Early
Spring
Concert
by
Toby Smith
Aluredian
52
T
he billing, Early Spring Concert,
for an event on February 17th
was optimistic, but the music, if
not the weather, was
guaranteed to put a spring in
the step. The programme was
of a range of chamber music with 'Baroque
undertones', giving the whole evening a sense of
shape and a chance to compare the different
styles and ensembles characteristic of the era of
Vivaldi, Corelli and Handel.
The Chamber Orchestra set a refined tone for
proceedings, with a measured performance of a
Handel Sarabande, followed by a Jig by
Thomas Arne, which shared the nautical
flavour of his greatest hit, Rule Britannia!
Warm horn playing from Will MacEacharn
contrasted with the brisk string sound, evoking
a breezy day off Spithead. The exhilaration
continued with Mozart's Sleigh Ride, heralded
by Georgina Adcock's trumpet call. The
audience-passengers enjoyed a smooth ride, a
far cry from Leroy Anderson's rollercoaster. The
Chamber Orchestra is a largely young group,
but their attention to conductor Claire Bennie
ensured an impressive ensemble sound.
Lucy Dunham's solo Handel aria Lascio ch'io
pianga was a beautiful performance, her soaring,
resonant soprano projected into the space of the
Chapel, and her breath control ensuring
effortlessly long phrasing and some gorgeous
appoggiaturas leant on with confidence.
As we were helpfully informed by stagehandcompère
Colin Albery, Giovanni Gabrieli's
antiphonal Sonata Pian e forte exploited the
opposing banks of a brass group, uniting 3rd to
6th formers; it also showed off the breath
control of the performers, mellow trombones
and horn, in a performance distinguished by
some great articulation and resounding
unisons, tightly controlling the dynamics
implied by the title.
The evening featured two string quartets, the
juniors catching the interplaying lines of The
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, while the
seniors were only three days late with an
arrangement of Rogers and Hart's My Funny
Valentine, its sultry harmonies an antidote to
the Baroque, and evocative of high summer
evenings. The slightly melancholic note
continued with the simplicity of Grieg's
Norwegian Dance, Sinnie Kaorattana leading
with some crushed harmonies, passing the lead
to Emily Dalwood for Capua's O Sole Mio, a
lilting barcarolle without the usual tenor call for
cornettos. Emily also gave a solo performance,
her sweet tone fitting perfectly with
Stenhammer's sentimental Romance No 1.
Reminding us that the Baroque was not devoid
of feeling, Tom Bowerman-Wake and Meiling
Daniell-Greenhalgh sang Vivaldi's gorgeous
Laudamus Te from his Gloria, melismatic
passages carefully interwoven, and benefitting
from the contrast between Tom's full, powerful
treble, and the purer timbre of Meiling. David
Bidgood, meanwhile, gave a fantastic recital of
Handel's Recorder Sonata in G Minor, sweeping
with a great sense of line through the angular
passages, and catching the wistful insistence of
the music, joyful despite its minor key.
The evening concluded, perhaps again
unseasonally, with Corelli's Christmas Concerto
Grosso, with Ginny Nash, Sinnie Kaorattana and
Tamar Dewbery as soloist. Though the latter's
dramatic role here was often limited by the
demands the composer makes of his cellist,
Tamar sustained the momentum of the relentless
arpeggios, and in the second movement,
combined with her colleagues to produce a rich
sound as a semi-chorus. In the final movement,
led by Sinnie, the whole orchestra combined in a
fluid and stately performance, undeniably grand,
and leaving one longing for a return to a warm
Christmas fireside.