BIRMINGHAM PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 80th ANNIVERSARY
CONCERT
By
Christopher Morley
Take two
years off for the pandemic lockdown and you reach the 80th
anniversary of the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, founded modestly in 1941
to accompany a wartime fund-raising performance of Handel’s Messiah.
The
activities of the then South Birmingham Orchestra rapidly burgeoned, the
ensemble soon adding the august term “Philharmonic” to its name, and eventually
dropping the “South” when a Lord Mayor of Birmingham decreed the orchestra was
of a standard which brought esteem to the entire city. Along the way it had already
been broadcast live on the Midland Region of the BBC Home Service.
Since
those heady days of the 1940s the BPO has grown exponentially, expanding its
repertoire, widening its circle of performing venues as far afield as the prestigious
St John’s in London’s Smith Square, and attracting soloists and conductors of
the highest professional calibre.
BPO’s Principal
Conductor for many decades has been Michael Lloyd, whose CV includes staff
conducting at English National Opera and musically directing a lengthy run of
The Sound of Music. He will conduct BPO’s belated 80th anniversary
concert on October 22 at Birmingham Town Hall, featuring Elgar’s “Music Makers”,
premiered there in 1912, and Beethoven’s “Choral” Symphony, premiered only ten
years before the Town Hall’s 1834 opening.
Michael
looks back appreciatively at the work of previous BPO conductors over the past
82 years.
“I am
always conscious of the debt I owe my predecessors in building up this group to
the level they have. Given that I have now had the immense luck to conduct all
of Mahler’s symphonies (except 10) with the BPO, together with Das Lied, the Ruckert-Lieder,the
Fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder, I am always conscious of Kenneth
Page’s courage in tackling Mahler when he did. I think he would be proud of the
fact that we took up the Mahler baton from him and completed the cycle.”
Michael
sums up what he sees as his achievement with Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra.
“In
essence all I do is try and make sure as many of them as possible enjoy the
rehearsals, that they play together and listen to each other and follow the
beat. As far as confidence and repertoire are concerned, they have definitely
grown a lot, but mainly because they have always loved tackling big repertoire.
They really do know now how to play Mahler, and on the back of that things like
Shostakovich and Stravinsky (Rite of Spring and Petroushka, for instance) go
really well
“I feel
confident that what I bring to working with the BPO is something that works
well for all of us. It is not possible, in my view, to expect non-professionals
to play like professionals, but if you create the right atmosphere for them to
enjoy the rehearsals and you are lucky, as I have been, with very talented
players, it is possible to encourage them to play better than they thought they
could. Perhaps the biggest thing I have brought to the orchestra is sheer
idiocy in thinking I really want to conduct this piece so we might as well give
it a go, rather than ‘Surely, this is impossible for them’!”.
*The
Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra performs Elgar’s Music Makers and Beethoven’s
Choral Symphony (singers drawn from many local choral societies) at Birmingham
Town Hall on October 22 (3pm).
ends