St Michael's Church, Dalston

There was an excellent turn-out for Dalston Male Voice Choir’s annual summer concert in St. Michael’s Church, Dalston. The audience was treated to some fine choral singing under the assured baton of musical director, Michael Deakin and first-rate accompaniments from Lorraine Gash.

Some old favourites (notably ‘I’m Gonna Walk’, ‘The Rose’, Speed Your Journey’, and ‘Softly as I Leave You’) scattered throughout a varied programme were sung with customary aplomb: but regardless of genre the harmonies were tight and well-balanced, the dynamic range suitably broad and diction extremely clear. The choir’s reputation for producing flowing legato lines which show off their excellent breath control remains untarnished!

The guest soloist was Alissa Moore, a promising young singer. Ably accompanied by Michael Deakin, she sang two Alexander L’Estrange songs, later followed by three songs from the musicals. Alissa has a very clear, well-focused voice, with a particularly delightful quality in the upper register. Her final piece was ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, and here we saw a blossoming ability to engage with her audience.

David Wood, as announcer, provided succinct guidance throughout an evening which appropriately began with ‘It’s a Grand Night for Singing’. In the first half we heard two Welsh hymns, ‘O Jesu Mawr’ and ‘Gwahoddiad’, sung a cappella. These were pitch-perfect and very moving - even if we did not understand the Welsh words!

Careful articulation was a strong feature in the rhythmic interpretations of ‘Give me that Old Time Religion’, ‘Stout-Hearted Men’ and ‘Rhythm of Life’. In the latter, the choir’s confident performance made this tricky piece sound almost simple. In contrast to the livelier pieces the choir showed themselves to be adept at capturing the essence of more gentle ones, such as ‘Be Still my Soul’, ‘Water of Tyne' and ‘She’. The mellifluous tone produced in ‘Lily of theValley’ totally enchanted the audience.

An excellent evening’s entertainment drew to a close with a tenderly-sung encore, ‘Softly as I Leave You’. We were certainly all left wanting more.