Orchestra gives anniversary treat (From Salisbury Journal)
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Orchestra gives anniversary treat
5:03pm Thursday 22nd March 2007 in Entertainments
Crispian Steele-Perkins rehearsing with the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra prior to the Salisbury Cathedral concert. DB1985P1
SALISBURY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
AFTER the inaugural concert of Salisbury Orchestral Society (the name changed to Symphony Orchestra in 2003), in 1917, the local papers described it as a musical treat' and performed to a crowded audience at the New Theatre.
Ninety years later, a packed cathedral was also given a musical treat at the orchestra's 90th anniversary concert on Saturday night.
Having the great international trumpet virtuoso Crispian Steele-Perkins as guest soloist was something of a coup, making Haydn's Trumpet Concerto seem like something that he played daily for breakfast. The sheer pleasure the trumpeter has for performing music was obvious, positively beaming when not actually playing, and the rapport between him and conductor David Halls was self-evident.
During the solo cadenza part, you could have heard a pin drop, such was the appreciation for this gifted player, and I have never heard the andante so sensitively performed. To much delight Steele-Perkins came back on after much applause to give an encore of Jeremiah Clarke's uplifting Trumpet Voluntary.
Opening the concert with Brahms' variations on a theme of Joseph Haydn for orchestra, allowed the different sections of the orchestra a chance to shine, the repetitive motif particularly strong in the wind section, though overall the piece lacked the panache needed for an opener.
The whole of the second half was dedicated to Elgar with a fine performance of Symphony No. 1, a fitting celebration on the composer's 150th anniversary as well as paying tribute to the first president of the orchestra. A suitable choice for a large orchestra, the symphony's grand opening theme placing the music firmly in the British canon, and the orchestra gaining momentum towards the end of the Allegro, continuing to the massive, grand finale.
Conductor David Halls and orchestra leader Rosamund Bromley must be congratulated on this fine achievement.
- Anne Morris
