Western Gazette, July 2006

DEATH SURFACES TWICE IN CONCERT BRIMMING WITH LIFE.

 

A vibrant young orchestra presented a programme of extraordinary variety in Wells Cathedral on Friday. The Amadeus Orchestra is a training ground for young musicians, and many alumni now play in major British orchestras and elsewhere around the world. On the evidence presented in Wells last week, it is not hard to understand why: the professionalism, exuberance and sensitivity shown in the performance of a challenging programme was in strong evidence, and then - well, then there is the superb musicianship.

 

Leonard Bernstein's Overture to Candide is a cracking concert-opener, full of energy and, played under director Philip Mackenzie with great pace, it positively fizzed with the young players' enthusiasm. Cues were crisp and the intertwined melodies of the operetta were clearly defined within the whole, culminating in a thrilling coda.

 

The other item in the first half of the programme is a personal favourite and consequently had to live up to the expectations resulting from my cherished 1966 recording by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. My anxiety proved unfounded as soprano Janis Kelly, who regularly appears with English National Opera, sang a sublime rendition of Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss, brilliantly counterpointed by the solo passages of violin and horn. This poignant work was composed a year before Strauss died in 1949 and the last song, At Sunset, is widely held to reflect how he was contemplating what lay ahead: "In times of trial and joy we have gone hand in hand... Soon it will be time for sleep... How tired we are of our travelling; can this perhaps be death?" In the setting of the cathedral, and with Kelly's delightful phrasing, this was an immensely beautiful moment of the evening.

 

The second half of the programme featured Sergey Prokofiev's Romeo And Juliet Orchestral Suites 1 & 2, another vehicle to demonstrate the orchestra's versatility, as the composer chose these movements from the full score for the express purpose of musical contrast. The second suite closes with Romeo at the grave of Juliet and, for the second time that evening, the audience was once again contemplating the nature of death as the music concluded.

 

And so, after the contrastingly deafening applause finally faded, the performers threw their all into a much appreciated toe- and finger-tapping encore in the form of The Dam Busters March by Eric Coates.

 

An imaginative, entertaining and thought-provoking evening all round.

© Amadeus Chorus & Orchestra 2007. All rights reserved