Marcus sings his first piece
Jean Lennie introduced Marcus and the concert.
Marcus presents
Michael Barnett introduces.
|
| | | Evening of Festive Song - 16 December |
Christmas scene as Marcus sings
It
was freezing outside with ice under foot, but the church was warm and
welcomng for an evening of festive songs, sung by local 18 year old
Marcus Swietlicki.
Accompanied by Michael Barnett on piano,
Marcus sang a range of songs to entertain the audience who had braved
the temperatures outside to come along and hear this talented tenor
singer.
The first Act of the Repertoire started with 'Total
Eclipse', the aria from Handel’s 1741 oratorio, Samson. The words
are Samson’s anguished lament at losing his eye
sight. Handel also went blind, and according to some accounts,
this aria moved Handel to tears in the final years of his life.
Marcus
moved to another well known Handel oratario, 'Messiah,' written
immediately before Samson in September 1741. In Christian
theology, the Messiah is the saviour of the Jewish people and
humankind, whom we call Jesus Christ. We heard 'The Rebuke'
followed by 'Behold and See', from Part 2 Scene 1 - Christ's Passion. Completing
the Messiah presentation was 'Comfort Ye' and 'Ev'ry Valley' from Part
1 Scene 1 - Isaiah's profecy of salvation, all written for a tenor
singer.
 Michael
took centre stage, giving Marcus time to recover, playing a Brubeck
arrangement of 'What Child is This', a Christmas carol whose lyrics
were written by William Chatterton Dix, in 1865. If the audience thought
it sounded like Greensleeves, it did, the lyrics being set to the same tune.
For
his final songs before the intermission Marcus made a change of style
and language, singing two serenades in Italian, starting with 'La
Serenata' by Francesco Pauli Tosti, one of his most famous works, and
'O Del Mio Amato Ben' by Stefano Donauldy.
Jean Lennie who had
arranged the concert ran a raffle during the break, while Marcus took
time out to rest his voice. A bottle of wine and a Christmas hamper
were presented to two members of the audience who were lucky enough to
have bought a programme with the correct winning numbers.
The
second Act took music from the musicals as the opener. 'Maria' from
Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, was followed by 'Anthem' from
Chess, written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. A well known song
from My Fair Lady followed, 'On The Street Where You Live' by Lerner
and Lowe.
Rory takes over from Michael to play Empty Chairs and Empty Tables
Boubil
and Schonberg Les Miserables songs are a tough one to sing for many
singers, but Marcus took the big ones in his stride, starting with
'Bring Him Home', then 'Empty Chairs and Empty Tables', the latter piano accompaniement provided by Marcus's brother Rory, who himself
is studying in London to be a ballet dancer. A really talented family.
No
concert would be complete without a song from the Andrew Lloyd-Webber
stable, and 'Close Every Door' was chosen by Marcus from the show
'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, one of the most popular
songs of the musical.
Being a Christmas concert Marcus fiished
with two well known Christmas Carols, 'O Holy Night' composed by
Adolphe Adam in 1847, and with audience participation, 'Silent Night', composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber.
A
great round of applause from the audience was a fitting conclusion to
what had been a wonderful evening of song from Marcus. We wish him well
as proceeds with his training to be a professional classical singer.
Published - 18 December 2017
| |
Home
| Services | Church Groups | Events | News
| History| Contact Us 
