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A star-making UK debut from Irish tenor Emmet Cahill and an imposing venue make this festive charity concert one to remember. Summary
Rating
Excellent
Stoic Wesleyan Methodists are not generally known for architectural extravagance. However, their propensity for old-school Christian understatement seems to have been forgotten during the Edwardian period when Edwin Alfred Rickards and Henry Vaughan Lanchester designed their Westminster Central Hall. It makes for a spectacular concert venue, in the shadow of Westminster Abbey and The Houses of Parliament. Marble columns and a sweeping staircase lead to a 2,000-capacity hall with a domed ceiling, Albert Hall-esque acoustics, and imposing organ pipes. It all adds to the sense of occasion. And was this year’s Full Tone Orchestra’s Christmas Concert an occasion? It’s a fair question. There are literally thousands of festive concerts in London to choose from every year. Did I pick the right one this time round? Had I struck lucky? Oh yes. I should say so. With bells on.
It’s not an overly formal evening, and music snobs might sniff at some of the choices. The Greatest Showman tends to divide the room. Lloyd-Webber featured quite heavily, and an orchestral version of John and Yoko’s ‘Happy Christmas (War is Over)’ might have raised an eyebrow or two. However, what do you want this time of year if not a selection box? Frankly, why shouldn’t Home Alone and Polar Express scores sit in the same programme as Puccini and ‘The Carol of The Bells’? It’s Christmas. Live a little.
It takes a lot to outshine a soprano, but it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, of the night’s two vocalists, Emmet Cahill stole the show, performing in London for the first time. He tells us, between songs, that he has been touring the USA for many years, and I assume tenors get plenty of work out there. It’s the only reason, surely, that he’s only just reached our shores. I suspect we’ll see a lot more of him, such is his prodigious talent and easy, crowd-pleasing bon-homie. He switches between musical theatre, power ballads and Christmas crooning with ease. My favourite moments were jazzy when the orchestra’s strong brass section backed his voice.
It might seem out of keeping with the festive mood to single out Emmet above his co-star, superb classical BRIT nominee Camilla Kerslake, but I’ve said nothing she didn’t say herself when praising her colleague from the stage. She clearly knows talent when she sees it. The two of them made for a fun double act. Kerslake’s audience banter is charmingly self-deprecating. She describes herself matter-of-factly, early on, as ‘the bird who sings’ Oh but sing she does, making me rethink The Snowman’s ‘Walking in the Air’ entirely, for example, transforming it from a familiar choir boy standard into a new soaring operatic tour-de-force.
This feeling applies throughout the concert. So there are familiar favourites, but they come repackaged and reimagined, new and fresh, and all the better for it. I admit that, yes, despite my Grinch-like tendencies, festive emotions did get the better of me on a couple of occasions. The fact that the whole event was a fundraiser for Mind, the excellent mental health charity, is the icing on the Christmas cake.
Conductor & Musical Director: Anthony Brown
Choir: Cantiamo
Lighting & Sound: Patch Productions
Full Tone Orchestra’s Christmas Concert will return next year. You can read about their other 2025 performances here and donate to Mind through their website here.
