The buzz is back for Aled, tenor of many talents
MY pal Aled Hall, the popular west Wales tenor, has a bigger smile than is usual this week after making his first ‘stage’ appearance in seven months.
The pandemic has decimated Aled’s concert diary, but the ‘have suitcase, will travel’ operatic tenor was back on the road to appear in Pagliacci in London.
“It was great to get that buzz back again,” said Aled, 52, known to many as one-third of Tri Tenor Cymru (The Welsh Three Tenors) – and at this point you will note that I have resisted any temptation to comment that his nickname among many fans of ‘tenors’ is ‘£3.33 and a bit’!
St James’ Church in Islington was the venue for Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Italian opera, with Aled Hall playing the role of Beppe.
The review in The Stage magazine was brief but very complimentary – “Aled Hall excels as Beppe – needing no more than a reversed baseball cap to support his comic persona.”
It was an interesting performance, with the cast and production staff all having to ‘muck in’ and stage the
production in record time.
It was all done with social-distancing rules observed.
“If we sang to each other, for example, we made sure we were at least three metres away to stay within the rules and advice.”
At one stage, the stage directions needed a tweak. Aled smiled: “Pagliacci does get a bit ‘stabby’ but you cannot get that close to each other in
today’s coronavirus world. And, so, we substituted a gun for a knife. And guess who was in charge of the bangs for the gun? Yes, me, with a couple of bits of wood!”
We should all have worked that one out as Aled is something of a jack of all trades. He could quite easily make a second career for himself as a comedian.
And now, during rural lockdown, he’s discovered another talent – for taking great photographs.
Aled’s sunsets and dawns, and views of ponies and cattle on Llanllwni Mountain, have been earning rave reviews on social media.
There’s a couple of examples here. ‘Chwarae teg’ (Fair play), he’s taken some ‘beauts’ during lockdown.
To check the latest, go to his Twitter feed @Aledhall