Mote Hall, Maidstone,

29 November 2014

Brian Wright was quite correct in his thinking that the programme of works this evening epitomised both the planning and strengths of the orchestra. What might appear to be a conventional set of items – Suite, Concerto, Symphony – brought a number of specific challenges both for the players and the audience, and a soloist of international acclaim.

Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring may seem very familiar but its rhythmic complexities and solo lines are traps for the unwary. The hushed, almost sultry, opening lulls us into a false sense of ease which is gently dispelled as dawn breaks. The playing had a slight rawness to it which was in keeping with the integrity of the score. This is not a sentimental work but a vision of the openness, both physically and spiritually, of a community prior to mass industrialisation and urbanisation. Copland looks back with his eyes open even if nostalgia creeps in. Once we passed through the variations of Simple Gifts we returned to the focus of the work, the love of the newly married couple and their relationship to the world around them. In the final bars, three stars come out, like a gentle blessing on their love. A magical moment.

It should be difficult to follow this but Giovanni Guzzo’s handling of the Brahms’ violin concerto was so captivating it almost made us overlook the start. He produced a radiant sweetness of tone, across the full range of his Stradivarius, but no violin is as important as the quality of the musician playing it. The orchestra rose the challenge of his playing, producing a bite and pulse which supported the clarity of his phrasing. The second movement seemed faster than usual moving the music forward with a subtle passion and heading us into the joyful exuberance of the finale. Thankfully he gave us an encore – the slow movement from a Bach violin sonata – which proved intoxicating in its slow unfolding and gentle phrases. Please ask him to return for the Mendelssohn!

Vaughan Williams’ Fourth Symphony may have been written ten years before the Copland but it has all the shock of the new. The terror explodes from the opening bars and the intensity of the writing never lets up. The slow movement may be quieter but it never smiles, and even when the Scherzo arrives, the outward sign is more a grimace than a greeting. The marches of the final movement prefigure Shostakovich and have all of his doubled-edged attack. Is there any hope here? Not a lot. Is this a vision of the future or a man distracted by the building of the Dorking by-pass? In the end neither matter for the symphony, played with remarkably tight control of its rhythms and some fine solo playing, is a massive outpouring of pain in a world which seems to be running out of control.

Next time – Weber, Taffanel, Nielsen and Dvorak – Saturday 31 January 2015.

London Coliseum 27 November 2014

ENO have mounted a number of highly successful productions of new works by John Adams, in collaboration with Peter Sellars. If The Gospel According to the Other Mary does not quite live up to the expectation of earlier stagings that should not imply that there is not much to appreciate here. The real problem is with the approach to the text and characterisation. While in essence a retelling of the passion, Jesus is never present. His words are given to a trio of counter-tenors, and occasionally spread across the rest of the cast. All of the named characters have at least one character double, and Lazarus is split over a singing tenor, a dancer and an actor. As such our sympathies are dissipated. It is difficult to empathise with a group rather than a single individual. It is the opposite of the Bach’s passions where we are drawn in by the emotional intensity of the singer and made to feel their pain.

The constant shifts in emphasis are also confused by the movement from mythical to contemporary time. We frequently lose the sense of where the focus is in any one scene, and the often powerful writing is lost in the hazy visual impact.

The small cast sing the score with enthusiasm and Russell Thomas is particularly effective as Lazarus, his long solo towards the end of act one at last galvanising our attention. Patricia Bardon’s Mary is often an outsider, ill at ease with the action around her, though this is never brought to real focus until the end.

The set of sand-coloured soft gauzes is effective though the constant drifting of the back cloths can be distracting. James F Ingalls provides very effective lighting which tries to guide our attention throughout, and is particularly effective in the choral scenes.

There is not a lot for the chorus to do dramatically and for much of the time they stand as a block, gesturing to the score in a way now familiar in Peter Sellars’ productions. Though frequently effective it can also be distracting.

Joana Carneiro drives the score with great intensity from the pit and it will be interesting to compare her approach to the new recording of the work.

Musicians of All Saints, St Luke’s, Brighton,

8 November 2014

If the main focus of the concert was to bring us the premiere of Peter Copley’s new Piano Concerto, the first half led us gently towards it. The Musicians of All Saints under Andrew Sherwood opened with Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op6 No1. If the rich acoustic tended to over-romanticise the sound it also gave an extra bloom to the strings which easily filled the building. The solo trio was impressive in the Adagio and there was a lively zeal to the final Allegro.

Mozart’s Divertimento K 138 is an early work which produced both fire and humour in the final Presto.  However the finest moment of the first half came with a deeply felt reading of Grieg’s string arrangement of Last Spring, its gentle melancholy and warmth being splendidly balanced.

The three movements of Peter Copley’s new piano concerto  may last only a little over twenty minutes but the intensity of the writing holds us firmly throughout. The opening Toccata with Interlude is marked presto agitato and tips us headlong into an insistent sycopated rhythm which for most of the time contrasts staccato strings against rolling piano figuration. This suddenly gives way to a beautiful solo line for the first viola, a post-Elgarian figure somewhere between nobility and pain. When the dominant rhythmic urgency returns the piano takes a more lyrical though still powerfully etched position. At the end of the movement a solo violin takes up the viola melody which is cut off suddenly and the piano rounds things off with a deft downward plunge.

The second movement Chacony allows the piano to come more into its own. Where the opening movement had often seemed to absorb the piano into the overall texture, here the piano has more chance to speak for itself, being allowed an extended quasi cadenza which brings together many of the ideas already explored across the first two movements.

The final Fugue and Scherzo opens with the strings alone and it is some time before they are joined by the pianist. There is a sense of joy and almost frenetic energy here, particularly in the piano part which sparkles and scintillates throughout. As the climax approaches the pianist returns to the rolling figures which have become such of part of the composition until a final glissandi hangs in the air above a last pizzicato from the strings. Margaret Fingerhut communicated a sense of delight in the work throughout and her playing had a lightness of touch and joyfulness which was surely intended by the composer.

The sense of enthusiasm and life are evident throughout this new concerto which is to be given a number of performances over the coming months. Hopefully you will get a chance to hear it – the second performance will be on January 29th 2015 7.30pm at Blackheath Concert Halls with Trinity Laban Conservatoire Sinfonia, conducted by Andrew Sherwood with Margaret Fingerhut again as the soloist.

Having Margaret Fingerhut available for the day enabled the Musicians of All Saints to run a master-class in the morning for a number of highly talented if very young pianists. They performed a wide range of works for us, and were then encouraged to look at specific aspects of their preparation. Margaret Fingerhut stressed that practice should be just that – working in specific details, not simply playing pieces through again and again. She encouraged the young players to draw the sound out of the piano through their sense of touch rather than demanding a reaction from it. She reflected on the fact that for pianists, starting to learn is easy as the notes are already there. The problem comes with learning to control touch and nuance, particularly when the right hand seems built the wrong way round for voicing a melodic line. From the quality of playing we heard from these young performers we could easily hear of them again in a few years’ time!

The next concert from the Musicians of All Saints will be given on Saturday 17 January 2015 at All Saints Centre, Lewes. www.mas-lewes.co.uk

 The Dome, Brighton, 2 November 2014

Brighton Festival Chorus joined the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra for an afternoon of indulgence, with works by Parry, Elgar and Strauss. If the opening Schubert – the Marche Militaire – seemed slightly at odds with the rest of the programme, Barry Wordsworth informed us that, in this 90^th season, they were playing the very first work heard by the orchestra. Its brief briskness proved an apt opening to an afternoon full of romantic delights.

Parry is at his best in choral settings and there are few choral masterpieces to set beside I was glad.  Written for the coronation of Edward VII, it has been heard at every coronation since and is certainly worth a regular hearing. The Festival Chorus rose to the occasion with aplomb and the orchestra brought the dramatic intensity, with brass blazing and organ firing on all cylinders, which the work requires.

Nicholas Daniel was the soloist in Strauss’ Oboe Concerto which formed a more relaxed interlude between the heroic impact of the Parry. The soloist bought a delicate warmth to his playing and Barry Wordsworth etched a sensitive accompaniment. The gentle return in the final movement after the cadenza was particularly effective.

Parry’s Blessed Pair of Sirens opened the second half with a glorious outpouring of melody and finely balanced orchestral playing.

Elgar’s Enigma Variations may be familiar but they are always welcome, particularly in the company of the Parry which set such a fine context for them. Barry Wordsworth takes a direct, unsentimental approach to the whole, allowing the individual variations to build effortlessly to the climax of E.D.U which unfolded with skill and nobility.

The next concert on 7 December also brings us a set of English works. We are doing well this season for home grown composers!