Festival Music
Simon Keenlyside and Friends
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
Martin Kershaw
four Stars
IN these desperate times when mainstream politicians actually look to exploit xenophobia for their own advancement, we might point to the Great American Songbook as a glowing example of how immigration can not only benefit, but even create part of a nation’s culture. Kurt Weill, Emmerich Kalman, Irving Berlin, Frederick Loewe and other giants of Broadway were all born outside the US (or came from immigrant families) and contributed immensely to their adopted country’s musical heritage.
Baritone Simon Keenlyside was keen to highlight the importance of this immigrant influence in his selection of songs from Broadway and Hollywood musicals, and seemed completely at home in the idiom in spite of being better known and celebrated for his operatic work. His phrasing and timing in particular were beautifully judged, combining powerfully with a rich tone and wide expressive dynamic range, and there was just enough of the theatrical about his performance to remind us of the music’s origins.
An all-star backing band (many of whom were derived from the renowned John Wilson Orchestra) provided the ideal accompaniment, superbly complementing Keenlyside’s vocals. Under pianist Matthew Regan’s confident direction they rendered the slick arrangements with great poise and authority, as well as good humour (the combination of Neal Hefti’s Lil’ Darlin’ with Gershwin’s Our Love Is Here To Stay was particularly witty), and there was plenty of scope for Howard McGill on woodwinds and trombonist Gordon Campbell to stretch out on the instrumental numbers. It all added up to a very enjoyable and entertaining concert, and a fitting tribute to the enduring power of timeless melodies that have inspired generations of musicians and audiences alike.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here