REVIEW

CASTERBRIDGE MALE VOICE CHOIR

United Church, Dorchester

THE local men’s choir were joined for the concert by the mainly female French choir, Choral de Trun to present a programme of style and substance which brought cheers of enthusiasm from the capacity audience in the town church.

With songs from the shows dominating the men’s choice of material, the melodies were all much loved melodies ranging from Love is All Around from Love Actually to She Was Beautiful from The Deer Hunter, as they offered a well chosen programme guaranteed to please any audience.

Under the sensitive guidance of their conductor Julia Macfarlane, the concert got off to a lively start from the men which even the dire shortage of tenors among the group did not spoil as they wisely sang mostly in ensemble during their first half of the evening.

Particularly welcome in the second half were the singers from Normandie who, though smaller in numbers at around 24, were more than a match for the local lads as they performed a varied programme of sacred and popular songs, including several in English including the Abba hit I Have a Dream. A nice thoughtful touch was the Normandie choir’s comprehensive presentation of their programme translated into English, much appreciated by everyone.

But this concert was not just about voices, the audience were also treated to a solo tuba performance of Schubert’s Serenade by the French conductor Andre Debeve together with Julia Macfarlane’s beautiful violin solo rendering of Ladies in Lavender while her daughter Hannah, celebrating her 15th birthday on the day, accompanied the singers on the flute, a real treat.

With excellent piano accompaniment by Emily Clark, the standard of performance for the entire evening made this a memorable evening to enjoy on a warm summer evening.

MARION COX