Yellow flowers spilled across the front of the Phil’s stage and appeared on the lapel of every choral singer and a good proportion of the audience for this St David’s Day celebration.
Despite being a Jones, there isn’t a drop of Welsh blood in my veins but it was impossible not to admire the pride of the city’s Welsh community which arrived in Liverpool long before the Irish.
The Welsh Choral Union and RLPO were joined by singer, dancer and presenter - and professional Welshman - Aled Jones for the evening of bilingual celebration.
The first half included two uplifting pieces by 20th century Welsh composer William Mathias, the Phil presenting a crisp and perky Festival Overture and the Welsh Choral Union showing confidence and excellent diction in the anthem Let The People Praise Thee, O God.
The Union, under the baton on Keith Orrell, were at their best when generating a rich wall of sound, particularly in extracts from Borodin’s Prince Igor.
They were joined in both halves by Jones who has matured from ruffle-wearing choirboy to personable showman.
In fact, he’s forged such a broad entertainment career with Strictly Come Dancing, his Radio 2 show and learning to drum for TV, it’s sometimes easy to forget he’s a Royal Academy Of Music-trained baritone of some talent.
He married the two together with easy on-stage banter, telling anecdotes about a teenage meeting with Welsh composer Mathias, and an encounter at the microphone with the Phil’s resident spider.
Among the eight numbers he performed were the pleasant, if not earth shattering, Suo Gan, David Of The White Rock and Bugelio’r Gwennith Gwyn - accompanied by mic-ed up guitar and harp, and a storming All Through The Night and How Great Thou Art.
A rendition of the Bread (as in Sound of rather than Nelly Boswell) classic If was a little too classical.
But in a powerful finale Jones, the chorus and Phil joined in a rousing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau which brought the entire hall to its feet and with demands for an encore that were not to be denied.
Rating: 8/10Keeping up with the Joneses
Source: Liverpool Echo
