Llandeilo Fawr Festival of Music, July 14-21 Even the deer came to listen
HOWEVER beautiful the playing may have been, however breathtaking the virtuosity, however enchanting the sound of the human voice, even the most powerful impressions must slowly fade away.
Moments of ethereal beauty will fall victims to the passing of time and music-lovers who stood and applauded will have to be content with nothing more than precious memories.
There are so many of those memories: Sir Willard White walking down the aisle of St Teilo’s Church while singing ‘Ol Man River,’ Alexander Markov’s frightening virtuosity invoking comparisons with Paganini himself and the choral perfection of the John S Davies Singers. Could anything however surpass the sight of a herd of Dinefwr Park deer, congregating near the open windows of Newton House on a gloriously sunny July evening, and surely enjoying the exquisite sounds of the four guitarists playing within?
Soon it will be time for more memories to be fashioned, as the 18th annual festival gets under way with a return visit from the John S Davies Singers (Saturday, July 14).
The partnership which the festival has established with one of Britain’s most inspirational choral maestri has been an important one. The singers have few peers among the country’s leading professional choirs and their venture into Haydn this year, with a performance of his famous Imperial (or ‘Nelson’) Mass is already attracting considerable interest from lovers of choral music.
The Westward Chamber Orchestra will be led by Carl Darby, formerly of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and there will be a quartet of leading singers: Alys Mererid Roberts (soprano) Polly Leech (mezzo-soprano) Peter Wilman (tenor) and Philip Lancaster (baritone). This will surely be the perfect start to another musical feast.
The following day (Sunday, July 15) will see not only the annual Festival Service at St Teilo’s Church, at which the address will be given by the Archdeacon of Carmarthen (11am), but also the first-ever harp recital in the festival’s history.
It would be hard to think of a better setting for this than the library of the National Trust’s Newton House, nor a better soloist than former harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales, Hannah Stone. A National and International Eisteddfod winner, Hannah was also a major prizewinner at the Franz Joseph Reinl competition in Vienna and at the Camac Harp competition in London.
The festival then returns to St Teilo’s Church (Monday, July 16) for a recital by one of the world’s leading cellists, Natalie Clein. The former winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award will make her first visit to the festival, playing some of Bach’s glorious suites for unaccompanied cello as well as works by Bloch and Kodaly. The very thought of such an exquisite string sound, enhanced by the perfect acoustic in St Teilo’s, is really something to whet the appetite!
Next comes the short hop to Llandeilo’s famous Cawdor Hotel for the festival’s annual Jazz evening (Tuesday, July 17). Ladies of Jazz is described as a journey through the changing landscape and influence of some of the most wonderful female jazz vocalists of all time. That journey will be made by top jazz singer, Annette Gregory and her five-piece band and we can look forward to their renderings of immortal classics like Cry Me a River and What a Difference a Day Makes.
You can then return to St Teilo’s for a magical evening of chamber music on Wednesday, July 18. This will be given by members of the renowned Allegri Quartet, who will be joining forces with pianist Peter Donohoe and double-bass player Leon Bosch