The Blossom Street Singers present an eclectic selection. It ranges from a jazzy rendition of Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat to a surprising Bare Necessities, by way of Rutter and Stanford - a concert of satisfying, relaxing, well-performed music.

The well-presented ensemble of nine professional singers make a pitch-perfect start to their 45-minute a cappella set with Can’t Buy Me Love by The Beatles. It's an easily-accessible favourite which sets up their melodic sound and establishes the character of the afternoon. With almost no direction, the singers take their cues subtly from one another and present an assured, proficient image - obviously a well-rehearsed group. Miss Otis Regrets opens the door on a more interesting range of musical choices which fully showcase the quality of their sound.

Director Hillary Campbell occasionally hops up to the microphone in the cathedral pulpit to give a titbit of information as to the thinking behind the next selection of songs. Whilst not always heard in her haste to escape the microphone, the thought behind the selections, and the sensitivity of their arrangement becomes clear.

The high point is a group of Stanford songs - Beati Quorum Via, The Blue Bird, Coelos Ascendit Hodie – which perfectly suit the acoustics and feel of the building. For this the singers form into a more traditional choral format in order to take more direction. This lends the pieces a little more weight, and demonstrates the group's level-headedness in not avoiding the realities of performance: that when direction is needed, it is best to work this into the structure of the group and adapt accordingly. Rapt attention focused on the director in this section is borne out in the music. The singers are then able to resume a more relaxed format for the slightly less rigid pieces in a completely natural way.

The Blue Bird is the emotional highlight of the concert, with Claire McKenna's soprano solo from the back of the church forming a haunting counterpoint to the muted choir at the front. The only downside is that after hearing her lovely - but strong - voice let loose in solo form, it is a little difficult to re-integrate her back into the group. In quiet sections in particular her volume and vocal clarity are afterwards a little pronounced.

If further nit-picking must be done, time-keeping is occasionally a little wobbly - and the most glaring error is a marked lack of diction. The words really aren't that clear in a lot of the songs. To a certain extent this is attributable to an acoustically-difficult space, and the warm, rich sound the small ensemble create goes a long way towards negating a pernickety desire to hear more of the meaning behind the lovely noise. But it does become a little distracting, especially with a well-known song such as The Bare Necessities - there is no excuse for mumbling this one. These complaints are really only small fragments of discontented grumbling however, and the overall impression is of a simple yet consummate approach to a varied, well-balanced and enjoyable programme.

Performer Credits: (alpha order): Ed Bonner. Hilary Campbell. Caroline Firman. Chris Fish. Lina Johnsson. Claire McKenna (soprano, soloist on The Blue Bird). William Petter. Danny Standing. Helen Stanley.

Composer List: (includes, alpha order): Terry Gilkyson (1916-1999) - Bare Necessities. John Lennon (1940-1980) / Paul McCartney (1942-) - Can't Buy Me Love. Frank Loesser (1910-1969) - Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat. Cole Porter (1891-1964) - Miss Otis Regrets. John Milford Rutter (1945-). Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). Beati Quorum Via; The Blue Bird (words by Mary Coleridge (1861-1907)); Coelos Ascendit Hodie.

Company Credits: Director - Hilary Campbell. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer - uncredited. Company - The Blossom Street Singers. Website - www.blossomstreetsingers.com.

END

(c) Alex Matthews 2009

reviewed Tuesday 21 July 09 / Southwark Cathedral, London UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

www.fringereport.com