Buxton Opera House 2009

The Choir at Buxton Opera House
with Cantamus

All photos on this page are by Geoff Ford, to whom go our grateful thanks.
Click on any of them for a larger version.

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A view from the Stalls

Well ... a Gala evening indeed and it certainly lived up to the high expectations of it.

I'm a newcomer to the repertoire of the male voice choir having, until recently, had no experience of the genre; but I'm learning!

Of the songs that I have heard the Tideswell Male Voice Choir (TMVC) perform before I can honestly say that this performance of Let It Be Me was the 'best yet' (that's what I wrote on my programme) it was quite outstanding. So was African Trilogy which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. As so many people are saying, the TMVC just get better and better. Of the songs that were new to me, what a gem of a frolic is De Ole Banjo – great fun!

The Cantamus Girls Choir (Cantamus) are a very talented and highly original group of singers fully deserving of their high reputation. To maintain such a high musical standard whilst performing all that imaginative choreography is no mean feat. From the elegant fluid movements of the opening numbers to the more energetic pure music theatre pieces such as the Witches' Chorus all were executed with panache.

For me the 'best of the night' of Cantamus' programme were the three numbers from West Side Story which had a crisp brightness and joie de vivre.

So to the Grand Finale when the girls of Cantamus joined with the TMVC in their performance of Do You Hear The People Sing. This was superb and a fitting conclusion to a highly enjoyable and memorable evening.

... and it says something for the sheer professionalism of the men of TMVC that they could maintain their high standard of singing with all those nubile young ladies weaving between them!

Vive l'Amour!

AMEH 07/10/09