That’s A Wrap

Wow what a whirlwind of a week, on Friday evening there was the performance at St Mary’s Cathedral of the RCS Choir from the BMus course.  From Haydn’s ‘Little Organ Mass’, Michael Bawtree accompanied on the Cathedral’s Henry Willis organ and played C.P.E Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, followed in the second half with John Rutter’s folk song suite ‘A Sprig of Thyme’ conducted by Frikki Walker.

After-The-Final-Performance

On Saturday I had two shows and Sunday a final matinee performance with Scottish Opera Connect’s company at Webster’s Theatre, Glasgow.   Our double bill ‘The Walk from the Garden/Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Roadshow’ had a lovely review in the Sunday Herald by Mary Brennan.

              “Give the young singers and musicians in Scottish Opera’s Connect Company a cleverly balanced double bill, full of musical contrasts and intrinsic drama – like the one they presented across the weekend – then sit back and enjoy, as they deliver something special, sparked with a mix of keen energy and mature focus.

Stephen Deazley’s piece, Dr Ferret’s Bad Medicine Roadshow, was first aired by Connect in 2011 when they filled the Citizens main stage with a technicolour whing-ding reminiscent of the Land of Oz. At Webster’s – an altogether more intimate black box space – Deazley’s witty romp through some of Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales arrives in (mostly) black and white: the colour comes from the performances.

Our Dr Ferret is Andrew McTaggart, an avuncular presence whose baritone warmth promises that his elixir can make bad children good…

The Connect chorus (ages ranging from 14 to 21) revel in the mischief of Belloc and the jaunty, quirky humours of Deazley, while the Connect orchestra kept pace with the snap and rhythmic crackle of the score.

The opening piece, Jonathan Dove’s The Walk in the Garden, thrummed with a sombre intensity that demanded much, of the soloists especially. Inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost, Dove uses the expulsion of Adam (Glen Cunningham) and Eve (Charlotte Hoather) from Eden into an earthly wasteland to echo our own self-inflicted loss of natural habitat through climate change.

The chorus, who bookend the piece in thundering volume (as God, then Milton) sit on-stage as Adam and Eve, garbed like jet-setting holiday-makers, scale Dove’s heights of remembered joys, despair and resignation.

A fierce, compelling work to which young voices gave a touching truth.” 

Whole-Cast

It was fabulous for me to watch  Scottish Opera’s emerging artist Andrew McTaggart   as Dr Ferret, he is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and attended the Alexander Gibson Opera School,  the chorus sizzled through the entire production and didn’t let up in energy and colourful expression for the entire performance.

I also met the composer of the opera Jonathan Dove on Saturday, he enjoyed our first performance which was fantastic and he signed my score which I’m going to treasure.

It was great to see staff from the RCS vocal department who came along to watch including the head of vocal performance Professor Stephen Robertson, Judith Howarth and my singing teacher Kathleen McKellar Ferguson   I would like to say a big thank you to my friends and family who came along to show their support, several of them travelling quite a distance which I really do appreciate and for the cards and messages of support from my friends who could not make it.

Programme-00

Programme-01

Programme-02

58 thoughts on “That’s A Wrap”

  2. Hi, I was there, for the Saint Mary’s Cathedral concert and, of course, for The walk from the garden, Saturday and Sunday. It was really a great pleasure to see and hear Charlotte. She is a great singer. Bravo! Bravo ! (I’m really very happy to coming from france to be there !!) All the best for you !!

    Reply

    1. Merci beaucoup, It was lovely to meet you Pascal, you brought the sunshine ☀️ with you from the South of France, it’s quite warm here for your holiday, I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit. You should visit the Glasgow School of Art and Kelvingrove Museum I’m sure you would enjoy them.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  3. Beautiful Charlotte, on the Walk from The Garden, and may many be inspired to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For there is one Mediator between God, and man, and He is our Lord and Savior.

    Reply

    1. You should have seen the shoes Uncle S, I always wear flats and they were the highest neon orange stilettos I think they could find, wardrobe made sure I left them behind sadly 😄.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply
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  6. So glad we made the trip up to see your performance, it was a beautiful sunny weekend too. Both of you were superb and inspired me to sing out my responses in the office now 🎶🎶 I am in awe of your talent, well done both of you 👏😘

    Reply

    1. It was lovely to see you and Terry smiling from the audience. I wish i’d had more time to spare to see a bit more of you during your visit, I hope your trip home was good.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thanks Beth, it was such an exciting weekend, I just love it. We only found out Jonathan Dove watched the first show afterwards when we met him, such a lovely man, I hope we did his creation justice as it’s a fabulous one-act opera.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thank you Janice. I’m recharging my batteries now, although I’m in full rehearsals for Sir John in Love each evening and learning lots of new songs.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  11. Sounds like a wonderful experience, Charlotte! From such experiences are careers made and lives lived. I would love to have heard this.

    Reply

  12. We had a fantastic weekend, well worth the journey from the potteries..
    Charlotte, yours and Glens performances were excellent, as were all of the cast.
    Wonderful really enjoyed both, Congratulations everyone.🎇🎉🎉

    Reply

    1. So happy you enjoyed the show, twice! and that you made it to St Mary’s, shame you didn’t get your photo 😀, it was lovely to see you both and I was so pleased the weather was beautiful for your visit.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thank you Rod, got some great feedback from Scottish Opera, family, friends and teachers too which is always a boost. Some things to work on but overall I’m very happy.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

      1. 😀 I bet you’re right. but I was up to serious science! making sure I knew the full difference yellow and white which is better with cream cheese. yellow. cowardly lion.

      1. I always found that the hardest to cope with when I was young! I could go for ages without seeing my family and managed very well. It was the short visits home or if they ever visited me for a day that were so difficult – I got so homesick! The review must have been such a pleasant surprise! I expect you (or your parents!) are collecting all your reviews. Best wishes,
        Clare 🙂

  16. Sounds like you all had a great time and did a fantastic job. Congrats to you and everyone involved. 🙂 And yay for positive reviews! 🙂

    Reply

      1. I don’t think there will be videos to share although I think one of the shows was recorded. Glen and I should try to video one of our duets in the practise room 😊.
        Best wishes
        Charlotte

    1. Thanks Randall, such a fabulous opportunity, so pleased I auditioned for it last year, I have learnt so much from the entire experience, even how to balance whilst singing in stilettos 😄.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  18. I wish I had seen Dr. Ferret. We had a book at home called Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes and I am sure Matilda was in it. Putting it to music sounds so much fun. Lovely review. Well done you.

    Reply

      1. I have a question: How was this experience compared to how you thought it would be?

        Like…before the event, you could guess what the actual experience would be like. But during and after the event, your experience can be different than you thought it would be…

      2. Great question Eric.
        Each of the three performances were different. I get a rush of excitement at the end of each show, very exhilarating it’s hard to explain. Then when I calm down I review each performance in my head to try to improve the next one.
        Each show had a different audience and reception, during the first show the composer Jonathan Dove watched which was fabulous, the second our Head of Vocals was there to watch and access as well as all my family and friends and Pascal all the way from the South of France so I wanted to do a super memorable performance and in the third show my singing teacher Kath came and family and friends again so I wanted to really soak it up as it was my last opportunity to be Eve.
        Best wishes
        Charlotte

    1. I wish you could have seen it too, it was very special to me, Glen and all the cast and musicians were brilliant company and i hope I’ve made some new friendships from the fabulous opportunity.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Oh yes 😄 you know I like to be the centre of attention lol. 💃 this was nearly me with the shoes and dress I didn’t realise neon orange was my colour haha.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply
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