Concert a delight in town hall debut

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A Carpe Musicam! concert is always a voyage of discovery, a time to hear old favourites played in new and interesting ways.

The items are always presented light-heatedly and performed with passion - orchestral and choral music becoming an entertainment form that is both accessible and fun.

And so it was last weekend with their performance of Choruses, Concertos... and Carmen!, the orchestra's and choir's first in the Mossel Bay Town Hall. Conductor Norman Carless set the mood with his dashing 18th century attire, complete with wig and knee breeches. Music of a classical nature is deceptively difficult to perform, and there were a few spots where the music wobbled along briefly until finding its feet again, but generally it was an evening of well performed pieces.

Some exceptions to the classical genre were the Fur Elise Boogie, effortlessly performed by Jolandie du Plessis on an enormous tuba, and the Richard Rodgers medley – You'll Never Walk Alone/Climb Every Mountain - soulfully sung by contralto Wilma de Villiers, accompanied by choir and orchestra.

An unusual work was the Telemann Concerto in F for Treble Recorder and French Horn, which was ably performed by Sue Fawcett and Christo Becker respectively.

Marianne Holm's pure clarinet tone sailed easily through the tricky bits of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A slow movement, which was cunningly spliced into the love theme from Out of Africa.

Violinists Calvin Steyn and Lesley Bostander must be commended on their duet work during the Carmen election, as must young trumpeter Jacques de Villiers, with his pure and warm tone and note-perfect performance of slow movement of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E.

But it was when choir and orchestra joined forces that the real magic happened. Senza Paura was delicate and restrained, and Puccini's Nessun Dorma for choir and orchestra had an underlying urgency seldom experienced in the solo version.

But Beethoven's Hallelujah from Christ on the Mount of Olives and The Battle Hymn of the Republic were symphonic tours de force which proclaimed that the Garden Route's very own Carpe Musicam! Orchestra and Choir are capable of holding high their heads anywhere in the world.

Looking and sounding great during their concert in Mossel Bay - the Carpe Musicam! Orchestra and Choir.