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~~ Buskers delight Town Hall crowd by Diane Lackie For the uninitiated, some years back 'busking' meant "chickens scratching in the sun to rid them- selves of vermin." Or so cheeky Michael Copley says. And who is he? The other half of David Abraham Gillespie (Dag, for short) Ingram. Together these frisky British musicians form the curren- tly, Hot Act The Cambridge Buskers. (Busking also refers to entertaining by strolling street performers). If you missed this irreverent wind instrument/ ac- cordion duo at Town Hall 1873 on Wednesday night, you missed a coruscating performance delivered in whimsical fashion to an appreciative crowd. The program notes indicated the audience were likely to be served up almost anything by this char- ming pair from Cambridge, England, who have been perfor- ming together with musical vir- tuosity since 1975. The notes did not disappoint. Masterfully handling the krumhorn, flutes, recorders, even the penny whistle and an "even smaller one," sometimes two at a time, Mike rollicked his way through Mozart's '14th' Sym- phony, the Sailor's Hornpipe, Bach's Brandenberg Concertos (six of them?), Vivaldi's Spring, Schubert's Unfinished (they finished that one -- abruptly), bird songs, Tchaikovsky's 'Dying Swan' with a touch of James Bond, Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (they weren't sure where she was going but...) and a fresh and irreverent version of the Hallelujah Chorus a little loose on the glissandos and quavery in the soprano section. Dag made the ac- cordion troll along with the wind instruments and took the solo spot from tiem to time. And that was just the first half. A patron was heard exclaiming about the first half at intermission: "really, that was excellent!" summing up the performance ap- tly. The second half was even better. After a 'regal' prelude and two salutes to Fire, one by Handel, the audience was introduced to "England's most justly neglected composer' as the Buskers spoofed a familiar old number 'In a Per- sian Market': camels swayed, beggars cried, a beautiful princess processed and recessed, a snake charmer charmed, the musical rhythms shifted from rock to swing, then, soon, "all was quiet again and the camels went away." Fun - and original. Camels graduated to a lesson on Japanese difficulties with the English language, but the 'punch rines" came out just fine. Dag followed by tackling Berlioz' Au Bal from Symphonie Fantastique. Mike countered with all of Beethoven's complete sym- phonies in 35 seconds and the Ninth with dual recorders, accompanied by accordion. A tour de force inthe form of Stravinsky's Rites of Spring followed. Commenting that "most people like opera - except for the singing," the duo then portrayed the Sounds of 'large ladies on horseback with helmets" in Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, with soprano solo by Dag. An off-beat, literally (and key), version of Tchaikovsky's 1st "piano/accordion"' concerto followed, after which Ravel's Bo- lero was assaulted as Mike snoozed on flute. Two folk songs, a 'Llama milking song' from Bolivia, 'The Lark" from Roumania, and a booming finish with the 1812 Over- ture (written by Tchaikovsky to celebrate Russia's victory over Napoleon in that year), accom- panied by bells, '"booms," and a limp flag, and the Buskers had busked. The audience was on its feet applauding. Two encores later (Copeland's Rodeo - Hoedown) and the delighted listeners finally let Michael and Dag head for the cof- fee reception below. When cornered after the show, the jolly buskers admitted to having also tried out on their Port Perry audience two new numbers, the theme from Masterpiece Theatre and a Scarlatti piece..suc- cessfully. Would the Town Hall subscribers like to be 'busked' again? Most definitely. All the 'Chicken scrat- ching' just didn't shake the audience's desire for more one bit. The Buskers were mah-velous, simply mah-velous. (Should the audience wish to continue to 'savour the pleasure', the Buskers are available on Deutsche Gram- maphon) PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday. November 5, 1985 -- 39 For positive action for Ward | Councillor make your vote count by electing... HAROLD WESTERMAN WORKING TOWARDS... * - better value for tax dollar . - promoting small industry go > - affordable housing Harold Jan, 15, Nellie - improved roads Joanne, 17, Harold FOR INFORMATION OR RIDES NOVEMBER 12th VOTE & ELECT ... WESTERMAN, Harold Call: 985-7891 * OFF BOOK PRICE SELECT IMPORTS OSHAWA SKI CLUB -Annual- SKI SWAP ONTARIO MOTOR SALES 140 Bond St. West - Oshawa AT WALL COVERINGS - i J | PORT THIS SATURDAY! ainbow = ow ES | from : IE: - Home Decorating 2" NOV. LS 1-5 P.M. Centre po. i" PLAZA Bring in items to sell ~ .m. es bo Ty - -- vf 985-9235 -~, tte ae mene ten For more information call 985-8890 oo ---- -------------------- -- i ------------------