Ballet Nights, The New Year's Day Concert

"Originally, the two-hour shows mixed big names from major ballet companies with young hopefuls performing classical and contemporary pieces, each number preceded by a useful little spiel by Devernay-Laurence in the role of compere and each half of the evening opened with a piano piece played by Ballet Nights' resident pianist Viktor Erik Emanuel. However, as the name indicates, musical performance formed a large chunk of the New Year's Day Concert, and two operatic voices were among the highlights of a slightly up-and-down show."

"Quartet Concrete returned to open Part II, sawing away at their strings with the rather less pleasant, in fact nerve-shredding, Aheym' by composer Bryce Desner. They would play a reduction for string quartet of Largo al Factotum' from Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, accompanying the remarkable British-Irish baritone Patrick Alexander Keefe, whose big, glorious voice and comedic acting gave us a Figaro to cherish."

"Compered by Jamiel Devernay-Laurence in his usual ringmaster mode (useful as his information always is, I would welcome a slightly less bombastic style), The New Year's Day Concert opened with a piano quintet where Emanuel was joined by Ballet Nights partners Quartet Concrete in two movements from Dvorak's Piano Quintet No 2 Op 81'. It was a jaunty, mood-setting opening to the show."

Ballet Nights began just over two years ago and has grown and evolved into a format that increasingly foregrounds musical performance. The New Year's Day Concert at Cadogan Hall opened with a piano quintet by Viktor Erik Emanuel and Quartet Concrete, setting a jaunty mood. Quartet Concrete returned in Part II for Bryce Dessner's nerve-shredding Aheym and a string-quartet reduction of Rossini's Largo al Factotum, accompanying baritone Patrick Alexander Keefe in a memorable Figaro. Jamiel Devernay-Laurence compered in a ringmaster style. The programme included a Hindemith viola solo by Dominic Stokes and mixed musical and vocal highlights across an uneven evening.

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