Here we have one of the most instantly recognisable brands of piano. Danemann conquered the musical world and found them selves in every school college and church up and down the country. These pianos were designed to survive the hardest of working conditions and despite the fact that they have been around since the seventies they are still giving good service to pupils and teachers alike. This particular piano still has many years of life left in it. The tone quality is superb and the action shows no sign of wear. All the keys work perfectly as do the pedals. The case on the other hand is not perfect and is in the process of being cleaned and polished. Please do get in touch if you would to come and view it. £300.00 £300.00
0 Comments
Glowing review from The Sondheim Society's critic. Sweeney Todd Rydens Enterprise School Hersham.3/17/2014 Glowing review from The Sondheim Society's critic. Sweeney Todd Rydens Enterprise School Hersham.
SOMETIMES the English language doesn't have adjectives eloquent enough to do justice to an event when it is beyond special. Too many have lapsed into cliche - like awesome, amazing, astounding. And we're not up to the Bs yet. The extraordinary talents on display onstage and behind the scenes in Rydens Enterprise School's production of Stephen Sondheim's most complex work Sweeney Todd deserve words to match, so let's not beat about the bush - there will not be a better schools production of Sweeney anywhere in the world this year and Head of Drama David Swann, in his first show for the Hersham school, has set an unbelievably high bar for future efforts. Using a cast of 90 from the school's 1100 pupils, and with a well-drilled orchestra of 20 featuring past and present pupils and one teacher under the baton of long-serving Head of Music Alicia Johnson (who co-directed the show with Swann), this was surely as ambitious a musical-theatre project as any school could undertake even without taking into account the difficulty of Sondheim's intricate words, rhymes and rhythms. There is a less gory, simplified, shorter version of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street available to schools but this wasn't it. This was the real McCoy. "We wanted to test everyone as fully as possible to see exactly what they were made of," explained Swann, who himself played the role of Tobias as a Mountview Theatre Arts student a decade ago. This was no version for wimps although, with respect to a younger audience than normal for this very adult musical, some sexual references were softened. But all the throat-slitting and blood were there in this eye-popping tale of murder, revenge and unrequited love, and the trapdoor shooting the multiple victims of Sweeney's cut-throat razors - 'My Friends' as Phillip Thomas, in the title role, so sinisterly called them in one of Sondheim's greatest lyrics - had to be in good working in order to cope with the demand. Sweeney is, beyond everything, a team effort but so outstanding were some of the performers that it would wrong not to mention them individually. And if Cydney Wood, who played Mrs Lovett, the maker of 'The Worst Pies in London' who unrealistically dreams of a new life with Todd 'Beside The Sea' - wonderful versions of two very amusing songs - but cannot see that her adoration is not reciprocated by a man solely bent on revenge, does not get to the very top if musical theatre is her choice of career, it will come as a great disappointment. This is an 18-year-old who can act, sing, make us laugh and cry, the lot, all with perfect timing, an actress totally at home on a stage, and I look forward to see her name up in West End light one day. Thomas, also 18 and with a rich, sonorous voice you could hear in the gods at the Albert Hall never mind Rydens, had the juicy main part and got every bit of blood out of it; little Lottie Andrews gave us as good a 'Green Finch and Linnet Bird' as you would hear anywhere as a petite and pretty Johanna; Matt Cross aged himself very well with walk and attitude; Jack Pearson as the fraud Pirelli had a great time with his cockney as well as pseudo-Italian accent; and Matt Fry, as love-smitten Anthony, Jamie Cruttenden, as Tobias, and Jon Baines, as Beadle Bamford, all sang with great conviction and power. Special mention to Carole Andrew for astonishing attention to detail with the costumes. And an even more special one to Lloyd Wilson, Tom Coombs, Reuben Cain and Mike Serrato for an ingenious multi-level set that many a professional company would have killed for. All in all, bl**dy marvellous - a most appropriate use of that expletive given the circumstances. Pass Grade 5 Theory If you have passed grade 5 for your instrument with ABRSM, you will know that to continue to the higher grades, you will need to pass grade 5 theory or practical musicianship. Grade 5 theory is nothing to be scared or worried about, even if you haven't taken theory lessons before, and this book really does take you through every step of the way in an easy to understand way. Recommendation * * * * * click on the picture to purchase the book from Brittens Music |
AuthorRob Stafford Music. Archives
June 2022
Categories |