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Saturday June 28th, 2003
Mendelssohn – Ruy Blas Overture
Shostakovitch – Symphony No.5 Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto
'The augmentation of the core ensemble produced a splendid body of musicians well-able to do justice to Mendelssohn’s Overture 'Ruy Blas', composed for Victor Hugo’s play of that name. Michael Bernamont then took the baton to guide the orchestra in their accompaniment to the solo violin of one of his former pupils, Rachael England, in a stunning performance of Mendelssohn’s enduring popular Violin Concerto, a later work produced in the composer’s tragically short life. 'This Concerto is an illuminating example of his powers as a musical architect with both the elegance and finish of his workmanship and unerring instinct for orchestration. The brilliant performance resulted in a standing ovation for the young soloist. 'After the interval, with Ian Ward again at the helm, the orchestra tackled the challenging 5th Symphony in D-minor (opus 47) by Shostakovitch. It was here that the extra strings paid off, especially in the third movement (Largo) where they are sometimes required to play divisi in eight parts. Without them it would have been almost impossible to balance the extra brass, woodwind and percussion that Shostakovitch calls for. 'The fifth symphony is probably the most popular of the composer’s 15 symphonies and, arguably, his masterpiece. Its 'tongue-in-cheek' subtitle of 'an artist’s reply to just criticism' absolved Shostakovitch from the Soviet authorities’ accusation of alleged 'formalism' and 'petty-bourgeois' influences of earlier offerings and restored his reputation with the Soviet hierarchy. 'The first movement begins at a restrained speed but soon plunges into a dramatic narrative in which the composer achieves huge force. The second movement is a roistering, bucolic scherzo, and in the last movement the opening section accelerates into a more relaxed central section, leading to a glorious climax in the key of D major. There are parts of this work which are of a stern and forbidding character, but these are equally balanced by many passages of great lyrical beauty. 'The whole concert was a triumphant success for Oswestry Sinfonia, in which the players achieved a standard practically indistinguishable from a fully professional symphony orchestra. It is deserving of support from all in the area who care about cultural values. In fact, on the basis of this achievement, Oswestry Sinfonia deserves a purpose-built concert hall, filled to capacity with patrons – not to mention a lengthy queue of 'hopefuls' waiting outside for the chance of a returned ticket!' – F.S.M</< p>
Saturday Nov. 15th, 2003
Sibelius – “Finlandia” Overture; Dvorak – Serenade for Strings
Strauss – Serenade for Wind; Beethoven – Symphony No. 5
“The orchestra was led by Sali James on this occasion and Conductor, Ian Ward, introduced each item the absence of customary programme notes. The overture was the popular, blatantly patriotic tone poem, 'Finlandia' by Jean Sibelius, whose work is almost totally imbued with the recognizable, national atmosphere powerfully evoking the bleak Nordic landscape of the composer's homeland. This piece gave the full orchestra scope for its undoubted ability to achieve a brilliant tutti contrasted with the hymn-like nature of the middle section. “Although composed at the early age of 18, the much less well-known 'Serenade for Wind' by Richard Strauss already displays his technical facility and skill at spinning complex textures. The son of an expert horn player, Strauss exhibited an extraordinary mastery of writing for orchestras, ably demonstrated by the wind section of the Sinfonia, with the full complement of 4 horns and the addition of a double bassoon. The solo entries, particularly of the oboe, were notably excellent. “Possibly due to the strings displacement to secure a more visible platform for the wind section with little time for recovery on the stage, the first movement of the next work, Dvorak's 'Serenade for Strings' (opus 22, 1875), suffered from a slight uncertainty of intonation at the beginning. However, this soon settled down into the homogeneous rich string sound that has become a typical feature of Sinfonia concerts under the guidance of its present conductor. The innocently happy atmosphere of the Serenade, of which only two movements were played, exhibits the seemingly inexhaustible outpouring of melody which one can find in all Dvorak's works. After the interval, the main work of the programme was Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 on C minor (opus 67). More than any other composer, Beethoven's innovative powers expanded the form, vocabulary and emotional range of music in his lifetime. The stirring, passionately affirmative nature of this symphony has won it an unshakable place in the orchestral repertoire, no matter how many times it is played. “The work progresses from the dark drama of the first movement – with its 'fate knocking at the door' phrase, da-da-da-dum, well known to everyone regardless of interest (or lack of it) in classical music – to the blazing triumph of the finale with its coda, which form Beethoven transformed from a simple ending to one of climactic splendour. His boisterous humour as well as his expansive demands on orchestral players is illustrated in the 'gamboling' of the double-basses in the scherzo (the word means “joke”), another form developed by Beethoven from the hitherto customary Minuet and made very much his own. “With these attributes, together with his ability for poetic lyricism, we see the emergence of the symphony as a repository for a composer's most important ideas. “In this performance the Sinfonia produced a very creditable and enjoyable rendering of one of the greatest musical works of all time. We are extremely fortunate to be able to hear such works in Oswestry and long may it continue to be so. – F.S.M.
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