Toad Lane Concerts: Angela Rowley soprano and Tim Kennedy piano

Angela Rowley and Tim Kennedy piano

The second heatwave of the summer made St Mary in the Baum a wonderfully cool setting on Wednesday 10 August for a recital by two stylish performers entitled ‘Light and pleasant’.

Soprano Angela Rowley is a graduate in German who, after a career in teaching began solo singing, gaining an ARCM diploma. She performs extensively in concert and oratorio and is a festival adjudicator. She also conducts Eccles Community Choir and is musical director of the massed choir, Harmony ’96.

Tim Kennedy studied music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and is now based in Manchester as a piano accompanist, professional singer, vocal coach, and organist. He is a staff repetiteur at the RNCM, accompanies musicians at Manchester University and for auditions for the National Youth Choir. He is the rehearsal pianist for the Tatton Singers and Unlimited Voices and works regularly as an official festival accompanist.

The audience appreciated the peaceful ambience away from the scorching sun and was treated to a fascinating collection of songs ranging from Mendelssohn and Samuel Barber; the well-known, haunting Bailero arranged by Canteloube was contrasted with Silent Worship by Handel.

Grand opera with Rusalka’s Song to the Moon by Dvořák was followed by songs in foreign languages with works by Richard Strauss, Duparc, Reynaldo Hahn and Robert Schumann and unequivocally English composers Peter Warlock, Michael Head and Roger Quilter.

The world of operetta was represented by Ivor Novello, and the famous Vilia by Franz Léhar, before a relaxing finale in Can’t help lovin’ dat Man by Jerome Kern.

This was an enjoyable wide-ranging exhibition of song styles from Angela, supported by sensitive and expressive accompaniments from Tim. ‘Light’ belies the challenge of some songs, but ‘pleasant’ it certainly was.

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

To see details of forthcoming Toad Lane Concerts, click here.

Dr Joe Dawson