Local Reviews from Harrow Times

Watford Philharmonic Society at Watford Colosseum*****

1:44pm Thursday 25th March 2010

Any pianist who tackles the Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor by Camille Saint-Saens invites judgement by the highest standards. Lara Omeroglu, accompanied by the orchestra of the Watford Philharmonic Society, with Terry Edwards conducting, more than met these standards in her performance at this 75th Jubilee Spring Concert of the Society.

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Elixir of Love, St Albans Chamber Opera***

1:39pm Thursday 25th March 2010

St Albans Chamber Opera's vernal timing could not have been better to stage the Donizetti's Elixir of Love. While its distinctly Mozartian recitatives, humourous badinage and absurd love potions make it more upmarket G&S than heavyweight opera, it is full of delightfully fresh tunes and strongly drawn characters thus ensuring it's a regular in the operatic repetoire.

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Radlett Choral Society Spring Concert at St Michael and All Angels, Watford****

4:18pm Monday 15th March 2010

Radlett Choral Society boasts a healthy team of supporters and there was certainly a good audience for their concert on Saturday evening. Those who chose this concert to attend, rather than one of the other numerous musical events in and around Watford that evening, must have been pleased with their choice because it was an excellently excecuted programme which ranged from the whimsy of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the melancholy of Brahms' Alto Rhapsody and the poignancy of Schubert’s Stabat Mater.

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Luis Pecas at Aldenham School**

4:25pm Thursday 11th March 2010

Among singers, the good natural counter-tenor voice in men is comparatively rare, being also known as the male alto, with pitch slightly lower than in a woman contralto. (It must not be confused with the castrato voice, which used to result from a barbarous surgical procedure.) The English debut tour by the Portuguese counter-tenor Luis Pecas, with his accompanist Joao Santos, was therefore a real attraction to the Chapel of Aldenham School last Saturday.

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Marcus Andrews piano recital for Radlett Music Club****

4:12pm Thursday 11th March 2010

It is not every pianoforte recital that includes the first performance of a new work in the presence of its British composer. This was achieved by the Radlett Music Club on this occasion. Modus operandi, a short piece by Michael Summers, only completed in January 2010, therefore deserved our special attention. The piece begins by expanding a single note into a simple theme, to which, after much elaboration and interplay with other themes, it eventually returns. As we listened to its subtle and complex rhythms and its impressionist language, we could not fail to think of Debussy (a specimen of whose work was to be played next) and Bartok, whose idiom has become the lingua franca of modern pianism. It was a privilege to be at the premiere of this exciting, if brief, work, played with enthusiasm by Marcus Andrews.

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These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things at Watford Palace Theatre*****

3:37pm Monday 8th March 2010

Most of us have an awareness of classical ballet, so Indian classical dance, though different, is not incomprehensible. In a multicultural town such as Watford, we are fortunate to see authentic Indian dancing, as we did in the impressive performance by Nina Rajarani and her colleagues at Watford Palace Theatre, last Tuesday night.

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