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Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of cold Sunday afternoons sitting curled up in front of a roaring coal fire watching an old Hollywood Musical on the television. Or of listening to recordings of shows being played on an old turntable as Mum tried to relieve the monotony of ironing with good old show tunes. You could say that the likes of Deanna Durban, Shirley Jones, Julie Andrews, Marni Nixon etc., etc. were my first singing teachers as I spent ages trying to sound like them while I copied their songs.
I still adore musicals and love to perform favourite selections in concert or to play full roles on the stage.
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1957), scored by Gene De Paul and Johnny Mercer is one of the shows which I heard on a recording long before I ever saw it on screen. I knew every word of every song and sang along with all the parts - even the mens’ parts!
When I did finally get to see the film I wasn't disappointed. It was beautifully photographed, had some fabulous choreography and the singing was divine. Wonderful, Wonderful Day is a deliriously happy song, full of optimism and makes a great curtain raiser to a musical evening.
My first introduction to Kismet((1953) as a complete show was at a production by the Dumfries Musical and Operatic Society. It was a fabulous production and the singing of the leading lady was so beautiful that I almost gave up singing there and then because I thought I would never be able to sing so well. I have since performed with that very leading lady on several occasions and she has remained one of my favourite singers and an inspiration to me. The music of Kismet was adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest from various themes by the Russian composer Alexander Borodin. And This Is My Beloved is taken from the second movement of Borodin's String Quartet in D.
My Fair Lady must rank among the top five in anyone's favourite musicals. It has a great story based on an original by George Bernard Shaw, has superb songs by Alan J Lerner and Frederick Loewe and the film version has the most sumptuous costumes a girl could ever want to wear. I Could Have Danced All Night is one of the productions numerous "showstoppers".
Show songs have always featured heavily in concerts I have performed throughout the region from
Langholm to Portpatrick with frequent performances at Moffat in between, particularly as a guest of the Upper Annandale Dramatic Society Choir.
Art is Calling For Me from Victor Herbert's The Enchantress ( 1911) is a fabulous comedic piece which makes a great encore to any concert but it is a fitting song here to introduce a section of operetta and opera, expressing as it does the wish to be a “Prima Donna.” I have performed this song often at concerts in the region and even as part of my Higher Music exam which I sat as a mature student at Annan Academy, but my most abiding memory is of a performance at a wonderful student concert given whilst at Napier University - a concert organised by the producer of this album, Sheila Graham, who herself gave a handful of memorable performances on that day!
Franz Lehar's Merry Widow(1905) is a frothy Viennese Operetta full of singable tunes. Vilja is supposed to be a folk song from the "Widow's" homeland of Pontivedro. I often sing this as a solo with the Dolce Divas, an all girl, close harmony group with which I perform regularly and have also performed it at Barjarg Tower, a favourite venue of mine where the warmth and friendliness of the hosts always make concerts there an event to remember for performers and audiences alike.
I have been a fan of the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan for many years and at one time toured the region with a group of fellow G & S enthusiast from the Dumfries Musical and Operatic Society. One of my favourite solos was A Simple Sailor - Josephine's aria from HMS Pinafore(1878).
Of all the musical genres performed on this album my favourite has to be Opera. Whilst raised on Musical Theatre, the world of opera seemed to be a natural progression as I explored the boundaries of my vocal abilities. Mozart is a particular favourite of mine and a long held ambition was realised when I performed Dove Sono from Le Nozze De Figaro (Mozart 1786) with the local orchestra the Solway Sinfonia. I have performed this piece on many other occasions but there is something magical about performing with an orchestra and that first performance in the Lohside Theatre in Castle Douglas followed by the subsequent concert in Lockerbie Town Hall are the ones which will stay with me. In the opera the aria is sung by Rosina, who is contemplating the sorry state of her currently somewhat troubled marriage to the seemingly unfaithful Count Almaviva.
Pucinni's comic opera, Gianni Schicchi (1918) has one of the most popular arias in the operatic repertoire in O Mio Babbino Caro. The aria is sung by Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi’s daughter who knows just how to wrap her father round her little finger in order to get his consent to her marriage to her beloved Rinuccio.
I end the opera section with another long held Mozartian ambition. The role of the Queen of the Night in Der Zauberflotte(1791) has the highest notes written in opera and I have always wanted to rise to the challenge of singing her second aria Der Hölle Rache. My producer Sheila Graham and my accompanist Rory Lucas egged me on to “go for it”. So this track is for me – my Florence Foster Jenkins moment!
The album finishes with the title track Queen Of The South - A Song of Dumfries. This is the town "anthem" which is performed every year at the local Guid Nychburris festival by a youngster from a local school. I didn’t get to sing it when I was at school but have since had the opportunity at a wedding of two enthusiasts of the festival. The music was written by who was an organist at St John's Church in Dumfries. I hope it will bring back happy memories, particularly to those Doonhamers now exiled from Dumfries - the town known as Queen of the South.
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