This year’s Crickhowell Choral Society Music Festival is packed with wonderful music celebrating the huge influence of two of music’s greatest champions, namely St. Cecilia and Orpheus.
Nicholas Mulroy at last year’s BBC Proms
There are many great choral and poetic works paying homage to both and the Society will be focusing on Restoration and Florentine music, including Handel’s mighty Alexander’s Feast. Works by Italian masters Caccini and Peri will also feature, illustrating the birth of Italian opera, and these works have fantastic rhythms of dance-like quality which will be superb vehicles for the outstanding soloists appearing this year.
Nicholas Mulroy, who was seen in the role of the Evangelist in last year’s BBC Prom of Bach’s St. John Passion, will be making a welcome return to Crickhowell, as will the outstanding countertenor Mark Chambers and baritone Robert Davies, who sings regularly with the Gabrieli and Dunedin Consorts.
We welcome for the first time the exciting young rising star from Pembrokeshire, soprano Jessica Cale. The Monday recital will feature Crickhowell Choral Society’s choral scholars singing with Nicholas Mulroy and Mark Chambers.
Thanks to financial support generously provided by the Arts Council of Wales lottery funding for this year’s festival, the scholars will have undergone masterclasses with both in preparation for a concert of Monteverdi madrigals in which they will all sing together. This will be an unprecedented and invaluable experience for the talented young singers and promises to be a fittingly exciting end to the festival.
To whet everyone’s appetites for a glorious weekend of music making, young Welsh folk trio Morfa will be playing Welsh jigs and traditional tunes accompanied by clog dancing, and there will even be a clog dancing workshop open to all, prior to their gig! A bank holiday weekend musical feast not to be missed!
Cathey Owen Cousins
