Interview with Digital Theatre CEO Justin Cooke

Marcio da Silva is a warmly arresting baritone and, for a first stab at Winterreise this was a commendable performance. Twenty four songs in Schubert’s cycle, with only a short interval after number 12, takes a lot of stamina. Only occasionally – in some of the bottom notes in Irrlicht for example – was there any sense of strain. High spots includedFruhlingstraum in which he and pianist Francis Rayner – an excellent accompanist –  emphasised the contrast of the major key passage (most of these songs are in minor keys, of course) and rippling 6/8 rhythm alternating with the stormy passages and wistful ones as the singer dreams of spring.

Die Post was fun too with Francis Rayner ensuring that we could all hear the smiling post horn references in the accompaniment, before the sadness well evoked by Marcio da Silva. They gave  a delightful rendering of Die Nebensonnen bringing out all the folksy nursery rhyme qualities of the piece.

Overall, they ensured that this plotless cycle evoked the singer’s journey as, jilted in love, he sets out, through the winter, to work out his own complex feelings. As always, one is left marvelling at Schubert’s extraordinary ingenuity and at the versatility this cycle demands of its performers.  Marcio da Silva’s was singing the cycle from memory – a feat in itself.

Before Winterreise we were treated to Aysen Ulucan playing, also with Francis Rayner, Beethoven’s violin sonata Opus 30 number 2. It was a workmanlike performance delivered with poise and nice negotiation of rhythmic contrasts, particularly in the C major section. Aysen Ulucan also gave us some very beautiful cantabile playing in the adagio. At other times the tone was a bit thin and the sound sometimes swallowed by the rather dry acoustic created by the spacious, lofty beauty of Christ Church. Occasionally there was harshness created by possibly misjudged bowing pressure too, but these are fairly minor gripes.

This concert took place on a bitterly cold, wet and windy evening. It is a credit to Hastings Philharmonic that so many people turned out for what, in the event, was a musically demanding concert for all concerned.

First published by Lark Reviews: http://www.larkreviews.co.uk/?p=4103

There was a lot of lilting 3/4 time and enough tunes to set you humming all week in this enjoyable concert.

First came a slightly exaggerated – but none the worse for that – rendering of Schubert’s 8^th Symphony – the Unfinished. Howard Shelley gave us a lingering horn, exciting sforzandi and lots of timp in the first movement, which he ended with a very measured, almost mannered, tempo. The second movement stressed the tip-toeing pizzicato and legato melody nicely. It was a very pleasing start to the concert which left me reflecting – for the thousandth time – that it’s an insult to Schubert’s genius to dub this his Unfinished symphony. I reckon he decided it was perfect just the way it is and he was right.

Howard Shelley is, as ever, fascinating to watch when he multi-tasks by conducting from the key board – iPad on the stand and blue toothed pedal to ‘turn’ the digital pages. On this occasion for Mendelssohn’s first piano concerto he had the lid off the piano – right off too – so that the sound was louder and more dominant than it would be for work by, say, Mozart or Beethoven. It’s a charming concerto and it’s a pity we don’t hear it more often. The sparkling dance quality of the third movement, for instance, was melodiously uplifting in this performance.

And so to Dvorak’s 6^th Symphony with its delightful opening movement – 3/4 time again like the Schubert – in which Shelley even-handedly ensured that all the musical conversation is articulated as Dvorak sails on from melody to melody. In particular, I liked the trombone, flute and horn work here. Then came the lyrical beauty of the slow movement (how Dvorak loved lower strings!) which Shelley leaned on to good effect. The incisive string work taken at an impressive tempo in the third movement and the colourful, rousing finale rounded it off with panache.

All in all it was another fine Brighton Philharmonic concert. It was a pity, however, that the cold weather seemed to have led to more empty seats than usual. People who opted not to come missed a worthwhile afternoon of music.

First published by Lark Reviews: http://www.larkreviews.co.uk/?cat=3

“Now sits expectation in the air” as Shakespeare put it. Never in twenty years as a regular have I seen Mote Hall, Maidstone Leisure Centre as busily buzzy as it was when I arrived for this concert. I’d already queued for 20 minutes to drive into the car park. The hall was, unusually, full to capacity and there were far more under-20s present than Maidstone Symphony orchestra generally attracts. The reason for all this excitement? Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Attractively ordinary with his white shirt, silk waistcoat and fluffy Afro hair the 2016 winner of BBC Young Musician played the Elgar Concerto for the first time. Now 18, and in his first year at the Royal , this charismatic young man, educated at a Nottingham comprehensive school, had me literally crouched on the edge of my seat for the entire concerto.  Seated in the third row, I could hear him breathing the music from the opening, dramatic, sombre E minor chords through to the pained, wistful melodies of the lento and adagio movements and the drama of the final allegro. Has anyone played this concerto with more passion and anguish since Du Pré? It was both riveting and humbling to watch and listen to – and a great privilege to be present at what, I’m sure, will come to be regarded as a historic moment for classical music: the first time Sheku played the greatest, arguably, post-Bach work in the cello repertoire.

Interesting to reflect too that Elgar was 62 when this concerto premiered in 1919. I find it fascinating that every generation can throw up at least one brilliant young musician who can, with stunning technical expertise, climb inside the tortured mind of an elderly gentleman whose beloved wife (she died five and a half months after the premiere) must already have been ill with lung cancer.

Well, the concert was definitely the glittering jewel in the crown of this concert but Maidstone Symphony Orchestra shone in the rest of the programme too. Berlioz’s King Lear overture doesn’t enjoy many outings but, engaging piece as it is, it sang out dramatically on this occasion. Brian Wright ensured that we appreciated the quasi melody Berlioz affords the timpanist (Keith Price) and David Montague’s accomplished oboe work which represents Cordelia – sweet and lyrical amidst all the discordance and busy playing – was a high spot.

After a very long interval – during which Sheku was, with great charm,  unhurriedly signing CDs, posing for photographs with admirers and generally making classical music “cool” – it was time for Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Brian Wright took the whole work at a nippy speed and I don’t think it was just because we were running late. It needs to move to come alive.

He is awfully good at allowing woodwind and brass detail to come through and of course, for irrepressibly exuberant Dvorak that’s even more important than for some other composers. So we got lovely dynamic contrasts in the opening movement, a beautifully played cor anglais (Jane Walker) theme in the largo against well balanced muted strings and a very lilting scherzo which danced along through all its mood swings and key changes. And as for the allegro con fuoco finale, there was certainly lots of pleasing, fiery “fuoco”. The brass section did exceptionally well here and the very fast “folksy” string passages were admirably incisive.

First published by Lark reviews: http://www.larkreviews.co.uk/?cat=3