The document summarizes a recital by pianist Alicia Chaffey who gave a sensational performance of works by Chopin, Ravel, Liszt, and Prokoviev at St. Mary's Church in Weymouth. It describes her superb technique and expressive playing. The next concert in the Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concert series on December 18 will feature Freddie Fox, Sarah Poole, Duncan Honeybourne and instrumentalists celebrating a Wessex Christmas.

1. 1188 Later music 23.11.13@echo24seven
EXHIBITIONS
Alicia Chaffey recital
St Mary’s Church, Weymouth
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Sensational
performance
ALICIA Chaffey, a pianist
still young enough to be a
third-year student at the
Royal Holloway University of
London, gave a sensational
programme at the Weymouth
Lunchtime Chamber Concert
series.
Her first three works were
all by romantic composers –
Chopin, Ravel, and Liszt.
Chopin’s Ballades are
always favourites and Alicia
played No. 3 in A flat. Liszt’s
Italie, from Années de
Pelérinage, is gentler than
some of this composer’s
works. However, all three
pieces were full of rippling
runs and repeated octaves.
But Alicia is not just a
superb virtuoso technician.
Her playing is expressive, and
was particularly so in Ravel’s
Jeux d’Eau. You could almost
see and hear the fountains.
Alicia’s final piece was the
most fiendishly difficult of all
– Prokoviev’s four-movement
Sonata no.2 in D minor, Opus
14 (1912). Alicia coped
brilliantly. I expect to hear
more of Alicia Chaffey.
The next Weymouth
Lunchtime Concert will be on
December 18. Freddie Fox,
Sarah Poole, Duncan
Honeybourne and
instrumentalists will
celebrate a Wessex
Christmas.
JANET FERRETT
RAVERS young and old had much to
celebrate as The Orb brought their
25th anniversary tour to Bridport.
The ambient house pioneers have
been exploring the stratosphere since
1988, and tonight they again hit the
heights with a joyous blend of timeless
tunes, irreverent samples and surreal
visuals.
From the off they’re in complete
control, allowing opener Spanish
Castles In Space’s celestial synth
washes to ebb and flow for nearly 15
minutes before a beat finally kicks in.
For the next two hours, they produce
an immersive set that sees huge peaks
being tempered with mellower, reggae-
infused grooves.
Never content to stand still, they
take their back catalogue and remould
it, shooting slabs of dub bass and
electro throb through classics like The
Blue Room, Towers of Dub and UF
Orb.
These hard edges give their material
a directness that keeps the music
exciting and offers the dance floor
plenty to work with.
And in a final flurry, Little Fluffy
Clouds is reborn with a techno bounce
that takes the song into a euphoric
new orbit, showing they’ve learnt a
thing or two about subtlety and
dynamics over the decades.
Come the end of a triumphant show,
it’s clear The Orb still have a lot to
offer. Here’s to the next quarter
century.
TOM DUNICAN
THERE’S a treat in store for lovers
of quality choral music as West
Dorset choir Cantamus announces
details of its three concerts for the
coming advent season.
The group – which has been
described as “a musicians’ choir” –
has been performing for two years
and is gaining a reputation for its
varied repertoire and quality of
tone. Musical director Malcolm
Knowles compiles concert
programmes with an expert hand,
mixing early music that’s unusual
but accessible to modern audiences
with beautiful folk songs and
contemporary pieces.
This season’s programme,
Videntes Stellam: Music for
Christmastide, is no exception. The
haunting ‘Quid Petis O Fili’ by the
English Renaissance composer
Richard Pygott precedes an
arrangement of ‘The Holly and the
Ivy’ by Walford Davies, and two
Poulenc motets provide an effective
contrast to the calypso-style ‘Mother
Mary’. There will also be music for
organ solo.
The concert dates are St Swithun’s
Church, Bridport on Saturday,
November 30, Chideock Martyrs
Church on Thursday, December 12
at 7pm and Loders Parish Church on
Saturday, December 14 at 6pm.
Tickets are £8 and are available on
the door. Tickets for the Chideock
concert are also available by calling
01308 488348 in advance. For more
details visit cantamus-dorset.org
Choral group plans trio of concerts
The Orb
Electric Palace, Bridport
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The Orb proving
they’ve still got it
FULL HOUSE:
The Orb at the
Electric Palace
Singers head
for church
THE Beaminster Singers’ next
concert in St Mary's Church on
Saturday November 23 has a
varied programme ranging
from the fiery Mediterranean
Baroque of Alessandro
Scarlatti to the cooler English
simplicity of Arnold Bax.
The Scarlatti piece is one of
his settings of the Vespers
psalm, Dixit Dominus: this one
for four-part choir and four
soloists. The Arnold Bax is a C
chamber work of great charm
for choir, cello, double bass and
harp: a setting of the medieval
Christmas carol “Of a rose I
sing a song”.
Flanking these two items will
be a second setting of the mass,
this one by Mozart. The final
work is the romantic Messe
Solennelle de Sainte Cécile.
Vocal soloists are Abbi
Temple, Adriana Festeu,
Martin Hindmarsh and Martin
Robson. Daniel de Fry will be
the harpist.
Tickets are available in
advance at the Church Office,
Hogshill Street, Beaminster or
online at beaminstersingers.org