Review: ‘Not Just Another Christmas Gala’
Article published: Thursday, January 6th 2011
The International Anthony Burgess Foundation (IAFB) in Manchester played host to several musical events over the festive period. Mohsin Iqbal went along to hear an original intepretation of traditional themes.
‘Not Just Another Christmas Gala’ was an eclectic mix of Christmas Carols and not-so-traditional tunes, brought by Elemental Opera, which give a different take on seasonal festivities.
Formed in April 2009, Elemental Opera are a Manchester troupe of various individuals from across the globe that met at the Royal Northern College of Music. Their previous production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia was a resounding success and was met with critical acclaim. It is upon this rising reputation that the group bring an unconventional production to the Engine House at the IAFB.
Split into the two halves, the programme consists of ‘the Serious Half’ of traditional Christmas Carols as well as some new additions and ‘The Irreverent Half’ of unconventional Christmas music. Terence Ayebare and Janet Fischer open proceedings with a very good rendition of ‘See Amid the Winter’s Snow’. Their performances oscillate between individual performances and all three partaking in rousing versions of various Christmas Carols. Walters occasionally throws in a few covers of Frank Sinatra’s famous songs such as ‘My Way’ as well as sing-alongs from the Sound of Music in an attempt to engage the small audience, which did work well.
Terence Ayebare’s singing throughout the evening was commanding, his deep voice excellent for the choice of songs, especially ‘some enchanted evening’, which he sang with great vigour. Walters interspersed helpings of contemporary, jazz and cabaret-style music might seem an odd choice of songs but worked well juxtaposed alongside the traditional Christmas Carols, even though it might not be to the liking of all. The most prominent part of the night came with Janet Fischer’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’; an elegant performance that suited the soprano’s high voice, aided competently by Walters at the piano.
Although sometimes a sparse audience can be said to be a refection of the quality of the performance, in this case it most certainly wasn’t as Elemental Opera performed adeptly on the night.
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