A Special Evening of Music
The ‘very special evening of music’ promised in the programme for Orchestra West’s concert on January 15 at Queens College, certainly lived up to the billing. This was an eclectic mix of pieces, cleverly chosen by conductor Martyn Owen to reflect changes in form.
The opening piece, Rossini’s light-hearted overture ‘The Thieving Magpie,’ was delivered with a satisfyingly slow-building and loud crescendo and made an excellent start to the evening. This was followed by one of the more fiendishly difficult violin concertos, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D, not just because of the virtuoso passages for the soloist, but for the demands made on orchestra and conductor as well. Sibelius is the master of the hemiola: the cross rhythms of 2s against 3s, which are particularly evident in this concerto and which were handled with aplomb. An extra frisson was the unfortunate illness of soloist James Gould. He was replaced at the eleventh hour by another young international soloist and recitalist, Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, who travelled from London for a few hours’ rehearsal before the concert and had to leave at the interval to meet commitments back in London.
The whole orchestra seemed inspired by the challenge, while Bezrodny’s performance was as sparkling as the dress she wore. Technically brilliant throughout, her lyricism enhanced the beautiful slow second movement and her bravura performance in the third had an appreciative audience give a standing ovation.
Zoltan Kodaly’s ‘Dances of Galanta’ was an effective choice to follow. This underperformed work has a delightful story- line, carried by the clarinet. The audience were invited to look out for the drunk, the ‘old’ member of the family, the Christmas dance and finally to reflect upon whether the whole experience was, in fact, just a dream…
The evening was rounded off with Mendelssohn’s ‘Reformation’ Symphony, a work which most obviously plays with form: instead of the expected slow 2nd movement there is a dance, instead of a dance the 3rd features an aria and recitative without words. The celebratory final movement takes a Bach chorale, harmonises it and at the same time competes with it. There is a strong feeling that the young Mendelssohn was saying: ‘Look what I can do.’ The audience clearly felt that the performance showcasing the talents of the only professional symphony orchestra in the South West shared this confidence and expertise (without the teenage Mendelssohn’s swagger, of course): this was an accomplished, enjoyable and much appreciated performance.
| 
| 
| 