Newsletter, September 2009
Review of recent concerts
Only one of the three concerts so far this year was reviewed for the local press. Here is what Roger Jones of the Gloucestershire Echo had to say about the concert at Pittville Pump Room on May 24th:
A guest conductor from the United States and the latest winner of the Philip
and Dorothy Green Award brought a sense of excitement to the CSO's latest
concert.
Kenneth Woods revealed a strong empathy for Vaughan Williams' music in his
introduction to the composer's Fifth Symphony. He followed this up with
a convincing performance of this major work which, although composed during
World War II, seems to hark back to more placid times.
The slow movement was a profoundly spiritual experience while the closing
passacaglia sounded decidedly upbeat as if confident of better times ahead.
Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, performed in its original version, proved
an excellent vehicle for cellist James Barralet to demonstrate both his
technical wizardry and musicianship. The spirit of Mozart permeates this
work and the soloist succeeded magnificently in conveying its humour, grace
and nonchalance with good support from the orchestra.
While some may dispute Mr Wood's contention that Schumann's Second is the
greatest symphony written since Beethoven, his tense and driven interpretation
certainly confirmed it as a work of stature. Schumann composed it after
his first mental breakdown and the monumental first movement mirrored his
titanic struggle to recover his sanity.
A few rays of hope could be spotted in the bustling Scherzo but a dark mood
underpinned it. Nor was there any respite in the Adagio which a strong performance
from the string section rendered intensely moving.
However, in the final movement the shadows disappeared and the sunshine
returned. Both orchestra and conductor joined wholeheartedly in the jubilation
at the composer's recovery, with the brass leading the way.
Roger Jones would have been even more impressed with James Barralet’s
performance of the Rococo Variations if he had known what only a few people
in the orchestra knew, namely that James had had a serious car accident
on the M4 on his way to Cheltenham from Reading on the previous evening.
His car was a write-off but mercifully both he and his cello survived. He
admitted to me shortly before the concert that he had slept very little
the previous night. He told me later that he did suffer mild whiplash, but
not until the day after our concert.
Travelling is a part of a professional musician’s way of life, but events like this do make you think. One is reminded of Dennis Brain’s fatal accident on his way home from Edinburgh all those years ago and, more recently and closer to home, there was a violinist who arrived late for a concert in Evesham, full of apologies and hands blackened with dirt. He had suffered a puncture whilst on his way to the venue, and had to struggle to change the wheel. Yet he managed to produce the most sublime evening of music!
On either side of this concert we had the pleasure at All Saints Church Cheltenham on March 7th of a sparkling performance of Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto by Alasdair Macaskill, winner of the Gloucestershire Musician of the Year competition in 2008. This was flanked by two works by Sibelius – his Karelia Suite and his Second Symphony. Both received stirring performances.
Such a pity that the attendance was not larger than it was.
The same has to be said about the concert at Wycliffe College Chapel on June 27th. Much red-blooded playing but in front of an audience of anaemic proportions.
This was the second year in a row that the Orchestra has played at this venue. It was intended in a way to substitute for the much-missed concert which we gave each year for over 25 years at Leonard Stanley Priory as part of the Festival there. We had hoped to attract audiences of a similar size to the ones that came to hear the Orchestra at Leonard Stanley. Unfortunately this has not happened – the tradition, atmosphere and surroundings of the Priory concerts were something really special – the atmosphere in particular being greatly improved when the nearby cow barns were converted into dwellings.
Reaching Out
The Orchestra continues to reach out to parts of the community that others like us do not reach (one of the key recommendations of Making Music).
In the January 2009 Newsletter it was mentioned that beginning with our concert at the Pump Room in December 2008 we had launched a new partnership with a locally-based charity.
Our first ‘partner’ has been WellChild, a Cheltenham based national charity which supports sick children and their families and funds paediatric research.
It is all very low-key, no money changes hands. Each simply gives publicity to the other among their very different support groups. WellChild is given a mention in our programmes; CSO concerts are among the many events listed on their website (www.wellchild.org.uk)
The charity was invited to hold a retiring collection at the Pump Room on May 24th, which raised about £135. This was perhaps a modest sum, but just as importantly the link helps raise public awareness of the charity, both in its quest for financial support but also for the practical help that it can give to very sick children and their families.
Also mentioned in the last Newsletter was our presentation of a Music Prize to Leckhampton CofE Primary School, in the form of a shield, as our thanks for the splendid contribution of its choirs to our Christmas concerts since 2003.
The School decided that rather than award the shield to an individual child they would award it to the winning House in the school’s annual music competition. Three representatives of the Orchestra (Andrew Chapman and myself and, happily, Jane Few in her dual capacity of player and parent) attended the event in March. What a treat it was! As it was a House-based competition we did not hear from the School Orchestra or recorder groups but rather from individual performers or small groups representing their respective Houses. Out of a total school strength of about 400 children some 120 took part, which says much for the inclusive nature and great breadth of music-making in the school.
We were treated to a range of musical lollipops – string ensembles, mixed ensembles, pianists and a drummer who seems set to rival Evelyn Glennie one day.
It was surely no coincidence that we later heard that the School had won a large number of classes at this year’s Cheltenham Festival of the Performing Arts, including two cups for junior choirs. The School competes with schools in the private sector, where Saturday morning orchestra and the like generally guarantees their success in competitions, but on this occasion the excellence of Leckhampton School’s choirs was not to be denied.
Pressures on schools in the academic sense are enormous – SATS tests, league tables, OFSTED inspections and the like - but Leckhampton Primary School has shown that it can deliver excellent academic results and foster and develop children’s innate ability to make music.
Still to come in 2009
Three concerts remain in 2009.
On Saturday October 17th at 7.30pm the Orchestra will again be performing for Farmers Overseas Action Group (FOAG), in a welcome return to Pershore Abbey. Of particular note will be a performance of Brahms’ Violin Concerto by Volodja Balzalorsky, the outstanding young player from Ljublana, Slovenia. Also in the programme will be Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie Overture and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.
On Saturday November 28th at 7.30pm at Winchcombe Parish Church our very own Peter Kerr will perform Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto. As the Orchestra will also be performing Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and Beethoven’s Eighth it is questionable whether Peter will have any lip left by 10pm.
Rounding off another memorable year will be the Christmas concert at Pittville Pump Room on Sunday December 20th at 7.30pm. The programme will include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Patterson/Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood which was so greatly enjoyed by players and audience alike when we last performed it in 2005.
Also appearing will be Jonathon McNaught, winner of the Gloucestershire Musician Competition in 2009, in a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
And, last but by no means least, the Year 6 Choir of Leckhampton Primary School will perform songs with the Orchestra. This will be a new experience for the children, who should also enjoy the rest of the programme.
A triumphant conclusion to another busy, successful and enjoyable year.
2010 already beckons, with plans for another visit to Annecy in the summer.