Forget ‘Pitch Perfect’, the Aberdeen Chorus of sweet adelines are the real deal, putting on a great show in beautiful barbershop harmony at St Andrew's and St George's West Church.
Once you get past the matching bright red outfits and the occasional unnecessary make-up overload, it is really very nice to sit back and enjoy the Aberdeen Chorus’ four-part harmony renditions of many well known tunes. Although most of the numbers were hits from the last century, as Musical Director Gwen Topp pointed out in her welcome, the smooth jazz of Glen Miller and Bill Bailey suited the soft voices of the thirty or so women.
The programme also indulged any musical fans out there, including ‘Melody’ from ‘Cats’, two quartet numbers from ‘Chess’, and a gorgeous version of Rodger and Hammerstein’s ‘Climb Every Mountain’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ which brought many a teary eye to the audience, with the man next to me quietly pulling out a handkerchief.
If there’s one tip the Aberdeen ladies could get from the ‘Barden Bellas’ however, it would be on the synchronisation of their dance moves. There were a few shaky moves in the closing ABBA melody and some of the routine in ‘All That Jazz’ felt a little out of place. However, it was great to see the whole chorus of all different ages smiling away and clearly having a great time singing their hearts out.
For an amateur singing group, the Aberdeen Chorus are impressive. Though sometimes the choice of songs may be a bit on the soppy side, the harmonies and voices of ‘Aberdeen a Cappella’ really are beautiful.