Saturday December 2 saw the great and the good forswear jeans and struggle into tidy frocks and jackets and, if you were sensible, overcoats, at least to start with. I even caught sight of some magnificent jewels blinking in the unaccustomed light of exposure. We all gathered at the Rye Creative Centre: such a good and impressive venue with a proper stage, lit up with Christmas lights and a grand piano, and boasting good acoustics into the bargain.
We were there for the fourteenth annual Opera Evening run by Jonathan Jempson on behalf of the Rye Tennis Club. He made an amusing and pithy speech before the music started suggesting that the world might be a better place if it was run by musicians. Most of us would emphatically agree.
Four young opera singers came and entranced us with pieces from many of our favourite operas and also one or two unfamiliar pieces which was very good for us I am sure. The quality of their voices was absolutely top notch and totally thrilling and, on reading their impressive performance bios, you can see exactly why. Gosh, they have achieved a lot and Jonathan is brilliant to get them to come and entertain us. A Rye Gala Evening indeed.
There were excellent and generous wines included in the ticket price (£50) to start with and in the extended interval, poured out by charming helpers, many of them Jonathan’s family. His team also organized the quality programme and even the slightly less quality raffle, the pink and yellow tix being almost indistinguishable one from the other when they came to be drawn under the interesting dim lighting ensuring that gentle chaos ensued. Very comforting really.
The piano was played yet again by Oliver Gooch, who arranged the whole programme with the singers to make sure that the music appealed to a broad audience. He has great respect for and from the singers and they are more than keen to listen to and follow his instructions at the rehearsal. And of course he never leaves the piano so it’s quite a marathon for him. Also he gives us knowledgeable, amusing and brief introductions. We must truly thank Oliver’s long suffering wife who acted as his page turner throughout the evening. Having performed this role myself occasionally, I know it to be a thankless and terrifying job. You have to be on your top level of concentration absolutely all the time for fear of missing your page turn or fluffing it and turning two at a time.
Very luckily for Rye Oliver has provisionally agreed to be the pianist / conductor/ programme arranger again next year on November 30 2024.
So after about two hours of glorious singing, we all sallied forth into the cold and frosty night, full of wine and music, to make what we could of a late supper. (we went to a glamorous after party but that is another story!) Rye at its best, we all thought.
The Singers:
Francesca Chiejina Soprana
Stephanie Wake-Edwards Mezzo Soprano
Thando Mjandana Tenor
Grisha Martirosyan Baritone
Image Credits: Col Everett , Jonathan Jempson .