Supporters of the Arts in Petersfield really don’t know how lucky they are, with a non-stop stream of concerts, musicals, plays and exhibitions involving a happy mix of amateur and professional talent. For many, I suppose the highlight of the year has to be the Petersfield Musical Festival, now more than a hundred years old. It was founded to encourage singing and the two choral concerts are still the highlights of the week, never more so than this year, with Handel’s Belshazzar and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. The former had never been heard in Petersfield before, and was a triumph for all concerned, especially the conductor, Nicholas Wilks, who showed that oratorio can be made just as dramatic as any opera.

And on the subject of choral singing, Ann Pinhey’s Petersfield Chamber Choir introduced us to the tintinabuli of the contemporary Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, in the form of his Berliner Messe, at their Passiontide Concert, and more recently to Janácek’s extrovert setting of the Lord’s Prayer, sung in Czech. Both enterprises were rewarded with capacity audiences at St. Peter’s Church.

Of the Southern Orchestral Concert Society’s Concerts two stand out. The Hampshire County Youth Orchestra, also conducted by Nicholas Wilks, amazed us with its glowing account of Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben - who could have thought that we would ever hear that enormous score in Petersfield? At the other end of the scale the Primavera Chamber Ensemble gave us a magnificent concert at the Olivier Theatre, including a spell-binding performance of Mozart’s String Quintet in C.

Other memorable events at Bedales included piano recitals by Martino Tirimo and Nicholas Walker, the latter especially impressive in Balakirev’s B minor Piano Sonata, and Thomas Carroll’s mesmeric performance of Kodaly’s unaccompanied Cello Sonata.

Petersfield Orchestra, under its new conductor Robin Browning, has rediscovered its audience and more importantly shown a new-found authority in its playing. Its autumn concert featuring Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Dvorak’s Symphony No 8 showed just how far it has come in the past few months, with several new young players among its ranks.

Turning to musical theatre it goes without saying that the Hi-Lights, the Operatic Society and the Petersfield Youth Theatre all enhanced their reputations. Lionel Bart’s Blitz may not be the greatest of musicals, but it revived proud memories of the past, and provided a fine vehicle for Amanda Morris as Mrs Blitzstein. Roger Wettone’s production of the Pirates of Penzance brought new life and a sea of new faces to Gilbert and Sullivan’s old favourite, whilst with Guys and Dolls, the Youth Theatre for once had a show worthy of its exceptional talents. Nik Ashton’s staging, as always, was the equal of almost anything in the West End. The Festival Hall saw the Winton Players and the Lion and Unicorn Players in both serious drama and farce. The superb staging of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca by the former and A Man for All Seasons by the latter proved conclusively that even the best amateurs are not naturally suited to farce, amusing though Mrs Markham and the Farndale Ladies often were.

The tensions at Manderley, however, were beautifully conveyed by John Whittaker, Justine Jenner and Vivien Pike, whilst A Man for All Seasons was dominated by compelling performances from Simon Mackarness and David Wynn.
Back at the Olivier Theatre we had Guy Masterson’s unforgettable presentation of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, fresh from its triumph at the Edinburgh Festival.

The popular Jazz and the Folk and Blues concerts at the Olivier Theatre are hardly my territory, but the Bedales Gallery promoted exciting exhibitions of art and design throughout the year. Perhaps even more relevant was the success during the summer of the greatly enlarged Paint Week, in which local artists and craftsmen displayed their talents at more than forty venues in the town, and, of course, the annual Exhibition of the Petersfield Arts and Crafts Society at the Festival Hall.

Satisfying as it is to see large audiences at all these attractions, it is even more exciting to realise just how many people are actually taking part, whether singing, playing, acting or painting. By looking at all the successful outlets for these gifts one realises just how much talent there is in Petersfield. Finally, though, a Christmas turkey. Third Party’s off the wall production of Shakespeare’s Richard III, touring at the Olivier Theatre, fully lived up to its sub-title, “To Hell on a Handcart.” The audience voted with its feet!

Tom Muckley, December 2003

This article was originally published by the Petersfield Post

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