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SEPTEMBER SPLENDOUR There's something about a hot summer's evening, a string orchestra and a succession of soloists. Something solid; satisfying. Saturday evening saw the City of Oxford Orchestra treating their audience to a further diet of Baroque works from their current series. This was 'September Splendour'. A notably varied programme led listeners through an array of splendid pieces written for solo instruments and string orchestra. A cunning move in programming ensured that all soloists appeared back on stage for the finale - Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F, scored for trumpet, flute, oboe, violin and strings. First though came Purcell's Sonata for Trumpet and Strings. The Sheldonian proved a good acoustic space for the solo instrument. The trumpeter could have done more, however, to capitalize on this resonance. While his finger work was mostly good, he might have drawn more attention to his entries with some kind of emphasis, effectively uplifting his overall performance. What a gem of a piece the Vivaldi Concerto for Flute and Strings in D is! It is one of two nicknamed 'Il Gardellino' (The Goldfinch); the flute-bird on this occasion sang with all its might! While the two outer fast sections showed off the considerable technical skills of the flautist, the slow middle movement contrasted nicely, Graham Mayger producing good tone. In 'satisfaction stakes', the works of J.S. Bach just can't be beaten. Tim Watts opened the Concerto in D Minor for Oboe and Violin with confidence; one could sense real cohesion in the group. The solo violinist Roland Roberts was masterful in the way he emerged seamlessly into the spotlight, moving from a supportive orchestral role to take the solo line. The lyrical Adagio brought out the contrasting timbres of violin and oboe. This performance got high marks from the audience. So did Vivaldi's 'Autumn' from the Four Seasons. While slight difficulties in tuning in the upper registers marred the opening movement, the closing hunt music was most evocative and the highly percussive plucking of strings attention-grabbing and effective. The beauty of Albinoni's popular Adagio in G Minor for Organ and Strings shone through unequivocally. Roland (hardly-closet-Romanticist?) Roberts produced a rich violin sound nearing perfection; he was complemented by sweet organ sonorities. So moving was the performance, the audience could not but have gone home their interest piqued--to dig up, dust off that old LP; to listen again, although without the many and unrivalled benefits of live performance, to this appealing work. SCMS |