Aspidistra
Drawing Room Orchestra
Spring 2026 Concert at Highgate
May 4th 2026
This year’s
concert at Lauderdale House, on
the edge of Waterlow Park on
Highgate Hill, North London,
incorporated two changes from
previous years. Because the venue
was unavailable for the usual
Spring Bank Holiday Monday at the
end of May, the event took place
at the beginning of the month, on
May 4th – the May Day
Weekend.
A couple of the
ADRO’s usual
instrumentalists were, as a
result, unable to take part, and
their places were very ably taken
by flautist Emma Brown, who is
the principal flute for the Alba
Sinfonia Orchestra and Michael
Whittaker, who leads the violas
in the Barnet Symphony Orchestra
– two ensembles which are
established in the North London
area.
The remainder of
the players were all
‘regulars’ : -
Liz Menezes, lead violin and
soprano soloist
Kate Clarke, violin
Kate Rattenbury, cello
Rosi Ward, piano
Camilla Cutts, mezzo soloist
Adam Bakker, Oboe / Cor Anglais,
who is the Orchestra’s
Musical Director and also creates
many of the arrangements.
As is customary,
the programme contained a mixture
of pieces which are, these days,
unlikely to be performed
elsewhere and in many cases were
making their first appearance at
an ADRO concert.
The first half
began with a paso doble – Amparito
Roca – by Jaime
Texidor, [1884-1957]. This was
followed by Because, by
Jacob Gade, [1879-1963], the
Danish composer best known for
his world-famous tango Jealousy.
We next heard Moomin,
by the Canadian-born Robert
Farnon, [1917-2005]. The Moomins
were a family of fairytale troll
characters created by the Finnish
writer and illustrator Tove
Jansson; they appeared in books
and cartoon strips in forty
countries, including the London
Evening News from around 1954.
A foxtrot by the
American Harry Warren
[1893-1981], The Gold
Diggers’ Song was next
on the list, and this was
followed by an andantino, Moonlight
Melody, by the Scottish-born
Fred Hartley [1905-1980]; in
addition to being a very skilled
composer and arranger, he is
notable for having been – at
one-time – head of Light
Music at the BBC, in the days
when the Corporation actually ran
a very active department devoted
to this genre !
Liz Menezes then
treated us to a humorous song she
has recently written entitled I
Got A Lot Of Buttons.
Works of
Hungarian-born British-domiciled
composer Matyas Seiber
[1905-1960] have previously
appeared in ADRO’s concerts,
and this time we heard his
presto-piece, Galop
Chromatique.
Seiber’s
fellow Hungarian Sigmund Romberg
[1887-1951] – who made a
huge contribution to the American
world of Musical Theatre in the
1920s and 30s – was featured
in a duet by Liz Menezes and
Camilla Cutts, When I Grow
Too Old To Dream, originally
from the 1935 film The Night
Is Young. The lyrics were by
Oscar Hammerstein ll.
Part One of the
proceedings ended with the
cakewalk Hunky Dory, by
the American composer Abe
Holzmann [1874-1939], whose
principal claim to fame is his
march Blaze Away. Holzmann was
the son of yet another immigrant
from Hungary; his main livelihood
was earned as composer / arranger
for a number of Tin Pan Alley
music publishers in New York.
Suitably
refreshed, we settled down for
Part Two, which commenced with
the allegro piece Da Capo
by Georges Boulanger [born
Gheorghe Pantazil, 1893-1958],
who was descended from a long
line of Romanian gypsy musicians,
and was himself a violinist,
conductor and composer.
Gustave Michiels
[1845-1911], hailed from Belgium,
and next we enjoyed his
composition – andante non
troppo – Bohèmia
Czardas.
Liz and Camilla
then performed another duet, this
time their comedy song At The
Codfish Ball, by Lew Pollack
[1895-1946]; this was originally
featured in a 1938 film Captain
January, which starred the
eight-year old [!] Shirley
Temple.
The American-born
Theo Bendix [1862-1935] was a
prominent classical violinist,
composer and opera conductor; he
is remembered as Musical Director
for New York Broadway and London
stage productions. His
‘characteristic piece’ The
Butterfly forms part of a
large canon of compositions which
include popular parlour, salon,
and theatre music.
A
‘swung’ piece was next
on the list – That
Baboon Baby Dance by Joe
Cooper [fl.1912]. Another foxtrot
followed, this time Die
Lustige Fiedel, [The
Merry Fiddle] by Rudi
Rischbeck [1903-1988].
Liz and Camilla
then gave us another song, this
time from the 1948 film Easter
Parade by Irving Berlin
[1888-1989] – A Fella
With An Umbrella.
The orchestra
followed this with Fox-Intermezzo
by Helmut Zacharias [1920-2002].
The last
‘billed’ number was the
famous WW2 song Beer Barrel
Polka [‘Roll Out
The Barrel’] by the
Czech composer Jaromir Vejvoda
[1902-1988] .
After much
applause and many shouts for
‘more’, the orchestra
and vocalists duly obliged and
finished the afternoon with an
encore – Buttons And
Bows, from the 1948 film Paleface,
composed by Jay Livingston,
[1915-2001], who specialised in
film scores and film soundtrack
songs.
The performances
were well up to the usual very
high standard we have come to
expect from the ADRO, who not
only play and sing admirably, but
seem to enjoy every minute of it
– as indeed did the
appreciative audience !
© Tony
Clayden
May 2026
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