mean gloomy or dismal! Rather it means ‘celebrated with full liturgical ceremony’ and to the eternal delight of the listener, Mozart’s settings invoke the other original meanings of ‘solemn’- sublime and awe-inspiring.
N.P.
Song on the Tyne
The Rotary Club of Newcastle upon Tyne presents a charity concert for
The Sage Gateshead (Hall One) on Sunday 2nd July 2017 at 7.00 p.m.
David Murray conducts RYTON CHORAL SOCIETY and BISHOPWEARMOUTH CHORAL SOCIETY in a programme of 20th Century Popular Songs which he has specially arranged for 4 part choir, accompanied by a string quintet. You will hear classics by Lennon and McCartney, Simon and Garfunkel, Carole King and many others. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a real show stopper!
The choirs will be joined by the TYNE THEATRE STAGE SCHOOL CHOIR – an outstanding local youth choir. Also making a guest appearance will be soprano SALLY HARRISON – who has sung in the West End production of ‘Phantom of the Opera’.
Tickets: £12, available from The Sage Gateshead box office (Call: 0191 4434661) or via any member of the choral societies.
A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster starting at 7.30 p.m., conducted by David Murray.
Tickets £14.00 for Nave (£8 concessions for full-time students and on income related benefits) or £8.00 (Gallery – limited view). Accompanied under 16s free. Tickets are available from members of the Society, at the door, or on-line from http://www.wegottickets.com/BCS – who also have a direct link on the home page of this website.
‘An English Christmas’ will provide you with the opportunity to indulge in a wide range of Christmas music from Pies, Cakes and Puddings (Edward Watson), Wassail for Five English Folksongs (Vaughan Williams), Four Old English Carols (Holst), and Winter (Vivaldi) through to more modern settings by Bob Chilcott, including his Twelve Days of Christmas.
A Saturday evening concert in Sunderland Minster, starting at 7.30 p.m., conducted by David Murray.
Tickets £14.00 for Nave (£8 concessions for full-time students and on income related benefits) or £8.00 (Gallery – limited view). Accompanied under 16s free. Tickets are available from members of the Society, at the door, or on-line from http://www.wegottickets.com/BCS – who also have a direct link on the home page of this website.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 – 1837) was of the same generation as Beethoven and was one of the most gifted and well-regarded musicians of his day, especially respected as a pianist-composer.
Born in Pressburg (Bratislava) he became a pupil of Mozart in Vienna and made a successful tour of Europe as a teenage Wunderkind including visits to Edinburgh and London. In 1804 Joseph Haydn recommended him for the new post of Konzertmeister at the court of Prince Esterhazy, where he stayed for seven years. After more travelling he became Kapellmeister at Stuttgart in 1816, moving to Weimar in 1819.
Although the bulk of Hummel’s compositions involved the piano in some way, his sacred music is also well regarded. His Mass in B flat major is one of five masses written when he was with the Esterhazy court and was first performed in 1810. The vocal forces are exclusively choral and Hummel shows his mastery of unfolding polyphony in the ‘Amen’ fugue at the end of the Gloria. But in this mass Hummel’s style also reveals an appealing tunefulness, especially evident in the Benedictus.
As well as the Hummel ‘Mass in B flat’ the programme will feature other individual pieces in a variety of styles including : Ave verum – Mozart, Panis Angelicus – César Franck, Cantique de Jean Racine – Faure, Divertimento in D Major K 13 – Allegro: Andante: Presto, The Lord is my Shepherd – Schubert, The Lord is my Shepherd – Goodall, All things bright and beautiful – Rutter.
