Concerts are given in the churches of hamaux and little
towns to towns mostly in the forest near Seillans; Monds, Bargemon, Callian,
Correns and in Pippas' own delightful small town of Seillans. The atmosphere is
congenial; the music first class, composers ranging from Bach, Tallis and
Mozart through to Saint-Saëns, Poulenc and Britten.
This year we had in Andrew Staples the finest young tenor
of our time, a phenomenal 20-year old Swiss cellist, Chiara Enderle who played
Saint-Saëns Concerto and Kate Howden, a key_of_the_door_year from Sydney whose
voice is creeping up the staves from mezzo to full-blown soprano; she has a
gorgeous voice and fine musicianship, sounding suitably glorious in Poulenc's
Gloria, a stirring performance under the expert direction of conductor Tom
Seligman.
In Correns Andre Staples led a small group of male voices,
good ones, exquisitely balanced, in Bach' rarely heard little Mass in G minor
Mass, the Lamentations of Thomas Tallis together with Poulenc's spicy Saint
Asissi Prayers and a barber-shop lollipop finale.
All this was delectable music and music-making, all in
delightful churches, in woody situations with get-together suppers for the
performers afterwards.
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