What’s not to like about a sparkling overture from the pen of Arthur Sullivan for the comic opera Pirates of Penzance?
This was followed by the Clarinet Concerto Opus 36 by Franz Krommer (1759-1831). This at first seemed unfamiliar but the third movement is one that is frequently on the playlist of Classic FM. Why don’t they feature the other two movements?
Most exciting for the audience, the solo part was taken by John Osborne, a regular member of the orchestra who, we were told, had been playing the clarinet since the age of 10.
He managed the many passages of virtuoso playing with great panache and received confident backing from the orchestra.
Another popular Classic FM piece is Vltava by Smetana (1824-1884). This symphonic poem describes the course of this romantic river, from its source in the Bohemian mountains to its maturity when it reaches Prague.
This is a very descriptive piece with many changes of mood, allowing the orchestra to conjure up the ‘course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer’s wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night’s moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces and ruins aloft’. (Smetana’s own words).
Very much an ensemble piece to which all sections of the orchestra brought their very best efforts.
Another unfamiliar piece was introduced after the interval. Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite is a work of incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg for a play by Bjørn Bjørnson celebrating King Sigurd I of Norway.
The full work consists of nine parts of which Conductor, Barry Carrington Moule, had selected three — At the Matching Game, Borghil’s Dream and Homage March.
Three contrasting movements which gave every opportunity for the musicians to showcase their talent.
The closing work was Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished). Schubert completed only two movements, which has aroused much speculation among musicologists ever since but the two known movements are often augmented by a Scherzo which may or may not have been intended as part of the Symphony or as part of the incidental music for Rosamunde.
Barry Carrington Moule had made an arrangement of the second part ‘Scherzo’ as a contrast to the Allegro Moderato and the Andante con Moto.
The two original movements were again well known and the orchestra’s competent rendition left the audience feeling well satisfied with that and the rest of the evening’s programme before heading out into a rather stormy night.