Review of the Valentine’s Concert in Ely Cathedral on the 11th February 2017

The Valentine’s Concert in Ely Cathedral on February 11^th was the eighth annual visit by Warren  Mailley-Smith and co musicians and it was one of the finest.

Warren Mailley-Smith (piano), Pavlos Carvalho (cello), Lucy Jeal  (violin) and

(soprano) gave us a splendid evening of romantic music that not only stirred the heart strings but amazed us with their technique and ability to bring out the musical qualities of the pieces they chose. The   compositions were by no means easy and the way in which the three instrumentalists demonstrated  such clarity and virtuosic skill was phenomenal. No matter how difficult the passage, these three excellent musicians synchronized perfectly. Susan Parkes (soprano) added to the wonderfully romantic spirit of the evening with her collection of songs at the end of the programme.

In Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, Warren played with accomplished fluency that comes with experience and insight, bringing out sonorous key melodies exquisitely and adding new qualities to this very famous piece.

The highlight of the evening for me, Rachmaninov’s ‘Sonata for Cello in G minor’, played by Warren and Pavlos, was magnificent. While demonstrating amazing technique and empathy for the music, these fine performers maintained Rachmaninov’s romantic melancholy and nostalgia well while reminding us of their tremendous agility and expressive capability in the more joyous passages.

Elgar’s ‘Salut d’amour’ was a must for the programme and Lucy played it beautifully on her violin.

Mendelssohn’s ‘Piano Trio in D minor’ was positively charming while Susan’s songs left us in no doubt that this was indeed a celebratory concert. The songs included Puccini’s ‘O mio babbino’, ‘Morgen’ by Strauss, ‘Je veux vivre’ by Gounod and ‘Habañera’ by Bizet. In the moments when her beautiful voice was focused, the sound was exhilarating.

What a delightful evening!

Review of Viva’s production of ‘Shakers’ in the Brook, Soham on Thursday 9th February 2017

Viva’s performance of ‘Shakers’ in the Brook at Soham on Thursday night was fantastic. This was a first night production, yet the four stunning actresses launched into their amusing scenarios immediately with confidence, gusto and skill. These highly talented actresses were Kerry Hibbert (as Nicki), Jenny Tayler-Surridge (Carol), Cassie Rouse (Mel) and Maddie Palmer (Adele). They played a group of disillusioned waitresses working at ‘Shakers’ , a supposed up-market cocktail bar, so realistically that we could empathise with them immediately.

Every nuance of humour, sarcasm and pathos was expressed and even when portraying crude, sex-obsessed blokes eyeing up the girls, these actresses never lost a moment and we were there in the 80’s witnessing the quirky characters and customs of the time, be they party girls, snooty media types, trendy snobs or ignorant slobs, they were very much the role(s) they were playing. Their poignant, tear-jerking monologues created contrasting moments of depth and insight into the emotions and turmoil that their characters suffered. The acting here was superb.

David Tickner lived up to his name as a first-rate director and with an excellent team of workers managed to pull off yet another fantastic production by this amazing company. More please!

There are two more performances of ‘Shakers’ on Friday the 10 and Saturday 11^th February.

The next Viva production to look forward to is ‘Legally Blond’ from the 1^st to the 4^th March 2017

contact: http://www.viva-group.org.uk/current-events.html