Many opera singers sound leaden once they add pop and musicals to their repertoire. Not so Lesley Garrett.
Verdi heroine, soubrette, folk singer and West End warbler – she does it all with dexterity and integrity.
Add to that her ability to work an audience like an old time music hall diva and she is beyond compare.
Her folk ballads Bold Grenadier and All Round My Hat were beautifully told stories, her I Could Have Danced All Night was as good as anything she has done, her Schubert Serenade was a major performance, as were La Vergine from Verdi’s Force of Destiny and the Nun’s Chorus from Ralph Benatzky’s Casanova in which her expressiveness and vocal beauty were magnificently accompanied by Honley Male Voice Choir.
The Choir’s ensemble, tuning and balance were spot on, and although their warm tone’s soft surface limited their range of colour and expression, their sustained intensity produced powerful performances, particularly in Speed Your Journey from Verdi’s Nabucco.
It was an inspired idea by the Honley Men’s Musical Director Steven Roberts – who was masterly all evening – to invite Barnsley Children’s Choir to add their bright tone and impressive delivery to the men’s sonority in numbers such as Consider Yourself from Oliver and Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music.
Their ensemble and balance with the men sounded as though the two choirs had been partners for years.
Lesley Garrett said that Huddersfield Town Hall has the best acoustic in the country.
A pity, then, that the trees growing on the roof overlooking Peel Street give it a look of dereliction.
Such neglect would never have been allowed in the days when Huddersfield Choral Society President Jenny Lockwood ran Kirklees’ public halls!
Click here to take you back to more What's On news .
To follow us on Twitter click here
