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Westmorland Orchestra Concert Westmorland Hall, Saturday 5th December 2009 For the opening of the
65th Concert Season, the Westmorland Orchestra welcomed David Chatwin as guest conductor. He plays Principal Bassoon in
the BBC Philharmonic and is also a very experienced conductor. It was obvious from
the start that he had prepared the orchestra well. Although Rossini’s colourful Overture ‘The Thieving Magpie’,
which opened the evening, contained a few ‘fluffed’ notes, it had
sparkle and was performed at a manageable speed: the four percussion players
added greatly to the audience’s enjoyment; there was some pleasing solo
work from woodwind soloists and well-controlled orchestra tuttis.
The performance just needed a little more dash to make it really exciting. Piano soloist,
Helen Reid, gave a fine performance of Rachmaninov’s
second Piano Concerto. From the finely graded crescendo of the opening chords
through to the dazzling ending she held our attention, playing with energy
and delicacy as required. The orchestra responded well to the challenges of
this work. The ‘big’ opening tune, played by the upper strings,
had all the fervour it needed; indeed, the
confident playing of the string section was a characteristic throughout the
evening. Particularly impressive was the performance of the third movement.
There are many changes in speed and mood in this movement, and the coherence
that was a feature of this performance is not easy to achieve; conductor,
soloist and orchestra worked together as a team. Again it was
obvious that a lot of care had gone into the preparation of Dvorak’s
long and demanding Symphony No. 7. Speeds were perhaps a little on the
cautious side, but phrases had shape, rhythms were carefully controlled and a
very good balance was achieved between the various sections of the orchestra;
at no time did the excellent brass section overwhelm the rest of the
orchestra as sometimes happens. Overall, this was
an impressive start to the season; succeeding visiting conductors have a lot
to live up to. Clive Walkley |