REVIEW

Saturday 14 March 2009

Edward Elgar
Overture: Cockaigne (In London Town)

Jacques Ibert
Flute Concerto
Soloist:Christopher Wyatt

Peter Tchaikovsky
Symphony No 4 in F minor

Conductor Julian Williamson
Leader Paula Tysall

The Elgar Cockaigne Overture was an exuberant and brilliant opening to the concert and set the typically high standard of the DSO. The piece which moved along at quite a pace, was polished but still fiery. It's a very dramatic piece, and whilst I was listening to it with great intent I continued to observe the small nuances and subtleties which distinguish the piece so well. The brass and woodwind section were wonderfully militaristic and ensured that the string section had a fine springboard to balance off. The tambourine and percussion were triumphant. It was a great success, full of energy, spirit and a real lightness of touch.

I have to confess I had never heard of any of Ibert's wor before, nor is it necessarily my cup of tea but I was pleasantly surprised by the concerto and Wyatt's impressive rendition of what could have been a bit of a hard listen. The beautiful second movement, rather poetic and spiritual was particularly moving and the flute sounded truly haunting and entrancing. It certainly didn't sound like an easy piece for the orchestra to tackle and I would imagine once Wyatt came on board it started to develop a life of its own. The jazzy nature of the concerto, notably the third movement was brilliantly handled by Lindsay, I felt it was a demanding and lively piece that was executed very well. The incredibly talented Christopher Wyatt brought a lively and very tuneful touch to a work that could otherwise have felt like a struggle.

The wonderful Tchaikovsky is a brilliant piece, moving, romantic and stirring in equal measures. The orchestra tackled it with real aplomb and with great gusto and I was sucked in from the first beat. Such a dramatic piece with real frustration, angst and foreboding was handled well, the scherzo rather a nippy piece was at a great pace, the pizzicato strings were very tight and the fairground woodwind very nimple too. The climatic final movement was strong, fiery and really resonated in the surroundings.

The concert was a real treat.

Rachel Harvie