Aspidistra Drawing Room Orchestra
Spring Concert May 26th 2025

Another year has simply flown by and so it was time once again for many of us 'regulars' – plus a good helping of 'new recruits' – to make our way up Highgate Hill to Lauderdale House, for the ADRO's annual May Bank Holiday Concert.

One of the most attractive features of these gatherings is the sheer variety of the pieces performed, many of which are the works of little-known – and often rather obscure – composers whose works seldom, if ever, receive exposure other than by this group.

This year, the bulk of the pieces were 'new' – i.e. they were being introduced for the first time at an ADRO Concert.

There were, of course, exceptions; a Jerome Kern song, 'Who ?' is very well-known, as is 'Dardanella' by one Felix Bernard. We heard some lesser-known tunes by three British Light Music composers Haydn Wood, Clive Richardson and Eric Jupp and a couple of fairly familiar songs, 'Drifting And Dreaming' [Egbert van Alstyne] and 'Way Down Yonder In New Orleans' [John Turner Layton].

The Hungarian composer Matyas Seiber was privileged to have no less than three of his compositions featured, including a 'Dancing Teddy Bear' !

In order to mark the recent 80th anniversary of VE Day, marking the cessation of hostilities in Europe in WW2, the audience were invited to join the singers and orchestra in a rousing performance of Ross Parker's famous number 'We'll Meet Again', to conclude the event.

As always, the ADRO performed faultlessly and the attendees had a most enjoyable afternoon, listening to some wonderful music which – sadly – is almost impossible to be heard anywhere else these days.

Let us hope that many of us 'will meet again' in 2026 for another great concert by the Aspidistra Drawing Room Orchestra.

© Tony Clayden May 2025