{"id":2639,"date":"2015-11-16T09:50:51","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T09:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=2639"},"modified":"2015-11-16T10:18:08","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T10:18:08","slug":"brighton-philharmonic-orchestra-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=2639","title":{"rendered":"Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra \u2013 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dome, Brighton, 8th<\/sup> Nov 2015<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2019t needed in the other two works.<\/p>\n

But what Elgar! I have to confess The Sanguine Fan<\/i> 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 \u00a0Dvorak in gypsy mode and later some jazzy syncopated work which anticipates Shostakovitch.\u00a0 It was a real pleasure to hear something unfamiliar \u2013 and yet worthwhile \u2013 get an admirably well played outing and it sits well in the overture slot. Let\u2019s hope this performance starts a new fashion.<\/p>\n

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

Gemma Rosefield found an attractive bright mellowness in Tchaikovsky\u2019s Variations on a Rococo Theme<\/i> especially in the showpiece trills and harmonics, while Barry Wordsworth deftly kept soloist and orchestra in sync. It\u2019s a tricky piece to hold together because, of course, it doesn\u2019t work like a concerto and there\u2019s 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\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

Schubert\u2019s Great C Major began at a measured pace with close attention to the piece\u2019s luxuriant detail. Barry Wordsworth controlled the balance and ensured that we heard all the finer points. The andante com moto<\/i> bounced along with plenty of \u201cmoto\u201d and an emphasis on the movement\u2019s attractive simplicity. He made the counterpoint 6\/8 melodies sing joyfully in the scherzo<\/i> too, before bringing proceedings to a resounding conclusion and ensuring that everyone noticed Schubert\u2019s homage to Beethoven in the final allegro.<\/i><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Susan Elkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dome, Brighton, 8th Nov 2015 It\u2019s 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 … 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":[4,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639"}],"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=2639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2642,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2639\/revisions\/2642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}