Toad Lane Concerts: Heather Buckmaster soprano and Joseph Buckmaster tenor & Tim Kennedy piano

Tim Kennedy, Heather Buckmaster and Joseph Buckmaster

Heather Buckmaster and Joseph Buckmaster treated the patrons at St Mary's to a recital and opera gala on Wednesday Wednesday 2 February.

Heather Buckmaster graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with First Class Honours and completed her master’s degree in Music Therapy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Heather has played numerous operatic roles and appeared as soloist in major choral works.

Joseph Buckmaster was born in Chester and became a Chorister and Lay Clerk at Chester Cathedral, where Heather and he were married last May. Following study at the RNCM and the Royal Academy of Music in London he is currently a freelancer and a chorus member of the Royal Opera House and English National Opera.

They were skillfully supported by Tim Kennedy at the piano. A Cambridge music graduate, he is now based in Manchester as a piano accompanist, professional singer, vocal coach and organist. He is a staff repetiteur at the RNCM.

Brindisi (Drinking song) fromVerdi’s La Traviata was a great curtain raiser establishing an opera gala atmosphere. Then followed individual arias, Joseph with E lucevan le stelle (And the stars were shining) from Puccini’s Tosca, and Heather Je Veux Vivre (I want to live) from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. All beutifully sung with oodles of character.

Then Joseph’s rendering of the cycle Quattro canzoni d'Amaranta (Four songs of Amaranta) by Tosti explored more of the expressive capabilities of his Romantic tenor voice.

Similalry, Heather’s Fiançailles pour rire (Light-hearted betrothal) cycle by Poulenc, was a sophisticated and beguiling set of French chanson sung with sensitivity and controlled passion.

Of course, with such talented soprano and tenor soloists, the climax had to be the closing scene of Act One from Puccini’s La Boheme, complete with off-stage top Cs. The tumultuous appaluse demanded an encore and The Song that goes like this - from Spamalot provided that, where they showed even broader musical theatre skills.

This talented pair of rising stars made a tremendous impact.

The award-winning Toad Lane Concerts are every Wednesday at 12.30pm at St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. No refreshments available at the moment, but the venue is Covid-19 compliant. Contact 01706 648872 for further information.

To see the February & March 2022 programme, click here.

Dr Joe Dawson