Review from Newbury Weekly News published Thursday November 22, 2007

God's shenanigans a little naughty, but nice

           Newbury Chamber Choir and Newbury Baroque Players: Music for Three Monarchs at St John the Evangelist Church, Newbury on Saturday 17^th November 2007

With music now the most available commodity in the universe we cannot imagine the narrow pinnacle of musical achievement of the past.  The material for Music for Three Monarchs was written for an audience of the very few, and in the case of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, the naughty crowd at that.

Though described as a masque, the sumptuously prepared and illustrated notes marked Venus and Adonis as the first true opera in England, Venus (Jacqueline Pischorn) started by teaching a cheeky junior Cupid to fire his arrows straight.

Cupid Jr in this case was Angus White, a very young member of a spiffing collective of young Cupids, whose highly-focused acting had the sparkle of the original – a thoroughly entertaining young man.

Life mirrors art, and Pischorn was also responsible for coaching the choir.  It showed in their happy and confident projection.

Adonis (Callum Thorpe) made the pastoral valleys ring with his powerful, rich and sensuous voice, as Sonia Stockel, who herself is an expert in the early classics, emerged as Cupid-in-chief.  (In the original, Venus and Cupid were played by the King’s lover and her daughter).  What with winglets and bows, as well as Stockel’s expertise, our principals did their best to instil drama into what was necessarily a restrained staging.  The prime message of this delightful and suggestive performance was “Choose for the formal fool” or in other words “Treat ’em mean to keep ’em keen”.  Certainly works with me.

As Purcell followed Blow as director of music at Westminster, so it was that the whole ensemble bounced back with Welcome for the Duke of York.  Under the direction of distinguished conductor and composer Edward Lambert, the choir seemed more relaxed with this most interesting music, for Purcell, even with political hack work, never let his inventiveness sleep.

We had heard the recorder of Imogen Lambert earlier this year, in Burghclere with Sarah Derricks.  Here she was joined by Emma Eisele; together they produced an incredibly rich and sweet tone.

James Toll gave an excellent leadership to the Newbury Baroque Players in which the bass section had an especially fine role in the difficult but dazzling Many Such Days, from the birthday ode to Queen Mary.

St John’s Church ahs a very good acoustic, with good carrying power, so I am not sure why it is not used more.  Even better, you don’t have to brave the town centre mayhem. Bring a cushion though; Venus would not have got very far with Adonis in those penitential seats.

PATRICK COGSWELL