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The electric-piano led country rock of opener ‘Elijah’ sounded like Siouxsie Sioux backed by the famous Muscle Shoals house band. The late night sound fitted this midnight show perfectly and, fuelled by a fish and chips supper, the backing band gave us a rocking set that was a fitting end to this expertly-crafted bill. A family affair, with Dad on mandolin and hubby on guitar, the biggest cheer was for ‘The Rifle’ which she performed alone. The closing number ‘Heartless Highway’, with its unusual 5/4 time signature was a lovely end to a classy Great Escape.

Pavilion Theatre, Brighton Dome, 14 May
Rating:
Steve Clements

This extraordinary young pianist manages to combine an almost clinical precision in his playing with a powerful poetry. Opening with Beethoven’s Waldstein he conjured from the keyboard a lush orchestral sound that filled the opera house. The following Brahms Ballades op.10 was lighter but no less impressive. After an interval he came back with Six Little Piano Pieces by Schoenberg that made me want to hear more. The final piece, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C minor, was a tour de force of technical skill but once again he balanced this with an impressively moving performance where the intricate complexities of the variations did not overpower the emotional power of the music. Two encores, a whisper of a piece by a Hungarian composer where he gently stroked the haunting music from the keys was followed by a roaring Chopin Waltz. Six courses of deliciously satisfying music.

Glyndebourne Opera House, 15 May
Rating:
Andrew Kay

It was a packed house for Arthur Miller’s play about social responsibility versus business, and by the end there were few dry eyes. Director James Newton and his cast were true to the script as the residents of a community on the outskirts of an American town who have lived through a scandal. The company were well-cast; in particular, Tim Blisset who gave a wonderful and sinister performance as the lovable, all-American patriarch whose shady past is closing in. His fragile wife, played by Lyn Fernee, looked as though she might snap in two at any minute and the final member of the Keller family, in a charming performance given by Matthew Lawson, poured his heart out as the show’s social conscience. His apple-pie fiancée, played by Emily Gallichan, was so natural that I didn’t notice she was acting. I left the theatre with a lump in my throat.

New Venture Theatre, 15 May
Rating:
Matt Robinson

In the cool beauty of St Batholomew’s the Purcell Singers performed a series of stunningly beautiful works that had the packed church rapt. Allegri’s Miserere seldom fails to win over an audience and the Tallis 40 part motet is breathtaking in its complexity and its simplicity. But the highlights for me were Gorecki’s Touts Tuus with its spectacular opening ‘Maria’ and Arvo Part’s Magnificat. Hearing such works in a space like St Bart’s qualifies why these composers are getting such popular acclaim. The Purcell singers were a hair’s breadth from faultless in their performance, filling the room with sound when singing both sotto voce and in full voice. A rich evening of glorious music.

St Bartholomew’s Church, 13 May
Rating:
Andrew Kay