Orchestra of the Swan at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire review

-
                A WONDERFUL START TO ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN'S NEW SEASON
 
                                    ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN
                                    Royal Birmingham Conservatoire *****
Orchestra of the Swan's latest residency at the RBC began with an intriguing programme entitled "Tales of the City". Yes, urban soundscapes were certainly there, but we also heard a beautifully evocative aural image of the landscape of Cumberland and Westmoreland.
This was Through Cumbrian Hills by RBC composition student Catherine Mole, and one of the most successful examples thus far of OOTS' collaboration with the RBC. The piece is unashamedly pictorial, and therefore totally audience-friendly (composition teachers everywhere, remember that important tenet).
It begins mistily, evocatively, and builds into singing expressions of quiet glory, flute raptures (Diane Clark) fluttering across the scene. It ends magically, but too soon (part of the brief, I think).
Rebecca Miller conducted a willing OOTS, preceding this premiere with a zinging Rossini Barber of Seville Overture, from which it would be a serious omission not to pick out an amazingly-controlled extended horn trill from Francesca Moore-Bridger.
A huge departure for OOTS, and a tantalising example of the divergency it promises for the future was Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. This was given by probably the largest orchestra I've ever heard this ensemble produce, saxophone phalanx, throbbing banjo, and orchestral piano, all collaborating in an attentive performance under Miller with soloist Viv McLean.
This was really one occasion when it was rewarding to sit on auditorium left, so that we could "see his hands", and what hands they were, interleaving in Gershwin's vibrant keyboard textures, and always with a touch as light as that of the composer himself.
It was wonderful to hear OOTS' idiomatic response, let loose into controlled decadence, led by Sally Harrop's deliciously sleazy clarinet.
Another portrait of New York came with Aaron Copland's Quiet City, atmospheric strings cushioning Hugh Davies' warm, thoughtful, almost vocal trumpet and Louise Braithwaite's ruminative, occasionally echoing, and always gently engaging cor anglais.
Finally came exuberance and genuine greatness in a reading from Rebecca Miller and her inspired orchestra of Mozart's wonderful Prague Symphony. Sparkling woodwind were to the fore (not least the noble bassoons), but every department excelled in this account, the agile, insightful Miller characterising every motif tumbling from this masterwork.
All repeats were observed, and normally this reviewer would grouch at such an automatic recourse. But in the Prague they matter, and how good it was to hear all this exuberance twice around.
*Recorded for future broadcast on Classic FM.
Christopher Morley

Popular posts from this blog

Some Enchanted Evenings at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne

-
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY ENJOYED THREE ENCHANTED EVENINGS AT EASTBOURNE'S GRAND HOTEL SOME ENCHANTED EVENINGS Appassionata at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne ***** Eastbourne's breathtakingly magnificent Grand Hotel, so imposing yet also so welcoming, has an impressive roster of visiting musicians since its opening in 1875. Among the many luminaries who have crossed its portals are Debussy (who completed La Mer here), Kreisler, Caruso, Nellie Melba, Ysaye, Paul Robeson, Myra Hess… the list goes on. Latest to join them is the young vocal quartet Appassionata, who, together with pianist Will Sharma, presented a three-night entertainment "Some Enchanted Evenings" at the end of March. It began with baritone Matthew Siveter, already a much-loved veteran of Gilbert and Sullivan productions, presenting his one-man show "A Source of Innocent Merriment", drawing material from the likes of G&S themselves, Noel Coward, Flanders and Swann, Tom Lehrer, as well as d...
Read more
-
  STIRRING ELGAR CONCERTO FROM THE CBSO LEADER CBSO at Symphony Hall ★★★★ Elgar’s Violin Concerto has provided almost as many opportunities for pointless speculation as his ‘Enigma’ Variations. Who is referred to in the work’s inscription, “Herein is enshrined the soul of...”? Is it someone codenamed “Windflower” after whom several of the work’s themes are named? Is it Alice Stuart-Wortley, daughter of the painter John Everett Millais? Is it Helen Weaver, or Elgar’s mother or possibly his wife? Who cares? Elgar himself told us all we need to know about the work when he said of it: “It's good! Awfully emotional! Too emotional, but I love it.” So would any unprejudiced listener after hearing this performance played with such tenderness, fierce concentration and passion by the CBSO’s leader Eugene Tzikindelean and backed to the hilt by the orchestra conducted by Kazuki Yamada. In the opening bars soloist and orchestra captured the mysterious haunting quality of the initial theme that ...
Read more

Jacquie Lawson e-card music

-
THE MUSIC BEHIND THE E-CARDS MIKE HUGHES-CHAMBERLAIN AND JACQUIE LAWSON E-CARDS by Christopher Morley It's always a joy when an e-greetings card plops into your inbox, not least at festive times of the year. It's easy to understand why the sending of these cyber-messages has become so popular, given the huge cost of postage nowadays At the forefront of this trend are the e-cards produced by Jacquie Lawson, and in addition to the attractive artwork, witty and sensitive storylines, and interactive opportunities offered by these little gems, comes the input of music, atmospheric and appropriate. Whether specially composed or arranged from other sources, these sound-pictures are masterminded by Mike Hughes-Chamberlain, who has made the seamless connection between a musical education and Information Technology in order to create scores for these scores of delightful little gems. He was brought up in Hindhead in Surrey, where his mother founded a music school in 1975. ...
Read more