Loughborough Orchestra perform at Trinity Methodist

FOR its winter concert at Trinity Methodist, Loughborough, the Loughborough Orchestra made a strong start in Ruslan and Ludmilla, the most popular piece by Mikhail Glinka, Russia’s first truly great composer, playing this energetic and vibrant overture with confidence and zest.

What followed was the Clarinet Concerto by Carl Maria von Weber, contemporary of Beethoven, a piece which was new to me. Soloist Emily Wilson played with a lovely tone, and gave us an assured rendition of both the virtuosic and atmospheric elements of this more classical piece, drawing us in, as she played with sensitivity and magnetism. Within the second movement came evocative pastoral sections where the clarinet was soloist in a wind quartet, together with a trio of horns, while the final movement gave us a perky repeated theme, played with pzazz and bounce.

Weber wrote his piece for clarinettist Heinrich Bäermann, and Emily Wilson, together with the front desks of the strings, gave us an encore by Bäermann himself, a moving Adagio, showcasing the clarinet’s lyrical power.

Finally, we returned to the Russians, with Rachmaninov’s masterful Second Symphony, a serious piece with drama and power, for which the orchestra was expanded with piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet and glockenspiel, providing a rich palette of tone and timbre. There are many challenges in this piece, with its emotional intensity, and especially in the electric speeds in the final movement, always on the move, but purposeful. Conductor Trevor Lax skilfully managed the many changes in pace, and the Loughborough Orchestra proved up to the challenge.

For the first time, the Orchestra invited the audience to help support the Rainbows Hospice with “bucket donations” as they left the concert.

This resulted in a very pleasing sum of over £286. Many thanks to the generous members of the audience.

It is hoped to repeat the collection at the next concert on June 20th 2020, when Gregory Drott, who grew up in Loughborough, will be the guest soloist.

By Anthony Thacker