One Enchanting Evening

The Upper Sixth A Level Music pupils gave their recitals this week in front of an audience of parents, friends and staff. All five musicians did brilliantly, showing real commitment to achieving high standards, as well as providing an entertaining evening for all.  Mr Price, Director of Music gives a synopsis of the evening.

Nic was first to perform, with his set entitled ‘Dissonance of the heart’. His five pieces all touched on the theme of love, spanning the late 19th century to the present. He sang with a beautiful tone and mastery of communication with his audience.

Bobby followed with three movements taken from two trumpet concertos of the Classical Era, appropriately chosen to be in the same key, which achieved a seamless cohesion to his programme. Bobby’s full musical range on the trumpet was in demand here, from energetic arpeggios and playful scales in the fast movements to lyrical melody in Haydn’s Andante Cantabile.

Lucy’s charming collection of five vocal items rounded off the first half of the evening. She drew on repertoire from the English and Italian Baroque, right up to the end of the 20th century, eternal classics such as the famous Lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and less well-known enchantment in the form of Poulenc’s Les Chemins de l’Amour.

The second half of the evening was launched by Toby on the French horn, taking on the music of Classical composing giant, Mozart. His set of horn concertos are much-loved pieces, known around the world. Toby’s full rendition of the third of these had sparks flying in the fast outer movements and impressive poise in the more gentle middle section, leaving no doubt as to why he deserved his place in the National Youth Wind Orchestra.

The evening’s final act came from the soprano voice of Elizabeth. Her selection was also united under the theme of love and the different forms it can take, between family members as well as romantic partnerships. Her first item was opera epic ‘O mio babbino caro’ from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini and from the outset her delivery was spellbinding. In addition to arias from two other large-scale stage works, we were also treated to two songs of a more intimate nature by Quilter and Schubert.

Congratulations go to all five pupil performers for putting together a thoroughly enchanting and enjoyable evening. Their various instrumental and vocal coaches have worked wonders in training and encouraging these young musicians to be the excellent ambassadors we heard that evening. Miss Roux presented them each with a framed collage of photos capturing both the serious and the light-hearted sides of their time at the forefront of Music at King’s. Miss Roux herself had been a superb accompanist to all five musicians. I know the students were very grateful to her for guiding them as they prepared and for supporting these performances so ably on the night. Thank you also to Mrs Binney for looking after our guests with refreshments during the evening and to Ava who had the unenviable, nerve-wracking job of page-turner, a responsibility she carried out with admirable calm!

And of course thank you to Mr Price!