Busy couple of days in Switzerland, firstly a concert in a beautiful church in Zurich, where Decca records Cecilia Bartoli... amazingly enough, it was beautiful to sing in!
Then on to Berne - firstly to wish a seniors party a Happy Christmas, we sang them through it, inbetween the speeches, Elvis was there again! - and we all sang together the German Christmas Classic, O du fröhliche, then to the wonderful slightly underground ONO theatre [just down the road from Einstein's old house] in the centre of the City...
At all three events, lovely to see friends old and new... and to be given many treats... some of which we shall share with our families (if they make it home!)
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Zuzwil, CH
Another packed church, this time courtesy of of our friend (and Swiss agent), Silvan (and his friends and family)...
Elvis decided only to put his wig on today, rather than the full change... but it might well have felt de trop in such surroundings!
There was even a smattering of snow which came down in the interval, thus creating a white blanket for us to leave the church on.
A wonderful meal after the concert with Silvan, Andrea and little Michel... (who sang us his rendition of Hey Jude).
More snow now... looks like we can stop dreaming...
Elvis decided only to put his wig on today, rather than the full change... but it might well have felt de trop in such surroundings!
There was even a smattering of snow which came down in the interval, thus creating a white blanket for us to leave the church on.
A wonderful meal after the concert with Silvan, Andrea and little Michel... (who sang us his rendition of Hey Jude).
More snow now... looks like we can stop dreaming...
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Erpe-Mere, BE
A very Christmas-filled a cappella evening in the church at Erpe-Mere [quite near Brussels]... lots of festiveness, some serious, some lighter, and a packed church of happy faces.
Glorious - and a great deal of action at the CD table afterwards - we are lucky that people have been so lax buying presents, and need to rush to us!
As ever, in Belgium, glorious food abounded - my big brochette especially fine...
Presently at Sheraton at Brussels Airport, we fly to Switzerland pretty early tomorrow for the last four gigs before Christmas break.
Glorious - and a great deal of action at the CD table afterwards - we are lucky that people have been so lax buying presents, and need to rush to us!
As ever, in Belgium, glorious food abounded - my big brochette especially fine...
Presently at Sheraton at Brussels Airport, we fly to Switzerland pretty early tomorrow for the last four gigs before Christmas break.
Antwerp with Kiki
Blog 100 of the year...
We shared a bill last night in a dock hangar in the port of Antwerp with Kiki Dee & her guitarist, Carmelo Luggeri; and we sang a couple of songs with them too...
The hangar is transformed every 4 or 5 years for a massive celebration of the company Mourik - when we arrived it was still quite hangar-like, but it was, by the evening, full of chefs and excellent food, and a fully-rigged stage.
After our set, wonderfully accompanied by Chris Hatt as ever, Kiki Dee did her stuff...
As an encore, we felt we had blundered into a light ent TV show from years ago, as we backed Kiki in the Bee Gees song How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? and then White Christmas. Wonderful to work with Kiki and Carmelo - both fantastic, and also to share in Mourik's festivities.
On to Erpe-Mere tonight...
We shared a bill last night in a dock hangar in the port of Antwerp with Kiki Dee & her guitarist, Carmelo Luggeri; and we sang a couple of songs with them too...
The hangar is transformed every 4 or 5 years for a massive celebration of the company Mourik - when we arrived it was still quite hangar-like, but it was, by the evening, full of chefs and excellent food, and a fully-rigged stage.
After our set, wonderfully accompanied by Chris Hatt as ever, Kiki Dee did her stuff...
As an encore, we felt we had blundered into a light ent TV show from years ago, as we backed Kiki in the Bee Gees song How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? and then White Christmas. Wonderful to work with Kiki and Carmelo - both fantastic, and also to share in Mourik's festivities.
On to Erpe-Mere tonight...
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Bridewell Hall #2
Another lovely night in the City of London... a packed Bridewell Hall had as good acoustic as ever, and a wonderful atmosphere of revellers!
We reprised Wendell the Worm as from our Captain Beaky efforts last week at the RAH... and everyone laughed lots. Was it our dancing?
Lots of Christmas fun for one and all - including Steve dressed up as Elvis (although as a friend pointed out, an Elvis who has been on a serious diet!)...
Christmas and Cricket CDs were popular - how alliterative people's tastes are...
Now just a jaunt to the European mainland before Christmas - Belgium and then Switzerland; before Germany, Estonia, Russia and Belgium again in late December / January - what fun!
We reprised Wendell the Worm as from our Captain Beaky efforts last week at the RAH... and everyone laughed lots. Was it our dancing?
Lots of Christmas fun for one and all - including Steve dressed up as Elvis (although as a friend pointed out, an Elvis who has been on a serious diet!)...
Christmas and Cricket CDs were popular - how alliterative people's tastes are...
Now just a jaunt to the European mainland before Christmas - Belgium and then Switzerland; before Germany, Estonia, Russia and Belgium again in late December / January - what fun!
Monday, 12 December 2011
Wonderful Captain Beaky for UNICEF
Fantastic evening at the RAH... Captain Beaky and his wonderful band were all there... Lots of dancers from National Youth Ballet (playing a large array of animals - not a dry eye at times), and a Kirov & ENB master, Dmitri Gruzdyev, as well as Jeremy Lloyd & Jim Parker (writer and composer), Joanna Lumley, Roger Moore & Deborah Moore, Alan Titchmarsh, Hugh Bonneville, Rosie Ashe & the original Captain Beaky himself, Keith Michell, appearing both on large screen and in a box in the audience to rapturous applause. Also old friends from Chess in Concert, Tabitha Webb, Tiffany Graves, Caroline Sheen, & Jon Robyns - who used his Avenue Q experience to bring Hissing Sid to life!
Our contributions were accompanying Rosie in Desmond the Duck, being accompanied by David Firman & the excellent band in Doreen the Duckling, and getting away from ducks, we sang an a cappella Wendell the Worm. We provided comments from 'offstage' in a poem read by Joanna Lumley - back to the Ds... Dilys the Dachshund, and we all sang together in There's a Light...
Splendid to see the octogenarians strut their stuff, Roger Moore in his DJ (only with green tights on his legs - he told us it was all the rage); and Jeremy Lloyd clearly moved and loving his words being displayed again to a packed house.
Mike gave Alan T. a DVD copy of Christmas Pebble Mill show that had involved both AT and Cantabile in the 1980s... the green-fingered one was delighted and said he had nothing from that time he could watch!
A glorious evening - all in aid of UNICEF... & put together by Director, Hugh Wooldridge with his usual aplomb - let's hope it can happen again sometime...
I'll ask Joanna the next time I see her at my local bus station (I've seen her before!)
Our contributions were accompanying Rosie in Desmond the Duck, being accompanied by David Firman & the excellent band in Doreen the Duckling, and getting away from ducks, we sang an a cappella Wendell the Worm. We provided comments from 'offstage' in a poem read by Joanna Lumley - back to the Ds... Dilys the Dachshund, and we all sang together in There's a Light...
Splendid to see the octogenarians strut their stuff, Roger Moore in his DJ (only with green tights on his legs - he told us it was all the rage); and Jeremy Lloyd clearly moved and loving his words being displayed again to a packed house.
Mike gave Alan T. a DVD copy of Christmas Pebble Mill show that had involved both AT and Cantabile in the 1980s... the green-fingered one was delighted and said he had nothing from that time he could watch!
A glorious evening - all in aid of UNICEF... & put together by Director, Hugh Wooldridge with his usual aplomb - let's hope it can happen again sometime...
I'll ask Joanna the next time I see her at my local bus station (I've seen her before!)
Saturday, 10 December 2011
sing-along-a Roger Moore
For Captain Beaky: just rehearsing in a dressing room at English National Ballet [just around the corner from RAH], a song with some echoes from the chorus...
We sang away, and then heard the dulcet tones of Roger Moore pitching in with the echoes from the attached Men's room... what an honour to form a quintet with a former Bond (even if he was in a separate room)!
Great rehearsals all morning... all looking and sounding good.
Excellent to meet the writers too - Jeremy Lloyd and Jim Parker - fantastic...
We sang away, and then heard the dulcet tones of Roger Moore pitching in with the echoes from the attached Men's room... what an honour to form a quintet with a former Bond (even if he was in a separate room)!
Great rehearsals all morning... all looking and sounding good.
Excellent to meet the writers too - Jeremy Lloyd and Jim Parker - fantastic...
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