A Busy two weeks

Phew...
...the last fortnight has been busy...

We started in late November in the splendid Voice Mania Festival in Vienna, where we performed a 'mitsing' concert as we have previously in Bayreuth...
Hearing a room of Viennese singing Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus with us was especially tremendous in the very home of Classical music!
But they loved everything else too... seemed to know London's Burning round already! - and sang Oh Susanna (Foster) as if they were from Alabama!
Lovely to be back once again, and looking forward to many returns!

We also chased around the city doing some filming... we cannot say much more about that yet... but we will very soon... we also filmed in London the following week... all to be revealed anon!

Then it was a sojourn to Germany.
We started with three nights singing in a beautiful arts centre-cum-restaurant situated in a grand old Post Office - don't think low-ceiling British, think art gallery, in Pirmasens!
Three lovely evenings of good food and Christmas jollity...
The first made all the more glorious by our luggage having been sent to Nuremberg instead of Frankfurt... just a few hundred miles out.
In general we're pretty lucky with luggage going astray and have previously had to borrow clothes when one bag has gone missing... all four of our bags not appearing has only happened once before...
So we did a vast majority of the first night in our own clothes. no-one minded, and many thought this was an elaborate joke!
...and here we are (we looked better for 68% of the time!)!

But the three nights there were a delight, it was good to be still for a while!  We were treated very well and shared lots of lovely food!

Sonja - who runs the place - and Tobi the technician were terrific (& he even helped our doing a wee bit more filming - splendid chap!)

We had a little drive to Hameln (where the rats fled from) - just the five hours - for a 6PM concert in the theatre there... our third visit & a lovely place with excellent technicians with imagination and skill.
And we were joined by Chris Hatt at the piano - hotfoot from helping to prepare a new production of musical Chaplin in Belgium... very pleased he could fit us in to his schedule.
We had a delightful evening singing many of the tracks from the new CD - A Song for Christmas in case you missed it! - for the very first time live...
...and here's a review (in German, but all should get the gist!)

We finished early enough to have a wonderful meal in our hotel, just a few hundred metres from the theatre (always a joy)

And then whilst fine dining is in the mind, we had the delight of performing in the Church in the grounds of the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton, OXON.... they run a few evenings before Christmas coupled with music and readings...
We were paired last night with the hilarious John Sergeant, who read some terrific pieces... from Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole and Richmal Crompton's Just William; to a letter home from WWI and the Grosmiths' Diary of a Nobody... delightful to meet him again, we met last year at the Royal Albert Hall Bloodwise gala.
The night before us, my old school choir were performing, Trinity Boys Choir, and it was lovely to get a cheery message from the Director of Music as we arrived (via the organisers!)

We sang even more music from our new album and the atmosphere in the church was Festivity itself... we were joined by the excellent Paul Plummer - great he had time to come down from Glasgow and share the evening with us; always a delight to work with.
Having heard music from Germany, Belgium, Britain and France, & the title song of our CD - A Song for Christmas AND had three singalong carols, the people left the church with Let It Snow! on their mind... even tho' it had indeed been sunny and pretty warm all day!

Merry Christmas one and all...

Champs Hill Christmas CD Recording

Marvellous few days recording our new Christmas CD at the exquisite Champs Hill in Sussex.... (The record label already has our Songs of Love & War).

Two days down & one to go (19 pieces done & 8 left!) - you will get a list soon!

Here we are having lunch in the gardens ... well, here is Sarah-Ann & Chris x 2 (both Hatt & O'Gorman varieties!)

Our old friend Andrew Mellor is in charge of making everything sound splendid (he has been involved in three projects with us before); wonderful to have the brilliant Chris Hatt play the piano (he is already on our Songs of Cricket CD) & we also have had Paul Plummer coming down and further honing everything to splendid proportions (with his excellent ears)!

What joys - as ever, we are endebted to David and Mary & all the Champs Hill team...

Hoorah for it all...

More news (& even sounds!) when we have it ...

Highs in the Low countries...

Four events in the Low countries... all ending on a high!

We started our journey in Veghel, NL; a new destination for us... excellent to have more gigs in Holland, where we have had so many splendid experiences over the years...
We had a lovely evening of Harmony and Humour, and the audience were very happy to hear it all... some having known us for decades... great to be back.
They Rolled in the Deep with Sarah-Ann especially well!

Next we were off to Trevianum, a school in Sittard, invited by our old friend, Gertie Weerts to celebrate the long 'reign' of Lou Harings (Headmaster) there!
We were a surprise (Lou knows us from concerts we have given in the area & at the school in the past)... and we were sent on to 'replace' the London Quintet who had performed the night before - a group of five teachers including Gertie!  All in the best possible taste of course...
Lou was indeed surprised!
Good to celebrate a teacher who has had such a long and great influence over school and pupils.
Thank you, Gertie, for inviting us to share in the occasion.

Then it was BE time for Showtime in Mol and Deurne, where were returning after a year or two...
We were joined for these two shows by our old friend and pianist Paul Plummer... he now resides in Glasgow and is a lecturer in opera at the Royal Conservatoire; brilliant that he had time enough to spare for us in his busy schedule.
Both venues were terrific & looked after us splendidly... (it always seem we end up talking about food in Belgium!) - the meal at Bistro Opera in Mol was excellent, as was the meal created by Lesley at Deurne backstage... all glorious.
Thank you!
...and of course there was the terrific Belgian beer to enjoy too!

...and the concerts were also good!  Our songs from Broadway, West End, Holly- and Pine-Wood went down very well... and we had a great time...
...people love California dreamin'.
We love the Guys and Dolls medley, particularly as it is in the West End once more...
...& the Laurel & Hardy dance - especially fun to do!

Here's an arty photo of Cant - TLQ with Paul Plummer in a hotel ceiling....
Enjoy!

Fantastic Belgian times...

Excellent three concerts in Belgium at the end of last week... following our CARA award nomination for Best Classical Album last week!

Firstly Hold That Tiger! at Opwijk, where we were last at Christmas 2011.
Lots of vocal groups were paid tribute to, and a great time was had by all...
Splendid singing form the crowd in The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Excellent view from my hotel window (tho' I did have to lean out a bit!)

More great Lion singing the next morning at St Bavo school in Gent (or Ghent, if you like).... a huge crowd sang along in both that and the flag-waving land of Hope & Glory, as we gave them a shortened version of Best of British (well, they did have to go to some lessons as well that day).
The most enthusiastic joiners-in we have ever had, but there were 500-ish of them and they are full of youthful energy!
Steve marshalled the Flemish speaking with aplomb, of course.

Then it was off to Geel for a full Best of British show... and glorious it was.

.... indeed, another beautiful Belgian city:

For both the B.O.B. shows we were joined by pianist Paul Plummer - lovely to see him again, and great he was free for us amidst his travelling musician life!

Three wonderful concerts with Sarah-Ann... great times are ahead!

DE tour then pastures new... with Sarah-Ann

Last two dates of the November outings to Germany... in Nienburg/Weser & Bremerhaven...

Two more performances of Best of British with the splendid Paul Plummer at the piano...

This was our second show in Nienburg, and the place was full to the brim, and much flag-waving and excitement ensued!
Our fellow Magenta artists, Medlz are here in Nienburg next Saturday (22nd November)!
Do go along... they're cool...

Then we went up to the fishing port/harbour of Bremerhaven... and ate lots of wonderful fish... (it is difficult not to eat fish here!)...
...and to a theatre we have not been in for ten years... excellent to be back...
Excellent staff and support and an audience prepared to let their hair down!

Now it is a totally new venture... we have never done this before when we have changed members, but we have three Belgian gigs where both Richard and Sarah-Ann will perform together... it will be our new show for Belgium - Showtime! (This will be called Memories in Germany)... where we celebrate music for the stage...
Sarah-Ann will be our guest for a few songs on Thursday at the Lemmens Instituut, and then in December at shows at Aalst and Wemmel. All details on our site.

From the 29th November we are ferociously busy... (more details anon - tho' you can look at our site)

Hooray for all that!

Elgar Room - Masterpieces

A wonderful evening at the Royal Albert Hall...
..whilst hordes of schoolchildren were enjoying day three of the Music & Youth concerts in the RAH, we gave our Masterpieces in the Elgar Room - a splendid room for cabaret there.

Having had a great evening there last Christmas, it was a delight to repeat the excellent experience ...

There are photos of famous artists all round the room, so we had the idea (well, Richard did!) of giving an entertainment where all the people pictured are heard.... I won't go into it in nit-picking detail, but all these people were name-checked and at least one piece of theirs heard...

Edward Elgar
Nina Simone
Yehudi Menuhin
Jacqueline Du Pré
Frank Zappa
Ray Charles
Johnny Cash
Jimmy Hendrix
Pavarotti
James Brown
Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
George Harrison & John Lennon
Duke Ellington
Marvin Gaye
& also
Elton John (his picture is not there, but his red grand piano is on permanent loan to the room!)

To complete this task 37 pieces were required - some of these were in medleys, otherwise we'd have been there all night!
Lots of new things for us, and amongst the splendour was a recreation of the duet of It's a Man's Man's Man's World  as sung by two of our photos - James Brown and Pavarotti! We also found another way of hijacking the audience (well, a couple in it) using Frank Zappa!
Also a chance to do some things in the UK that have previously been only seen on mainland Europe, such as our Beatles medley on a train & our Pomp and Circumstance/Best of British parody... (both as imagined by Julian and Maggie Forsyth).

We were joined on the piano by our old friend Paul Plummer... excellent to work with him again.

Huge fun!

Funny Side... in Clacton

More mirth in the Princes Theatre, Clacton-on-Sea...
As ever, the Clacton Theatre was full to brimming & everyone to do with the organization was friendly and helpful... even making sure we got the last train home.
Joined last night by Paul Plummer on the piano (who had kindly allowed his one day off in the UK to be spent at the seaside with us!) we had a very fine evening.
They loved it all, from Jake Thackray to Monty Python & Noel Coward to Tim Minchin, via Instant Sunshine and Richard Stilgoe... On the Funny Side of the Street carries on creating jollity.

Excellent to visit such a thriving music society, with full membership and many sponsors...
Long may they continue...

B.o.B. DE tour #2

Next two stops on the B.o.B. tour... Tuttlingen & Wangen, marvellous times...
Once again joined by pianist extraordinaire, Paul Plummer...
Lots of old friends (some from Switzerland - which is just up the road!) and new, at two places we have visited on many occasions over the last few years.
In Wangen we had the great pleasure of singing in the very old (14th Century, I think) Weberzunfthaus - wonderful; and full of people it was... great to catch up with all after the concert in the splendid café.

Coming up tomorrow - at last the early music show in Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich...
O Sing Joyfully (1450-1650) - a celebration of English, Franco-Flemish & Italian Renaissance music.
Cantabile & other animals: Byrd, Gibbons, Bat(ten) *

* this joke has run out of steam, please stop, Ed.

B.o.B. tour #1

First two dates of the B.o.B. * tour are done!
Siegen & Blieskastel... We have been to both before (Blieskastel only last year); good to meet old friends & talking of which, we are being accompanied by another old friend, Paul Plummer...

Splendid audiences, and as ever, a very knowledgeable German crowd who know and love their vocal music... and are delighted to join in with our Land of Hope and Glory at the end... including waving their Union Flags (as printed on the back of our programmes):- wonderful scenes!

Two more dates to go, and then an a cappella early music concert at the weekend...

* B.o.B. = Best of British (our programme for Germany and Belgium).

Esch, Lux - New Year Concert

Delightful late afternoon of New Year's celebration in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg); thank you to Charles, Marc and the rest of the team who invited us & looked after us so well.
We did our conventional mix of the silly and the serious - the audience liked our Beatles-on-a-train & our Bee Gees 'tribute'!
But yes, we did some Strauss! (Blue Danube & Radetsky) & we were very happy to be joined by our old friend Paul Plummer at the piano.  He was not let down by the European train system...
... sadly another old friend Gertie was let down by her (only a few months old) car, which failed to get her to Luxembourg... except in time to hear the last few hand claps.  Some might say she drew the longest straw by sampling the after-show champagne reception without having had to suffer a single note of music!
Sold lots of our CDs and our new songbook - hooray!
Splendid hotel too; and a great way to celebrate the birth of 2013...

We'll talk to you throughout the year!

Itzehoe, DE

Yes, we managed to get to Itzehoe (nr. Hamburg), and once more B.o.B. triumphed!
Beautiful theatre - especially on the inside... great lighting & sound.

Flag-waving as keen as ever.... We think this show is motoring now; we must do it some more!

We got back to the airport [Paul Plummer went off early for his train... he has an audition in Germany somewhere! Good luck!]... and now we are home.
Next it is the Belgian incarnation of B.o.B.... once more with PP.

Mannheim

Hang on, what country are we in?
Ah yes.... it's Germany.
Great evening at The Capitol, Mannheim... we have another three-date B.o.B. {Best of British} tour... Rottweil & Itzehoe after tonight...
Everyone dutifully waved their Union Flags and sang along to our Land of Hope and Glory [only with parodic words by the great Anglo-German powerhouse partnership, Julian and Maggie Forsyth].
I haven't mentioned yet that on this blog that we owe a lot with this B.o.B. show to the Forsyths, who created most of the verbiage between the songs and wrote the new parodies... a brilliant team - we worked with them in Spoliansky's Send for Mr Plim at Battersea Arts Centre a few years ago (wonderful show)... they have helped us create a show which sends us up as a nation, but also asks questions of the Germans too... mainly... Why do you think we are like this... and are we truly so - and you like all this pomp and circumstance stuff, don't you? ...and other such rhetoric.  Lovely stuff... dead clever (and going down well with people)...
Thanks, Julian and Maggie!

We tried out the theme tune to Morse tonight... no-one had heard of it... hmmm... we'll try a bit more before chucking it...

We are accompanied by our old friend, Paul Plummer for this tour, and for next weekend too... great to see him.
Oh, and  late-night kebabs were had...

Bocholt

Tour done, and minor coughing fits aside, I am a Fleming in Belgium who has one the Phlegm battle!

Another excellent evening accompanied by the redoubtable Paul Plummer. Bowler hats, celeb masks and umbrellas to the fore... we took this small part of north Belgium to Britain... tea, royalty, muddling-through, Elton John, Rice & Lloyd Webber & a cross-dressing lumberjack:- what more could one ask for?
...and our dear friends Gertie & Jolein were there too from The Netherlands... how splendid!

It'll be Christmas next time we are here, but that'll be fun too... we'll dust off the German version of Best of British for January...

Aalst

Best of British went well to a packed house at Aalst... Our wonderful Belgian agent Thomas Van der Spiegel brought his whole family as they live nearby...
Lovely huge theatre, and friendly and excellent staff... and pre-gig meal in a restaurant that used to be a chapel - De Kapelaan - beautiful both architecturally and nutritionally...
Apart from a 30-second long coughing fit - I managed to obscure a Mike solo - which felt like about 2 hours, everything went well.
Did a very bad impression of HMQ, whilst wearing her face mask, as I stumbled into a chair, thus breaking one of Noel Coward's two golden rules of acting.... know your lines and don't walk into the furniture...
Steve's acres of Flemish, as ever, a great delight... (tho' we all join in a bit!) ...as indeed were his knees during the Lumberjack song...
Great to be back with Herr Paul Plummer on piano; and we have another show together tomorrow at Bocholt...

These last three gigs of this tour said together, with an overgutteral accent & a scowl - Jezus-Eik, Aalst, Bocholt - might give the idea that we are cross, but far from it, we are having a great time over here amongst the Belgae...

Bonheiden and Jezus-Eik

Two lovely full gigs in Belgium, performing our Madrigal to McCartney show...
Proof once more that it is a splendid country to visit... all the staff and people around are so friendly, helpful & uncomplicated... and the food is so nice!
And all managed with a nose full of phlegm... thank goodness it is a nose and not a throat... luckily only I am thus afflicted.
Two more in the next two days, giving our Best of British programme.... today in Jezus-Eik [Jesus Oak, btw] we had a rather British time too; it is just down the road from the English school over here.... lots of children [some Flemish speakers and some English] had a concert in the theatre, and we sang at the end of their time... they were delighted to see how silly it is possible to be whilst singing!
As ever, both new and old friends were about... including today someone we worked for last in Germany in 1992; hoping it will be less than 19 years before we meet once more!
We continue to spread Songs of Cricket amongst the unsuspecting Belgians.
Tomorrow we welcome back pianist, Paul Plummer, who now works in Austria; we have not worked with him for many a while... let's hope he has some cold remedy with him; it will be great to see him...

Classical Rolls Royce!

We are very blessed by our accompanists!
These days for our shows, on piano we have the fantastic Chris Hatt, the worldwide MD of Billy Elliot...
...and soon, because Chris is not free, we have the pleasant delight of working for a couple of Belgian nights with our previous chap, Paul Plummer, who is presently working at the opera house in Innsbruck...
...and now we also have the splendour of working once again with that Rolls Royce of classical accompanists, Malcolm Martineau. We are recording a third album with him, this time under the Champs Hill label - in November for release next year. We had a rehearsal yesterday, and it was as we have come to expect when we work with MM... looking forward to the CD very much.

It is loosely based on the concert we performed together in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris in March...
Songs of Love and Death/War... (to be decided)...