Following a really good and hectic couple of days entertainment and food sampling at the Preston Winckley Weekender I decided it would be interesting to end Saturday with a taste of culture.
It just so happened that there was an opera concert on at the Minster on Church Street and I thought that it may be worth a try. Although opera has not normally been my favourite music I must say that it was a wonderful experience and one that I would recommend to anyone to try.
The Musica Lirica Opera singers gave several wonderful performances and I listened to each one with great interest and learned that night how easy it is to appreciate the work of the opera singing artists as they performed with passion and skill with their given talent.
The following four pictures are images of the evening’s performance as captured by John Westmoreland, husband of one of the singers.
At the end of the performance the company took a bow and at that point one of the ladies in the company, Elane McNicol (the lady fourth from the right in the above picture), was presented with a bouquet of roses by members of her family. It was revealed later that Elaine, who has only been singing opera for two years had performed her very first solo that evening and her family wanted to show how proud they were of her for progressing so quickly from someone who had always wanted be an opera singer to the professional she has become. It was all very emotional indeed.
The Musica Lirica company is always looking for new members, both as soloists and chorus. The dual philosophy of the company is to encourage local talent to experience opera in as realistic an environment as possible. The second part of their raison d’être is to bring opera to the doorsteps of local audiences and thereby encouraging the art form to become as much as a part of the lives of people as it is theirs.
With Musical Director and accompanist, Valerie Whalley aided and abetted by Michael Hall the cast of singers were: Joan Aitchison, Lynn Arron, Jacqui Cookson, Sue Giblin, Jude Glendinning, Elaine McNicol, Irene Westmoreland, Jayne Woollam, Helen Wright, Peter Bowden, Calvin Morris, Dan Woodhouse, David Twizell and Jacqui Veeezi.
If you ever get the chance to go to an opera performance, then I would certainly recommend the Musica Lirica; you would be pleasantly surprised and as enthralled as the audience in attendance was that evening.
Do you like opera? If you don’t know anything about it, would you give it a try? Let us know in the comments below.