Orchestra performs Russian programme
THE Charnwood Orchestra performed a concert of late 19th Century Russian music on Saturday, November 18, at Emmanuel Church to an enthusiastic audience.
This was a very popular programme which began with Alexander Borodin’s Price Igor overture, unfinished at his death and completed by Glazunov.
This and the other pieces required a large ensemble and they produced a really good sound with the strings playing well throughout, the flutes beautifully assured and the French horns warm and well balanced. There are some lovely melodies in this piece and the conductor, Nic Fallowfield, was in full control of an excellent performance.
Next we were treated to Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto No 1 in B flat minor with soloist Allan Schiller playing the Steinway. To say it was brisk is something of an understatement, but this orchestra is good and they handled the pace well, the result of a lot of practice I suspect. The well-known opening was powerful and precise amid a cascade of notes from the piano, and in the later stages the wind section was clear and confident.
The second movement is popular on the radio and the wind section again played well, with the brass muted and controlled for a softness of touch. Once again the pace was brisk. The final movement was a triumph for the whole orchestra playing on top form with some excellent softer work. The audience loved it and there were three ovations for the pianist and conductor.
After the interval we heard Alexander Glazunov’s Symphony No 5 in B flat minor, although there are at least four key changes during the piece. This is not a well-known work, but it is a good one, and I doubt it has been played locally in many a year, so it was an excellent choice. The powerful opening by the strings gave way to the woodwind taking up the melody and the impressive horns and timpani making a real contribution in an ensemble piece of considerable beauty.
The lively scherzo followed involving the harp and percussion and a lot of pizzicato, all well played. The slow third movement was worth the ticket money on its own, reminiscent of Tchaikovsky with the wind section in fine form and the strings sweeping through the melodies, for me the performance of the evening.
The final movement was so well played with the balance of the sound perfect, the mark of an excellent conductor. The rousing finish was superb with lots of percussion and timpani and huge chords to end the piece. The audience clearly appreciated the whole concert with warm applause all round.
The orchestra’s next concert, entitled “Vienna and Beyond”, is on January 13 at Humphrey Perkins Community Centre in Barrowupon-Soar.