Synergy represented by:
Rachel Weston, Micaela Haslam, Heather Cairncross, Amy Haworth
“We had just one day of rehearsal to put Tehillim together with London Sinfonietta. Thomas Adès knew the piece well, but hadn’t conducted it before. He was really up against it because there was barely enough scheduled rehearsal time. Fortunately for all concerned we also knew the piece well, Tom was extremely clear, and very efficient with the time he had. That said, Tehillim is best played in over about three days, so this was serious cramming!
Rehearsing in Warehouse, Waterloo
Lots of our Music for 18 colleagues were on the team – Laurent Quenelle, Lionel Handy, Sam Walton, John Constable, Aidy Spillett, Serge Vuille, David Hockings and of course the inimitable Tim Lines who I’m happy to say plays much of my line in unison. We’ve had past experiences of unintentional canons in the first section of Tehillim but we knew that the clarinet parts were in safe hands this time.
A very busy Thomas Adès at the helm
The second half of the programme featured Thomas Adès/Tal Rosner’s In Seven Days so this was a very popular concert. Quite a few of our friends and colleagues came along, including my BBC job-share partner Alison Smart, Caroline Jaya-Ratnam (who will be singing Amy’s part in Amsterdam with us next month) and Mark Rickerby, our loyal fan who had come all the way from Calgary with his delightful family to hear this concert. Now, is that dedication or what?
Alison, Caroline, Micaela and Mark Rickerby
The sound on stage was great, thanks once again to Ian Dearden, and from what I gather, it was great out front too. I really enjoyed this performance. Tom got the speeds just right – 1st, 2nd and 4th movements fast enough to be interesting and exciting, without sacrificing the ensemble, and relaxed enough in the 3rd “slow” movement to provide the necessary contrast. I loved Tom’s attention to detail and hope we get to do Tehillim with him again. In fact, let’s record it! It’s about time we recorded this piece properly after fifteen years of singing it live. Anyone got any spare funds for such a project……?”
All smiles on stage
Micaela