Show 76- Tuesday 13th December

This is the last Choral Insight before the new year so - firstly -  Happy Christmas and New Year to all who take an interest in my show.  The show this week listens in to a group of singers who gather once a year to support the singing and perform some pieces at the Civic Carol Service at the Riviera Centre in Torquay, there ar 4 Choir pieces and some one verse run throughs of well known carols to secure the descant parts for the sopranos, there is even a surprise track or two at the end if there is time all in the spirit of Christmas and Advent.

hope you can listen in

John

Show 75- Tuesday 6th December

The show is staying with the South Devon Choir Concert on the 26th November this week, but there are going to be a couple of comparisons, by that I mean playing a track from some weeks ago and then immediatly playing the concert rehearsal with orchestra to see the difference, plus some of the tracks or songs we didn't hear last week from the concert rehearsal.  Good listening with some points of interest.

hope you can listen in

John

Show 74- Tuesday 29th November

At last the final run through with the orchestra!  it has been worth the wait - I may even use the material next week too as there was so much good material worth hearing.  I have picked a good selection from both the Mendelssohn Symphony no 2 and the choir items from the second half -all with orchestra and soloists.

Worth a listen in if you can find time.

John

Show 73- Tuesday 23rd November

Ther final rehearsal of the South Devon Choir before they meet the orchestra on Saturday for the first time and run through before the concert in the evening, so a complete run through this week - not to much stopping and starting.

hope you can join me.

John

Show 72- Tuesday 15th November

Still with South Devon Choir running over the details getting ready for the final day when they meet the orchesetra and soloists for the first time.

John

Show 71- Tuesday 8th November

Still with the South Devon Chir as they continue to rehearse for their concert on the 26th of this month. Getting closer and things are shaping up.

Hope you can listen in

John

Show 70- Tuesday 1st November

We are catching up with South Devon Choir this week as they continue to rehearse Mendelssohn's 2nd Symphony - Hymn of Praise - we heard an early practice some weeks ago so expect to hear some improvement, it's taking shape and we hear the first 4 parts of the 4th movement with some note bashing, good to be back with listening in to learning.

John

Show 69- Tuesday 25th October

This week we are going to listen to a work by a current composer called John Rutter, the recording is of the Cambridge Singers, conducted by John Rutter himself performing his Requiem - Also some of his stand alone pieces for choirs, so all about John Rutter this week.

John

Show 68- Tuesday 18th October

This week we are back with The Stanborough Chorus as they have a final rehearsal for their concert on 15th October of "Choral Classics" as part of the Vocal Festival.

John

Show 67- Tuesday 11th October

This week we listen in to a group of disabled people having a harvest service in Torquay, the organisation is called Horizons and it seemed a good opportunity to contribute to "World Mental Health Day".

John

Show 66- Tuesday 4th October

No live recordings this week, well I have but they are the same as last week and the week before (South Devon Choir) so I thought it may be getting monotonous - with time being difficult to find at the moment I decided to play Verdi's Requiem - it's a lovely peice of music and one we have not touched on in the local scene yet so it should make for a change, even though it's not in the spirit of my show as it is done by a professional choir and orchestra on a CD I bought -  I haven't heard it myself for a long time so am looking forward to hearing it too, not sure what I'll feature from it yet, will work it out as I go and hope it fits in the time I get.

Cheers

John

Show 65- Tuesday 27th September

This week are still with South Devon Choir but have a couple of Harvest songs being reheased by St. Paul's
Choir in Paignton.  Only 5 turn up with no sopranos, so a different sound balance than we are used to.

John

Show 64- Tuesday 20th September

This week we are back with South Devon Choir and John Hobbs as they start rehearsing for their November concert of Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise (2nd Symphony) there are also some single choir items but we are only hearing the Mendelssohn content this week which includes Oh for the Wings, one of the single items.

Lots of note bashing and learning, hope you can make a start with us.

John

Show 63- Tuesday 13th September

First show of the new season, hope you all had a good summer.

This weeks show is covering the one day scratch performance (I'll explain on show), at Buckfast Abbey on Saturday 20th August 2011, of Handel's Messiah, I got some recordings of the soloists reheasing too so a good mixture for a brief look at this famous and massive work.

Hope you can listen in - there is even a brief look at the Halelujah Chorus!


John

 not sure what's happening regarding any repeats yet

Show 62- Tuesday 12th July and repeat Sat 16th July

The last show this season, the choirs are mostly broken up for the summer having just completed their mid-year concert, so we are looking back, again, at some past performances from the choirs, including 3 different Pie Jesus from 3 different Sopranos plus some men solos and choirs pieces.

Hope you can listen in

It will all start again in September with Mendelssohn from South Devon Choir and some classics from Stanborough to kick things off.

Have a good break

John

Show 61- Tuesday 5th July and repeat Sat 9th July

This week we are with the South Devon Choir as they have their final rehearsal at Central Church Torquay on the afternoon of the concert, with orchestra and soloists.  Lovelly singing and the work is taking shape for the performance.  Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 60- Tuesday 28th June and repeat Sat 2nd July

This week we are with South Devon Choir as they near their performance of Tom Jones by Edward German, the concert is this week end - so we hear final run throughs and even a visit from one of the soloists (Phillip Cade, Bass Baritone) to run through a couple of parts with the choir, not so much note bashing this week though we do start with a little work being done on the opening part on Squire Weston's lawn as the ladies chat and the men discuss horses, the rest is really giving us a true feel for the work.

Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 59- Tuesday 21st June and repeat Sat 25th June

This week, as I mentioned on the last show, we are at The Shaldon Festival, we follow the one day event when the Festival Choir gather, this year under the baton of Sir Neville Mariner.  The Festival Choir or Chorus is put together for just one day from some 180 amateur singers around the area, though there were singers from as far afeild as Surrey, this year they studied Rossini's Petit Messe Solonelle.  Work begins at 10am and goes on all day, then in the evening at 7:30pm a performance is put on for the paying public, I recorded all but the performance.  Some great singing and hard work to follow, as usual I will fill in the gaps on the show.

Hope you can listen in

Show 58- Tuesday 14th June and repeat Sat 18th June

This weeks show is taken up completely with "The Glorious Chorus" and their premier of "One World" which is a concert of 2 halves taking the audience out of darkness into light, it is very much about environmental issues and the responsibility of us the people.  I can't play it all and have left out most of the oratory which interspersed the music, but have chosen a good selection, the standard of singing and presentation was consistently brilliant throughout so I didn't really cherry pick more based it on time etc.  It really is worth a listen so tune in if you can.

John

Show 57- Tuesday 7th June and repeat Sat 11th June

This week, as I have been saying since show 50, we are looking back over the last 18months at some of the choirs that been featured on the show, not every choir is featured (I apologise for missing any out) but time is limited, there are no featured solos this time but that may be for another show.  There are recordings from Dec. 2009 up to the recent Princess Theatre concert;  we hear from 13 different Choirs: music ranging from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to Racmananov's Bogoradytsio Dyevo Radysia (hope I've spelt that right) unaccompanied.  The thread that joins this diverse collection of recordings is the quality of singing and harmony and of course all the singers are local - what a lot of talent we have in our area from all these walks of life!

As usual I will fill in the details on the show - I hope you will listen in

John

Show 56- Tuesday 31st May and repeat Sat 4th June

This week we listen in on St. Paul's choir as they practice an anthem for an up coming event to start and then we move on to the South Devon Choir and listen to the beginning of Tom Jones, we heard part 2 last week, so this is the other way round, lots of note bashing as usual but some fine learning and passages seem to be coming together.

Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 55- Tuesday 24th May and repeat Sat 28th May

We are back with South Devon Choir this week for the first time since their Mozart concert on 16th April.  It's a rehearsal for their next concert, which is Tom Jones by Edward German - a tale of romance set as a West country Romp with Squires, Lords, Ladies, Orphans. The choir are doing the concert version of the opera so their are less soloists, they are rehearsing the second half and most of it is for the first time, so as usual there is plenty of note bashing, but some good moments when the spirit of the work shines through.  There will be an orchestra on the evening but this is with the piano.  I will fill in the rest of the details on the show, hope you can listen in.

John

Show 54- Tuesday 17th May and repeat Sat 21st May

This week we are with Top Hat Productions' joining with Cascade Singers during their afternoon dress rehearsal at the Princess Theatre, Torquay on Saturday 14th May before their performance of "An Evening with Rogers and Hammerstein" that evening.  There is much to choose from so i have picked the tracks which feature the ensemble, one medley from the orchestra and some soloists we haven't heard before plus a couple we have.

Hope you can listen in, it is full of excellent singing from the 35 singers and equally excellent musicianship from the 45 piece orchestra all under the baton of Carl Smith- as usual I will tell you more then.

John

Show 53- Tuesday 10th May and repeat Sat 14th May

The whole show this week is about Torbay Gospel Singers, they had a dress rehearsal last Monday for their Southfield Methodist Church concert on Monday 9th - I went along to record, I haven't enough time to play all the material so I've chosen the tracks I think you may enjoy.  There is a wider range now as the singers have developed their repertoire, some lovely solos and accompaniment.

hope you can listen in

John

Show 52- Tuesday 3rd May and repeat Sat 7th May

1st show of the new season and we have 3 choirs this week, all of them just come together for one occasion.
1st St. Paul's Olivet to Calvary rehearsal on the day of the Good Friday performance with all the people who were joining them for this.
2nd St. Lukes' the actual performance of the Easter Carol Service with an augmented choir on Easter Sunday evening.
3rd we hear the Spring Choir at the opening of the Tagore Exhibition at Dartington Gallery as part of the Tagore Festival week ahead, this choir is also only coming together for this occasion.

hope you can listen in.

John

Show 51- Tuesday 19th April and repeat Sat 23rd April

A complete show of the South Devon Choir doing their final rehearsal on Saturday afternoon in Torquay with Orchestra and Soloists, we've been following them for the last 2 and a half months so this is the end result, the actual concert was even better but I wasn't able to record that this time.  Not enough time to play the whole concert rehearsal so I have picked my favourite moments.  the soloists were brilliant and with the orchestra the choir rose to the occasion.  Will explain more in the show.

hope you can listen in.

John

Show 50- Tuesday 12th April and repeat Sat 16th April

We begin again with a couple of short tracks from St. Paul's, Paignton rehearsing for the Olivet to Calvary performance on Good Friday.  Then we listen in to an early rehearsal of the Spring Choir, which is coming together for the opening of the Tagore Festival, here at Dartington Hall on May 1st, under the guidance and organisation of Festival Producer, Victoria Whelan.  We also have a brief listen to Victoria Chatting to me before the Choir arrived and learn something about what this festival is about.  We finish, as usual, with the South Devon Choir, this week they ran right through the Solemn Vespers, so that's what we are going to hear - a complete run through with piano of Mozart's Solemn Vespers.

Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 49- Tuesday 5th April and repeat Sat 9th April

Continuing with St. Paul's, Paignton as they have their first practice in the church with the organ, two parts of the Olivet to Calvary -  then some more from the Cascade singers that we didn't hear last week from the same rehearsal as they practice for the Rogers and Hammerstein evening at the Princess Theatre, Torquay on the 14th of May.  We finish off with a good listen to this weeks rehearsal of the South Devon Choir as they practice for their Mozart concert on 16th of this month, so getting close now and just some details to work on, a good selection from the Vespers and the Requiem also a run through of the Ave Verum Corpus.

Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 48- Tuesday 29th March and repeat Sat 2nd April

We begin as usual with a brief listen to St. Paul's, Paignton working on the Olivet to Calvary,  this week it is "Droop Sacred Head" the final part of the work, one we have not heard before.  Then we visit Cascade Singers from Torbay as they rehearse for their concert on 14th May at the Princess Theatre, Torquay, which is an evening of Rogers and Hammerstein music from the days of Broadway, some very accomplished singing, well worth a listen.  Finally, we have a brief listen this week to South Devon Choir as they rehearse the opening part of Mozart's Requiem with the Kyrie, which I thought I had played last week but was the second entry of the same tune set to the Cum Sanctus, so it is definitely the opening part this week.

Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 47- Tuesday 22nd March and repeat Sat 26th

We start once again with a brief listen to St. Paul's Choir as they rehearse the Mount of Olives from Olivet to Calvary.  Then we hear a good working session on the Magnificat from Mozart's Vespers and some shorter run throughs of previously practiced parts of the Mozart Requiem, including the beautiful Lacrymosa.

Hope you listen in.

John

Show 46- Tuesday 15th March and repeat Sat 19th

As we have for the last few weeks we begin by listening in to some of the Olivet to Calvary with St. Paul's Choir , Paignton.  Then we are doing some comparisons by listening to some recordings of South Devon Choir made in January and Feb this year and some made this week of Confitibor and the Quam Olim Abrahae, I think you will agree there has been much progress in just a month or so.  Finally we catch up with the Torbay Gospel Singers and see how they are getting on with their new Director of Music Rhona Clarke, some new songs in early stages and a good warm with Happy Day which they have done before.  As usual I will explain more at the time.

Hope you can listen in

John

Show 45- Tuesday 8th March and repeat Sat 12th

We continue to follow St. Paul's for a short piece from the Olivet to Calvary to start - just as I am - then we hear a concert performance of some old favourites from Concordia Ladies Choir, who we listened in on briefly practicing last week and the week before, which they did in Brixham on Friday last, we get a fuller sound now as when I recorded at Audrey's Strachan's house I was in the hall, outside the living room where they practice, also there are some nice ragtime and boogie piano pieces that Audrey played at times to give the Ladies a short break from standing and singing, also a solo.  We finish with the South Devon Choir doing the Dixit Domini or most of it in a run through, so no note bashing this week for a change.

hope you can listen in.

John

Show 44- Tuesday 1st March and repeat Sat 5th

Continuing with St. Paul's Paignton, we listen in to Choir Master Andrew Teague working for the first time with the Tenor and Bass-baritone from St Paul's as they practice their parts in the Olivet to Calvary on Sunday afternoon, adding further to the picture of this favourite Easter work among churches - just a quick listen in to this as there is a long piece of learning from the South Devon Choir as they pull the Beatus Vir from Mozart's Solemn Vespers apart and come up with a good run through at the end - lots of interesting passages being learnt and some good singing.

Hope you can join us.


John

Show 43- Tuesday 22nd February and repeat Sat 26th

This week there are 4 choirs  to listen to again, 2 from this weeks recordings and 2 more from last weeks, which was more material than 1 show. - we start by re-visiting St. Paul's for a couple of mins as they make progress with the Olivet, a communal hymn "Just as I am" , then Concordia again who sing a collection of old favourites, then we catch up with the Big Noise Chorus again as they do some more learning of new songs for their concert season, - and we finish with a  listen to Confitibor and Ave Verum Corpus from Mozart with South Devon Choir.

Lot's of variety again - hope you can join us.

John

Show 42 - Tuesday 15th February and repeat Sat 19th

This week there are 4 choirs to listen to, 2 short snips and 2 more in depth looks - we start by re-visiting St. Paul's for a couple of mins as they make sense of the Olivet, Mount of Olives, then a new choir, a Ladies group called Concordia who sing a collection of old favourites, though we hear them working on a new one - Howard Goodall's The Lord is my Shepherd, so that's a modern one (from vicar of dibley) then we catch up with the Big Noise Chorus again as they do some early learning of new songs for their concert season, a South African traditional and a new warm up to Pachebel's Cannon - and we finish with a very brief re-look at the fugue Quam Olim Abrahae from Mozart with South Devon Choir.

Lot's of variety this week - hope you can join us.

John

Show 41 - Tuesday 8th February and repeat Sat 12th

The show this week begins with St. paul's, Paignton rehearsing a piece from the Olivet to Calvary, from their Easter Service on 22nd April - the Mount of Olives.  Then we hear South Devon Choir again working on the Mozart, 2 pieces from Requiem we haven't heard yet- Requiem/Kyrie and Domine Jesu Christe and 1 short piece from the Vespers - Laudate Dominum.  To finish we listen in on the Stanborough Chorus with their new Conductor, Christopher Fletcher, as they rehearse "God so Loved the World" from Stainer's Crucifixion, which is part of their Easter concert on the 16th April.

Some very promising moments - hope you can listen in.

John

Show 40 - Tuesday 1st February and repeat Sat 5th

We continue to follow South Devon Choir as they study their Mozart programme for April 16th Concert - this week we hear them do some in depth work on the Beatus Vir from Vespers  and also the Lacrymosa from Requiem, which we heard the choir do a quick run through last week, also a breif first encounter with the Laudate Puire from Vespers which will be studied in more depth next week. 

To finish with we hear a small first gathering from St. Paul's, Paignton as a few stalwart members brave the cold Friday evening to rehearse for the good friday concert of Olivet to Calvary - we hear the opening movement, they will be joined nearser to the concert by various other choir members to augment the singing.

Hope you can listen in.

John

Show 39 - Tuesday 25th January and repeat Sat 29th

With the year starting early for South Devon Choir and others taking things at a more leisurely pace we can hear the rest of the programme from SDC Evening with Mozart, once again, lots of note bashing and learning but some very nice passages coming through.  We hear the Beatus Vir from the Vespers and Rex Tremendae and Lacrymosa from the Requiem.  I will try to translate the Latin where possible.

Hope you can listen in

John

Show 38 - Tuesday 18th January and repeat Sat 22nd

Continuing with South Devon Choir for the moment we listen in on their second rehearsal of the year - it is  Mozart's Solemn Vespers this week and they are working on the first two parts of the work.  The Dixit Domine (the Lord Spoke) and Confitibor (I Confess) - once again this is the first time the choir have done this, probably more of the choir have not sung this before than with the Requiem from last week - so lots of learning and note bashing again.  Very much in the Mozart tradition and easy on the ear if you like his work, even at this early stage some marvellous passages coming over, can't wait to hear it nearer the concert date.

hope you can join me

John

Show 37 - Tuesday 11th January and repeat Sat 15th

1st show of the new year is with South Devon choir as they meet back and start rehearsing for their next concert when they perform Mozar's Requiem, Solemn Vespers and Ave Verum corpus.  We are only listening to the first practice of the Requiem.  For most of the choir it their first encounter with it , so there is plenty of note bashing and learning.   The programme is all sung in Latin, which I will try to translate from the score for you where it gives the english as well.

I hope you can listen in and get to learn it with them - we will hear the finished product on April 16th at Central Church, Torquay, performed with the Festival Orchestra in the concert, called "An Evening with Mozart".

John