The Côr Merched Cwm Llynfi came to Cómpeta on Friday 5th October.
And how wonderful it was !
Melody Music helps Welsh choirs to take holidays all around the world (at their own expense). Whilst on holiday, they do two concerts free of charge for local charities. Some of the choirs have been as far afield as Argentina and one is going to the Sydney Opera House soon! This time, however, they came to the Costa del Sol where they did a concert on behalf of Cudeca and a second for The Costa Animal Society.
They were very complimentary about the Salon de los Actos in the village.
This choir was founded in the 1980s and continues to grow from strength to strength, performing in many venues including Bordeaux, France and the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
There were the inevitable hitches behind the scenes – they inadvertently left part of the piano in Fuengirola – necessitating a 3rd round trip for the organiser, Mark and some pretty nifty Blue Peter type activity with a cardboard box by my husband, Brian!
There was a last minute request for a room in which 24 ladies could change before the performance……Fernan to the rescue here! And finally, over a hundred pages of music needed to be photocopied as a stand-in for the missing libretto!
The Mayor or Cómpeta welcomed the choir but refused to sing with them in either Spanish or Welsh! Two other councilors, Tom & Adela, also came to show their support. What a wonderful selection of songs we heard – traditional Welsh songs, well known ballads, music from the shows plus other up-tempo numbers.
The tenor, Robyn Lyn Evans, winner of many, many prestigious awards, sang twice during the evening. Final opinion was divided as to the highlight of his performance – I’m a sucker for Les Mis but many others (including the customers of Fernan on the other side of the Salon door !! ) voted for his wonderful version of “Granada!The Choir’s musical director, Paul Deenik- Bradley was a wonder to see! He put so much effort and pizzazz! into his conducting and finally revealed what a lovely voice he too had.
The concert ended with a well earned standing ovation and we strongly urged them to come back again for another concert…..although, after the drive up our mountain road, several of the ladies were dreading the trip back down. Our advice was either – sit on the left hand side of the coach or – close your eyes & think of Wales!
We shall certainly think of Wales – time & time again and keep our fingers crossed that another choir will come back to Cómpeta soon.
Jane Kirk
