Royal Albert Hall, 30 November 2015

There are some works that simply have to be heard live. No amount of score reading or listening to CDs can prepare you for your first exposure to Berlioz’ monumental work, and where better to hear it than in the Royal Albert Hall. Over the years I have heard the piece in a number of different venues but there is something about the Royal Albert Hall, with its Victorian extravagance, which suits it both visually and aurally. Since the baffles were first put in the acoustic has sharpened but still allows the sound to blossom and fill in a way which, when all the brass bands are in full flow, cannot fail to thrill.

Brian Wright had gathered together the Goldsmiths Choral Union and the Brighton Festival Chorus with an augmented Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This may not have been quite as large as Berlioz envisaged (there were only six timpanists not ten!) but it was more than adequate to lead us through the massive dynamic changes the composer requires. It was a pity therefore that the event had had an interval imposed upon it as we missed the dramatic contrast which Berlioz brings from the climactic ending of the Lacrimosa  and the hushed opening of the Offertoire.

Brian Wright seemed to have little difficulty managing the vast choral forces who brought accuracy and brightness of tone throughout. If the tenors seemed somewhat hesitant at the start of the Lacrimosa they soon recovered their nerve and returned to the passion they had given to the Rex tremendae.

Berlioz requires only one soloist but the tenor part lies very high and exposed. When one has the equally difficult task of filling the Royal Albert Hall it was a pleasure to find that James Edwards was equal to both. His heroic quality made the Sanctus assertive rather than ethereal, bringing a warmth to the final sections which can in other hands seem somewhat bleak.

The augmented orchestra seemed to be enjoying themselves and responded with great sensitivity, particularly the solo wind who can easily be lost within the weight of brass around them.

A great evening, then, and a comfortably full hall. Just one real gripe – apart from paying £4 for a packet of peanuts; the programmes had the full text and translation but as the performance started all the lights went out and we were left so dark it was impossible to read the text. Either keep the lights on or provide super-titles!

Mote Hall, Maidstone, 28 November 2016

A highly demanding programme for the orchestra and one not without its challenges for the audience. Brian Wright brought together four late romantic works which complemented each other with their respective approaches to narrative. All four take us on a journey, some more overtly picturesque than others, but nothing that could be called abstract.

Richard Strauss’ Don Juan is a case in point. It may not follow Byron in any literal sense but the episodes and emotional turmoil of the Don’s life are clearly displayed for us. If the strings seemed a little thin at the start they soon gained courage and by the end brought us the lush richness Strauss requires. There was some splendid playing from the horn section, and throughout the sense of pace and tone colour was finely etched.

It was a real pleasure to welcome back Laura van der Heijden as soloist in Walton’s Cello Concerto. It was with this work she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2012, and in the intervening years her approach has deepened and gained an even more captivating warmth. Where Walton’s orchestral writing can be quirky and strident, the solo line is always approachable. She brought a joyous spontaneity to the second movement and led us through the more introvert solo passages of the final movement with ease and conviction. It was a privilege to hear her again. Maybe there are plans for another of the great cello concerti in future?

Albert Roussel is hardly a household name but the suite from his ballet The Spider’s Banquet is more than just a charming rarity. The writing sits comfortably between Debussy’s romantic web-spinning and the intensity of early Stravinsky. I don’t think it is taking things too far to suggest that Roussel has passages that are remarkably like The Rite of Spring in their insistent rhythms and attack. Of course, unlike the Stravinsky, they do not last but they are certainly there. Brian Wright drew our attention to these even as we easily followed the story of the ballet itself, and the life and death of the insects.

In The South is Elgar at his most extrovert and the concert overture sits well beside Strauss’ Don Juan. There is little of English melancholy here and a great deal of extravagant rushing about. There are many passages that look towards the scherzo of the Second Symphony in the frenetic energy which is required from the players and listeners. Yet at the heart of the work is the melting viola solo – wonderfully played by David Hesketh – which could only be by Elgar.

A splendid evening – would that there had been even more there to enjoy it.

The next concert on 30 January brings us Nielsen, Mozart and Dvorak.

The Dome, Brighton, 8^th Nov 2015

It’s an interesting idea to programme a geographically diverse concert in chronological reverse with works written in 1917, 1876 and 1826 in England, Austria and Russia, respectively. Such a range ensured a lively afternoon although the augmented percussion section and harp for the Elgar seemed rather a waste of (excellent) resources as they weren’t needed in the other two works.

But what Elgar! I have to confess The Sanguine Fan was completely new to me. A short (20 minute) episodic ballet piece which Elgar was asked to write for a wartime charity, it includes some sublimely plummy Elgarian string and brass work interspersed with a minor key passage which echoes  Dvorak in gypsy mode and later some jazzy syncopated work which anticipates Shostakovitch.  It was a real pleasure to hear something unfamiliar – and yet worthwhile – get an admirably well played outing and it sits well in the overture slot. Let’s hope this performance starts a new fashion.

Gemma Rosefield found an attractive bright mellowness in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme especially in the showpiece trills and harmonics, while Barry Wordsworth deftly kept soloist and orchestra in sync. It’s a tricky piece to hold together because, of course, it doesn’t work like a concerto and there’s a lot of detailed quasi-duet between orchestra and solo cello. Gemma Rosefield looked terrific in her black lacy dress and red shoes but if you’re a compulsive foot tapper (and I sympathise because I have the same problem) then you need to wear soft shoes. I could hear her left foot beating time from well back in the balcony.

Schubert’s Great C Major began at a measured pace with close attention to the piece’s luxuriant detail. Barry Wordsworth controlled the balance and ensured that we heard all the finer points. The andante com moto bounced along with plenty of “moto” and an emphasis on the movement’s attractive simplicity. He made the counterpoint 6/8 melodies sing joyfully in the scherzo too, before bringing proceedings to a resounding conclusion and ensuring that everyone noticed Schubert’s homage to Beethoven in the final allegro.

Overall this was a very creditable and enjoyable concert. And as a guest reviewer and a newcomer to Brighton Dome I really appreciated being part of a (gratifyingly large) audience, educated and disciplined enough not to applaud between movements.

Susan Elkin

Maidstone Symphony Orchestra

Mote Hall, Maidstone, Saturday 10 October 2015

An ambitious and meaty all-Russian programme – comprising three works all written within 50 years – got the first concert of  the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra season off to a resounding start. And the star of the evening was most definitely Taek-Gi Lee, 19,  whose approach to the notoriously challenging Rachmaninov third piano concerto was intense rather than passionate and that meant measured, poised, extraordinarily mature and thoughtful playing for one so young especially in the spectacular first movement cadenza, the luxuriant velvety adagio and the dramatic dive into the finale. Slight, straight-backed and immaculate in neatly buttoned dark suit Lee wowed the audience with oodles of technical prowess – small hands and lithe fingers often moving in a rapid blur – and, afterwards with  boyish modesty. Brian Wright, always musically very supportive of young soloists, ensured that the orchestra provided a well balanced accompaniment despite the tricky bittiness of so many of the interjections, some of which occasionally lacked finesse.

The concerto was sandwiched between three dances, including the Sabre Dance from Khachaturian’s Gayane, and, after the interval Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. The raw excitement of the familiar Sabre Dance worked its high speed magic with xylophone and woodwind going full tilt and strings vamping. Nothing is ever perfect in any concert – and there were one or two iffy moments in the first two dances –  but that’s the joy of live music. It’s alive and dynamic. If you want predictable perfection then stay at home and listen to a CD recorded in lots of takes.

Scheherazade requires huge forces and we got them – six percussionists, harp and additional brass and woodwind. Rimsky-Korsakov was an outstandingly good orchestrator.

Brian Wright knows better than to resort to musical histrionics.  Instead he allowed his players – especially the flute, piccolo and trumpets – to find and run with all those lovely orchestral colours and tonal contrasts. I shall long treasure, for example, that exquisite passage in the opening movement in which a bassoon melody is underpinned by a long low note from double basses. And it’s a real treat to hear those sorts of details coming through with clarity. At the same time there’s a lot of rich long-bowed string work in Scheherazade and this performance did it real justice. Orchestra leader Robin Brightman played the violin solos sensitively too (in duet with cellist Angela Migden at times) with his harmonics at the very end leading at least two people sitting near me to marvel aloud. Susan Elkin

Brighton Unitarian Church

Sunday 9 August 2015

The final concert brought an unexpected mix of pieces, opening with Barry Mills’ String Quartet written in 2007. The composer introduced the work but it was difficult to sense all the nuances his comments anticipated. The opening movement is based on the sea, but there is no hint here of Debussy or Britten. In fact I doubt if any listener would recognise the sounds as sea-like unless they had been warned in advance. The movement is melancholic and dark, giving way to an edgy, strident second movement which seems too introspective to be playful. The third movement is by far the most successful with a sense of cohesion and refinement, the melodic line passing smoothly between the members of the quartet. The final movement returns to musical ideas drawn from the first two movements and adds birdsong, the most obvious of which was the aggressive call of the gulls.

Gordon Jacob’s Suite for Bassoon and String Quartet is a brief but pleasing work, and brought Brighton Phil’s first bassoon, Jonathan Price, to us for first time. His sound was almost too much for the small venue but well balanced with the quartet across the four short movements. The second and final movements are playful, almost skittish at times, and there is an effective yearning quality to the Elegy. The work was written for the Cheltenham Festival in 1968 and was presumably given alongside other works featuring the bassoon. On this occasion we felt rather cheated at getting so little of the soloist.

The final work was Haydn’s G minor Quarte The Rider. A late work, this has all the passion and depth of a Beethoven quartet and much of the same intensity. The opening textures are dense and the focus moves freely across all four players. The romantic second movement is an absolute delight leading into the mellifluous Menuetto and the genial finale. The soloists from the BPO have changed over the four afternoons and on this occasion were Ani Batikian and Leo Payne, violin, Roland Roberts, viola and Peter Adams, cello. That the orchestra can provide such high standards for chamber concerts is a tribute to its continuing success.

The autumn season opens at Brighton Dome on Sunday 11 October with works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Kalinnikov.