Latest Reviews
- 19/01/11
- A Special Evening of Music
- The ‘very special evening of music’ promised in the programme for Orchestra West’s concert... (more)
Hazlewood, Cashell and OW
Musicians walk out during concert! 
The concert at King’s College last Friday (November 21st 2008) was the latest offering by OrchestraWest – Somerset’s very own professional symphony orchestra – and what a concert it was too. Conducted by its Patron, the enthusiastic and energetic Charles Hazelwood, the programme demonstrated what a fine beast this orchestra is becoming. The first half was taken with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.2 that showcased the talent of BBC2’s Classical Star Competition winner, Sophie Cashell - as well as the new piano recently purchased by the school. Both did a brilliant job. Cashell’s playing was elegant and refined and the extended cadenza at the end of the first movement, with all of its allusions to both Mozart and Bach, was beautifully realised. When power was needed, it was all there and the bright clear top of the keyboard sang through the deeper resonant sonorities of the lower strings especially.
The second part opened with Arvo Pårt’s ‘If Bach had been a bee-keeper’; a short work written in 1976 and featuring clock-ticking and buzzing effects which referenced both Bach and bees. The pulse of the work was occasionally stopped and restarted as if time had become a plaything. The games were finally brought to a wonderfully Bach-like cadence that died away to nothing and silence. It was magical moment and yet another mark of this orchestra’s class.
The final work was Haydn’s Symphony No.45 in F-sharp minor, the ‘Farewell’. The nickname comes from the fading-out of the music at the end of the final movement when Haydn withdraws each section of the orchestra leaving two violinists to play out the final bars of the work. The drama of this depletion was played for full theatrical effect by the musicians – including the conductor himself – who physically left the concert platform whilst the music ebbed away to the end. The audience loved the ‘joke’ and expressed their appreciation with enthusiastic applause. In the tempestuous first movement the violins provide plenty of attack that rode above and counterbalanced the homogenising acoustic of the hall and overall the playing in all the movements was immaculate with fabulous string playing and a glowing sound from both horns and woodwind.
Hazelwood’s conducting style was elegant and a joy to watch. He is a collaborative conductor both taking a lead and responding to the music being created. Not only did the players understand what he wanted but the audience got the message too. His time enthusing about music on the BBC and elsewhere made his succinct introductions informative and entertaining. John Cole and the other founders of the orchestra, together with sponsors PR Works, must have been very proud and it was excellent that details of the 2009 programme were available as we left the hall, in large part thanks to financial support from Somerset County Council. I am sure Mahler can’t be too far off in the programming plans. Sponsors should start forming a queue now.
Wayne Bennett
The concert at King’s College last Friday (November 21st 2008) was the latest offering by OrchestraWest – Somerset’s very own professional symphony orchestra – and what a concert it was too. Conducted by its Patron, the enthusiastic and energetic Charles Hazelwood, the programme demonstrated what a fine beast this orchestra is becoming. The first half was taken with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.2 that showcased the talent of BBC2’s Classical Star Competition winner, Sophie Cashell - as well as the new piano recently purchased by the school. Both did a brilliant job. Cashell’s playing was elegant and refined and the extended cadenza at the end of the first movement, with all of its allusions to both Mozart and Bach, was beautifully realised. When power was needed, it was all there and the bright clear top of the keyboard sang through the deeper resonant sonorities of the lower strings especially. The second part opened with Arvo Pårt’s ‘If Bach had been a bee-keeper’; a short work written in 1976 and featuring clock-ticking and buzzing effects which referenced both Bach and bees. The pulse of the work was occasionally stopped and restarted as if time had become a plaything. The games were finally brought to a wonderfully Bach-like cadence that died away to nothing and silence. It was magical moment and yet another mark of this orchestra’s class.
The final work was Haydn’s Symphony No.45 in F-sharp minor, the ‘Farewell’. The nickname comes from the fading-out of the music at the end of the final movement when Haydn withdraws each section of the orchestra leaving two violinists to play out the final bars of the work. The drama of this depletion was played for full theatrical effect by the musicians – including the conductor himself – who physically left the concert platform whilst the music ebbed away to the end. The audience loved the ‘joke’ and expressed their appreciation with enthusiastic applause. In the tempestuous first movement the violins provide plenty of attack that rode above and counterbalanced the homogenising acoustic of the hall and overall the playing in all the movements was immaculate with fabulous string playing and a glowing sound from both horns and woodwind.
Hazelwood’s conducting style was elegant and a joy to watch. He is a collaborative conductor both taking a lead and responding to the music being created. Not only did the players understand what he wanted but the audience got the message too. His time enthusing about music on the BBC and elsewhere made his succinct introductions informative and entertaining. John Cole and the other founders of the orchestra, together with sponsors PR Works, must have been very proud and it was excellent that details of the 2009 programme were available as we left the hall, in large part thanks to financial support from Somerset County Council. I am sure Mahler can’t be too far off in the programming plans. Sponsors should start forming a queue now.
Wayne Bennett
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