{"id":1394,"date":"2013-12-01T09:44:35","date_gmt":"2013-12-01T09:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=1394"},"modified":"2013-12-01T18:43:36","modified_gmt":"2013-12-01T18:43:36","slug":"maidstone-symphony-orchestra-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=1394","title":{"rendered":"Maidstone Symphony Orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brian<\/a><\/p>\n

Maidstone Symphony Orchestra<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mote Hall, 30 November 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian Wright obviously enjoys challenging both his players and his audience. Last night\u2019s concert at the Mote Hall brought us a club sandwich with chunky crusts and a fascinating filling.<\/p>\n

The orchestra blazed into action with Berlioz\u2019 Overture Roman Carnival<\/i>, with the brass and woodwind indulging themselves in the composer\u2019s enthusiasm, but not before a limpid cor anglais solo from David Montague. The strings were more than up to the extravagance of the final pages putting everyone in a good mood for the following concerto.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a><\/p>\n

Reinhold Gliere is hardly a household name and his horn concerto, though loved by those who know it, is not frequently performed. Tom Bettley was advertised as a local boy <\/i>but there is nothing domestic about his approach to the work or to his professionalism as a soloist. Gliere spent time studying with a professional horn player before completing the work and this shows in the challenges he provides for the soloist. Not only are there some formidable technical passages in the outer movements but the long lyrical sections are equally difficult, and it was these which were particularly impressive. The Andante<\/i> has a Tchaikovsky-like melodic line which wanders with great beauty \u2013 a beauty finely crafted in Tom Bettley\u2019s gentle and mellifluous playing. By the end it was easy to see why players love the work \u2013 perhaps we might learn to if we heard it more often.<\/p>\n

After the interval the orchestra brought us two large-scale romantic works, commencing with Richard Strauss\u2019 Tod und Verklarung.<\/i> The opening section caught the timelessness of the piece with ease, the long string passages unfolding with skill and great sensitivity. Brian Wright maintained the tension here, creating a fine balance between anxiety and ennui. The double climax was splendidly phrased and the strings were at their best in the outpouring of joy in the final pages.<\/p>\n

Stravinsky\u2019s 1919 suite from The Firebird<\/i> was probably the most familiar item on the programme and brought the evening to an exultant conclusion. After a gentle Round Dance,<\/i> the Finale<\/i> built skilfully – including a fine bassoon solo from Philip Le Bas – allowing the colours and textures of the score to shine through. Wind and brass ensembles were at their most relaxed, and the percussion came into its own.<\/p>\n

A suitably large and enthusiastic audience clearly enjoyed the whole evening. If anybody thinks I may be overlooking the odd missed note or fluff, the odd less than perfect entry, then let me assure them I am well aware of the minor imperfections of any live performance. There are very few orchestras in my experience who can get through an evening with every note perfectly formed \u2013 that only happens on carefully edited recordings \u2013 but the excitement of a live performance is far more worthwhile than any cd, no matter who the orchestra is! BH<\/p>\n

The next concert is on Saturday 1 February with works by Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Beethoven. The Concerto soloist will be Mark Simpson playing Copland\u2019s Clarinet Concerto. www.mso.org.uk<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maidstone Symphony Orchestra Mote Hall, 30 November 2013 Brian Wright obviously enjoys challenging both his players and his audience. Last night\u2019s concert at the Mote Hall brought us a club sandwich with chunky crusts and a fascinating filling. The orchestra … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1394"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1404,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394\/revisions\/1404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}