Daily Archives: 10 October, 2019

London Mozart Players on Sea

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The London Mozart Players, the UK’s longest–established chamber orchestra, has announced a year–long residency at the Opus Theatre in Hastings, East Sussex. As ‘Artists in Residence’, the LMP will deliver an exciting programme of classical music concerts and outreach work to this seaside community throughout the 2019/20 season. 

Building on the orchestra’s pioneering work in Upper Norwood, London SE19, where it is firmly embedded in the local community, the LMP looks forward to building a similar relationship with the people of Hastings, developing new audiences for classical music, inspiring young people and delivering a series of world class concerts with high profile artistes. The season will include school concerts, side-by-side performances with the young musicians of Hastings, musical visits to nursery schools, children’s events in libraries and concerts at the Opus Theatre, culminating in a community performance of the long-awaited multi-faith oratorio written by Opus Theatre’s director and composer, Polo Piatti. 

The launch concert at the Opus Theatre on Saturday 30th November is a showcase for young talent as dazzling pianist and BBC Young Musician winner (2018) Lauren Zhang and gifted local flautist Daisy Noton join the LMP to demonstrate their virtuosic abilities in two challenging Mozart works – Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 and his Flute Concerto No.1. The concert opens with Greig’s Holberg Suite, and closes with Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 ‘Trauer’. 

The first concert in this exciting residency marks a celebratory moment in the orchestra’s 70th birthday year which has seen concerts held at the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, a birthday concert half way up the iconic Shard at the Shangri-La Hotel At The Shard and the gala re-opening concert at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls where the LMP has been resident for 30 years. 

 

Julia Desbruslais, Executive Director of the London Mozart Players commented: ‘We love taking classical music around the UK, and our ‘LMP by the Sea’ residency will give us the opportunity to inspire young musicians through our outreach work in around Hastings, and perform to music lovers of all generations at the Opus Theatre. This is an exciting venture for the orchestra and we are very much looking forward to sharing our passion for music with our new friends on the south coast.’ 

Polo Piatti, Composer/Director at the Opus Theatre said: ‘We are extremely proud to welcome the acclaimed London Mozart Players as the new Artists in Residence at the Opus Theatre in Hastings. The LMP’s residency is a dream come true, promising to become not only a great performance partnership for this iconic venue, but also a wonderful opportunity for local artistes and young musicians to perform alongside these world-class musicians.’ 

Supported by the Arts Council Great Britain, the Magdalen and Lasher Educational Foundation, Foyle Foundation, the Isabel Blackman Foundation and the Hastings Arts and Culture Scheme. 

SOUTHBANK CENTRE INTERNATIONAL ORGAN SERIES: THE QUENTIN MACLEAN LEGACY

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RICHARD HILLS 8th October 2019 (Postponed from 24th September)

The new season of the Southbank International Organ Series opened with this celebration of The Golden Age of British Light Music. Demonstrating the way this repertoire influenced the use of concert organs and the newly emerging cinema organs, Richard Hills had put together an informative and entertaining programme pinned around one of this country’s most influential pioneering cinema organists, Quentin MacLean. From the outset he made clear that the Festival Hall organ was not designed for this repertoire but that he had willingly accepted the challenge to use it as a vehicle to display a range of music, often utilising more unusual sounds and colours to those normally heard.

This concert had been postponed two weeks previously and those of us fortunate to attend the pre-concert talk received some insight into the reasons why – a lightning strike during the afternoon. Andrew Scott, from Harrison and Harrison, who built and maintain the organ, joined the interview to talk about this particular, possibly unique, occurrence.

Richard Hills is a fine organist, at home with a variety of repertoire and different styles of organ. His love of this lighter repertoire shone through the whole evening as he masterfully presented each piece with imaginative and rapid changes of registration. His ability to clearly draw out individual lines and countermelodies was superb.

Opening with Sullivan’s Overture to Iolanthe the programme included music by cinema organists Frederick Bayco (Elizabethan Masque) and Frederick Curzon (The Boulevardier) and well-known composers including Eric Coates (London Suite) and Edward German (Three Dances from Nell Gwynn). A lovely segue beginning with the opening bars of Quentin MacLean’s own Babbling played by the composer himself before being taken up by Mr Hills was very effective. A cross-over with the more “classical” organ world came via Percy Whitlock’s Dignity & Impudence and Plymouth Suite. The final movement Toccata was particularly well executed with the brooding pedal theme building in intensity to a great climax. Robert Docker’s Tabarinage followed by a masterful arrangement of Tea for Two as an encore brought proceedings to a close.

A wonderful start to the new season, showing a very different but equally valid side to the organ repertoire and once again showing the versatility and musicality of organist and organ.

The next concert in the series takes place on 3rd February, when Gerard Brooks will perform.

Stephen Page