Maybe she’s born with it? – BBC Classical Voice season

“The greatest instrument in music is the one we’re born with,” says the trailer for the BBC’s Classical Voice season. I’d personally be a little alarmed to meet a newborn that sounded like Pavarotti, but that’s beside the point. And the point is that starting today, there will be some fantastic radio and television programmes celebrating the classically trained voice in all its forms.

Here are some of the highlights that we’ll be tuning in to:

Cardiff Singer of the World – BBC Four, BBC Two Wales and BBC Radio 3 – all this week! (schedule)
Featuring arias and lieder and all that good stuff. And hopefully the return of Frockwatch (according to the linked article, it helps to go to a ‘theatrical costumier’. Not Debenhams bridesmaid section*, then).

Saturday 20 June:
La Traviata: Love, Death and Divas – BBC 2
With scenes provided by Opera North, Amanda Vickery and BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom Service reveal the story behind the London premiere of Verdi’s tragic opera. Quel scandale!

Kiri’s 20 Favourite Voices – podcast
I’m confused by this title. There are only 14 of us in La Nova Singers. Surely some mistake, Dame Kiri?
If you’re in Wales and you can’t get enough of Kiri, she’ll also be In Conversation with Kate Adie on Saturday.

 

Simon Russell Beale on Essential Classics – BBC Radio 3, from Monday 22 June
Simon Russell Beale is best known for presenting those great BBC Four programmes about The Sixteen, but did you know that he can also act? Simon will talk to presenter Sarah Walker about his early life as a chorister. This show is also set to feature ‘5 reasons to love… the countertenor voice’, one of which presumably is it’s what happens if you drink too much Farrow & Ball. 

 

* To my knowledge, I am the only LNS member whose dress came from the Debenhams’ bridesmaid section. Which is weird because we seem to have inadvertently named our first album after it. Awkward.

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SUCH FUN!

On Christmas Eve, six of La Nova Singers entertained the guests and diners at The Kings Arms Hotel in Christchurch.  Situated in a rather more unusual performance setting, the bar,  they sang to a very warm and appreciative gathering.

Jingle Bells was a definite standout and was performed twice, probably because it involves audience participation…. somebody has to play the bells and there were no shortage of volunteers!!

Variety was the key to this evenings programme: from the well known carol Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; familiar – but with a different arrangement – Silent Night; to the lesser known Rocking Carol.  The set finished with a rousing We Wish You A Merry Christmas – rousing because our version finishes on a top B flat courtesy of Michelle Nova!

After working up an appetite from all that singing, four of us were booked in for a meal and would definitely recommend The Kings Restaurant as the food was delicious!!

– Soprano superstar Debbie Lloyd