ONE of the biggest stars at this year’s Whittington Music Festival says he is looking forward to performing ‘absolute bangers’.
Roddy Williams OBE will be performing at the festival, taking place from May 17-21 at St John the Baptist Church in Whittington, and tickets are selling fast.
Only a handful of seats are left for the Sunday afternoon concert, featuring internationally-renowned baritone Williams, who is one of the three soloists at King Charles III’s coronation just two weeks beforehand.
Williams added that he is looking forward to performing at two of the concerts in Whittington, in particular the Schubert songs which comprise the second half of the Saturday evening concert and he describes as ‘absolute bangers’.
The words have been welcomed by organisers who believe it is ‘absolutely refreshing to hear one of the world’s premier performers, espousing the virtues of this music with such enthusiasm and relating it to modern audiences’.
He said: “Devotees of high art song might at times feel themselves to be part of a tiny clique.
OTHER NEWS:
- Morda house fire that caused deaths of mother and son caused by fault in TV - inquest
- Refurbished Oswestry nightclub set to open this Bank Holiday weekend
- Inquest told meeting between woman's family and medical experts did not go ahead
“Even those who love classical music in general can sometimes be put off by the idea of listening to hours of song in someone else's language.
“They can feel themselves to be on the outside looking in.
“However, Jeremy Sams’ English translations of Schubert cycles remove a significant obstacle. English-speaking audiences can experience these wonderful songs and understand the narrative plainly in real time.
“And the story is universal; a tale of youthful love and longing, of a loss of innocence, of betrayal and heart-ache.
“It is the stuff of popular song and Schubert’s music is full of popular, youthful energy.
“To listen or perform The Fair Miller Maid is to be reminded what it was like to be young again, on the cusp of adulthood, when every conflicting emotion was experienced with a deep, searing passion.
“Schubert had an extraordinary gift for melody and the songs that make up The Fair Maid of the Mill are, in youthful parlance, ‘absolute bangers’.
“After having performed on such a large, high-pressured stage as at Westminster Abbey, it’s going to be an absolute delight to bring chamber music back to an intimate setting.
“We can dispense with the fanfares, the pomp and the circumstance and make some new connections over this beautiful music.”
Tickets for the festival are available from Rowanthorn, Whittington’s Post Office and online at www.whittingtonmusicfestival.org.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here