Month: May 2012

Everyone knows who the Monkees are, even 40 years after they were at their prime young and old alike (and celebrity sighting of the evening, Dev from Corrie,) gathered to immerse ourselves in the splendour of the flare-wearing original boy-band.

It took a little while to get into the tone of the musical, wondering at first if the extraordinarily cheesy jokes were serious until it became wonderfully clear that the whole thing had been masterminded as one tongue-in-cheek self-mocking joke after another.

The premise of the musical being that four ordinary boys, with no actual musical talent of their own but a penchant for miming, were recruited to go on a world tour in place of the real Monkees who were busy filming their hit TV series.

With constant references to the band’s lives and some exquisitely unsubtle links into their hit songs, often led into by phrases like “Bet you didn’t think we’d sing this song in this scene”, the whole evening reflected the nature of the Monkees careers as the happy go lucky hit-making machine of the ‘60s.

It was an all-round brilliant evening that left you feeling exactly as you should after a musical of this ilk; sore-faced from laughing with all your worries behind you, the miracle healing of cheesy and frequently filthy jokes.

There was a touching moment to finish the evening, as Ben Evans who played Chuck, posing as Davy Jones, took to the stage after the encore to dedicate the evening to the memory of the late singer, at which the rest of the cast returned to the stage and the audience rose to their feet to sing and bring the evening to a close.

If simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, then the performance of Marcus Roberts trio at the RNCM is a good example. The trio is composed of classical jazz-trained and Wynton Marsalis-inspired Marcus Roberts at the piano, Rodney Jordan at bass and Jason Marsalis on drums. With a stage presence that is both charismatic and discrete, Roberts assumed his role as a bandleader by introducing the titles of the compositions.

The first part of the concert was dedicated exclusively to Cole Porter songs, as ‘I’ve got you under my skin’ and ‘Night and day’. It was evident from the start that Roberts’ refined, classical piano style blended perfectly with Jordan’s spontaneity and Marsalis’ precision. Their take on the classical jazz repertoire was affectionate, original and harmonious.

In part two, the concert changed the musical trajectory to a more individualised musical performance. The trio switched to their own compositions as ‘Topeka’, ‘Let’s go’ and ‘Marching in the Modern Parade’. The drum solo in ‘Topeka’, a fresh, coherent improvisation was simply breath-taking. ‘Let’s go’ was the only weak point of the concert: the piano seemed confused and uninspired. ‘Marching in the Modern Parade’ was the final touch on the concert: the role of the piano alternated between leading and acting as a background to the ‘duo’: bass and drums.

The strength of the concert was the fact that the trio relied mostly on free improvisation, using the well-established music pieces to add structure. I’d say that the improvisations served both to prevent the audience from sinking in a sentimental nostalgia and to delight that part of the audience which seeks novelty in jazz.

Throughout the concert, it became evident that Marcus Roberts knows how to best showcase the talent of Jordan and Marsalis: their lively improvisations were given structure by the piano. The musical palette the Marcus Roberts trio explored in the concert was intense, engaging and delighted the audience.

Girls in long coats and guys in benaie hats pay for their tickets and move inside the venue, alongside white-haired pensioners in smart clothes and the die-hard Jazz aficionados who make up Band on The Wall’s regular crowd.

This, perhaps, says something about Portico Quartet. The London-based quratet made their name as another of the new generation of “not-quite-jazz” bands to hit the scene, but have since shifted to a more powerful position, finding a solid place within the more experienced Jazz establishment. With the harmonic combination of hang (a versatile, steel drum-esque instrument, invented in the early 21st Century) and saxophone, they not only have found themselves a very unique sound, but one they continue to refine, becoming ever more sophisticated.

Inside, the quartet immediately illustrate this. There is silence in the room for only a second, and then they open the show with pace and precision. Milo Fitzpatrick’s double bass syncs with Duncan Bellamy’s percussion to form a looping backline, while Keir Vine’s hang and Jack Wyllie’s saxophone merge and thread themselves through the melodic and percussive base.

The result is an electrifying set, full of energy and invention. They build to mesmerising crescendos, and then drop back to their earlier minimalist lines with ease, and when they finally close the set, the applause pulls them back for encore. Portico Quartet have recently proved themselves to be virtuosic in the studio, and this live performance does not disappoint.

If you are reading this article and thinking “what does Niagara Falls have to do with Manchester?” all that has to be said is: you can take the girl out of Manchester but you can’t take Manchester out of the girl! Even one on exchange all the way out in Canada.

During my stay here, Niagara Falls was one of the many breathe taking historic sites which was a must see. When tourists come to Manchester, the mundane sites which we walk past with little regard impact travellers in various ways which we would probably never experience, even though the historic past of Manchester has a lot to offer.

The chance to see a waterfall that towers to over fifty one metres in height is an even rarer experience than the fascinating sight of Manchester’s canal side towpaths. In the same way as tourists embrace English culture, going from city life in Manchester to seeing one of the five Great Lakes was a massive culture shock.

If the site alone does not entrance a tourist, the intertwining of the past and future is intriguing to all. Since 1819 Niagara Falls has acted as a divide between the Canadian and American border. It has further continued to cause dispute due to natural erosion which has incurred over time affecting the borders of these two countries.

Even though Niagara came to being many moons ago in the ice age, it continues to act as a link between future commercial and industrial use. With thousands of people flocking to see this historic beauty and taking a trip on the infamous ‘Maid of the Mist’, the Falls brings in significant revenue.

However, what is most interesting to a tourist living in the twenty-first century is that Niagara Falls is a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Thus, not only does Niagara Falls provide spectacular beauty, it further serves to remind tourists that the past plays an increasingly important role in forming the future.

This review is a response to recent complaints regarding a previously published review of Anya 17, performed at the RNCM. I was at the event, and felt as though the opera might benefit a fresh review.

The concert marked the penultimate night of the North West New Music festival, with the professional musicians Ensemble 10/10, conducted by the festival’s artistic director Clark Rundell. The first half featured pieces written for the players of the orchestra, in various combinations. The opening work was by the festivals featured composer Colin Matthews; this short work presented an energetic opening to the concert, flaunting the strong playing of the ensemble and the fluid relationship with their conductor.

This work was followed by the first student performance of the evening, the soprano Sarah Parking singing the cycle In Sleep by Ails in Rain. Ms. Parking tackled the complex music with an ease only achieved through solid preparation and great musicality. Despite the piece being composed for Mezzo Soprano, there were no noticeable signs of the Canadian soprano struggling with the tessitura of the work. Overall, this performance captured the intense palette of emotions and vocal colours within the technically challenged cycle, bringing the piece to an exciting standard.

The first half concluded with a commissioned work by University of Manchester Professor of Composition, Dr. Richard Whalley. The programme note explained the composer’s muse for the three pieces and it has to be said that I, and seemingly many from conversations in the interval that followed found the pieces to be highly intelligent and well heard works, performed expertly by the ensemble.

The next half presented the anticipated main event, the Manchester premiere of Adam Gorb’s opera based on real life experiences of sex trafficking, Anya 17. I believe that it is important to point out that with such sensitive and powerful subject matter, it is hard for an audience to feel anything but moved considering the power of the production and performance.

The musical aspect of the performance was impressive from all. The ensemble played with ease, switching through the different stylisms of the various idioms that Gorb had included in his score, and the cast performed to a high standard, especially in regards to their vocal production, which from some was highly technically polished, most

impressively so from Andrea Tweedale (Anya), who maintained a versatile vocal and emotional performance throughout the technically challenging opera.

The production itself used the space and lack of set imaginatively, using aspects of physical theatre to create variety between scenes and locations, though it did at instances seem limited, and the majority of the dramatic impetus came from the talented cast, notably Amy Webber, who portrayed the blind character Elena with a harrowing realism.

All in all, I believe that the opera was a great success and the moving story was certainly served well by the performers, the entirely of the cast still being students. I would certainly hope that the opera/cast are able to perform the work again soon, as not only was the standard exceptional, but the piece serves the issue at hand in a way that brings attention to both itself and opera in a way that is beneficial for both.