Famous Characters - May 2011
Kabalevsky, Arutiunian, Rimsky-Korsakoff
SOME THOUGHTS FROM ROW Q
Before the Orchestra played a note, I was pleased to see such a range of ages on the stage ranging from teenagers to ....er....a little older. This is actually very rare in Sevenoaks activities, but the SSO really is a Community Orchestra in the best sense of the phrase.
The programme was also an interesting mix and very suitable for an early summer evening. There was no obvious "crowd puller" and so the audience numbers were a little down on the last concert, but you can't schedule the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto every time.
We began with an exhilarating blast from the Orchestra in Kabalevsky's Colas Breugnon Overture, an ideal curtain raiser. Then a complete contrast - the suite from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The informative programme notes wisely refrained from detailing the rather unpleasant plot of the opera so that we could concentrate on the music. This can be summed up by the best known number - "Summertime" - a sultry, misty atmosphere with a few violent storms. The strings produced a deliciously silky and slinky tone for this number - one could imagine them playing behind a gauze curtain. Then the woodwind section, including three saxophones, added to the laid-back mood. In amateur orchestras the woodwind can often be the weak link (sometimes downright embarrassing) but in the SSO they are its glory.
Another change of mood - a wake-up call with the Trumpet Concerto by Arutiunian. It is not a work of great depth but it was undoubtedly demanding and stimulating. The soloist, James Woods-Davison, mastered the technical demands, but I was particularly impressed by the slow muted section - I have never before heard a trumpet sounding so nearly like an oboe. I had not heard this piece before but it really ought to be in every orchestra's "lollipop" repertoire - if they are up to it.
The Arutiunian had its hints of Arabia but the full Arabian effect, albeit through Russian eyes, was in the second half with Rimsky-Korsakoff's Sheherazade. Again we were invited not to dwell on the detail of the stories but to revel in the music. And there was plenty to revel in; above all Catherine Smart's solo violin passages with the harp - the world just stood still at these moments. Moving on with an effort to describe the rest of the work - the cello, woodwind and brass solos were also impeccable and the orchestra as a whole duly whipped itself into a frenzy at the appropriate moments. Somewhere in the last movement the strings got a little uncoordinated but it simply proved the point that they had met the challenges of such a demanding score and of a very demanding evening as a whole.
A stimulating and enthralling evening - roll on the next concert!
Alastair Boobyer
