Simply sublime strings
THE ARION ORCHESTRA, at Douai Abbey, on Saturday, March 25
MOST APPROPRIATE to the venue of last Saturday's concert was the short
opening work, Vivaldi's Concerto "Madrigalesco", in which various sections
of the orchestra performed as groups of vocalists do when singing a
madrigal. This style of music was well suited to the acoustics of the Abbey
church.
The effect was impressively achieved by the Arion Orchestra's 38 string
players performing throughout the evening with energetic assurance.
Conductor Brien Stait, who founded the orchestra in 1969, approached this
work and the other four items on the programme with a glowing commitment. In Elgar's "Introduction and Allegro for Strings and String Quartet, Opus 47",
his baton commanded the full force of the string instruments to inundate the
vast space of the church with the sublime strains of the "Introduction" and
the players made the entire score sound as fresh and exploratory as it must
have sounded when first performed 95 years ago.
In Weber's "Quintet in B flat, Opus 34", arranged for clarinet and string
orchestra, soloist Emma Johnson made us aware of the work being written for
a virtuoso playing of the composer's favourite instrument. With its variety
of texture, it had many passages of showpiece intensity which were handled
with an engaging buoyancy and energy.
Responding to her playing, the string orchestra seemed fully aware of the
dramatic inspiration of Weber's composition. After the interval came the
treat of hearing one of the best known works for a string ensemble, Dvorak's
"Serenade for Strings, Opus 22". All five contrasting movements were played
with great verve and virtuosity. The programme ended with a short, graceful
piece, "The Last Sleep of the Virgin", which the ensemble and solo cellist
Heather Harrison handled with perfect poise and assurance
GEORGE CRANFORD
THE ARION ORCHESTRA, at Douai Abbey, on Saturday, March 25
MOST APPROPRIATE to the venue of last Saturday's concert was the short
opening work, Vivaldi's Concerto "Madrigalesco", in which various sections
of the orchestra performed as groups of vocalists do when singing a
madrigal. This style of music was well suited to the acoustics of the Abbey
church.
The effect was impressively achieved by the Arion Orchestra's 38 string
players performing throughout the evening with energetic assurance.
Conductor Brien Stait, who founded the orchestra in 1969, approached this
work and the other four items on the programme with a glowing commitment. In Elgar's "Introduction and Allegro for Strings and String Quartet, Opus 47",
his baton commanded the full force of the string instruments to inundate the
vast space of the church with the sublime strains of the "Introduction" and
the players made the entire score sound as fresh and exploratory as it must
have sounded when first performed 95 years ago.
In Weber's "Quintet in B flat, Opus 34", arranged for clarinet and string
orchestra, soloist Emma Johnson made us aware of the work being written for
a virtuoso playing of the composer's favourite instrument. With its variety
of texture, it had many passages of showpiece intensity which were handled
with an engaging buoyancy and energy.
Responding to her playing, the string orchestra seemed fully aware of the
dramatic inspiration of Weber's composition. After the interval came the
treat of hearing one of the best known works for a string ensemble, Dvorak's
"Serenade for Strings, Opus 22". All five contrasting movements were played
with great verve and virtuosity. The programme ended with a short, graceful
piece, "The Last Sleep of the Virgin", which the ensemble and solo cellist
Heather Harrison handled with perfect poise and assurance
GEORGE CRANFORD
Rhythm queen... Evelyn Glennie delighted her audience at the Sheldonian
EVELYN GLENNIE
Old ones, new ones, neglected ones..." Was it pianist Semprini who
introduced his radio programmes this way?
No matter, the description certainly fitted the Arion Orchestra's
Sheldonian concert. The old topped and tailed the evening, with Bach's
Brandenburg Concerto No 3 and Rossini's first String Sonata. The all-string
Arion is unfashionably large for this repertoire - eight cellos, for
instance. The warm, romantic sound reminded me of the Boyd Neel Orchestra as I first heard it emerging from that new-fangled Invention, the LP record.
Romantic certainly, but conductor Brien Stait has a strong sense of rhythm.
One reason, no doubt, why the definitely modern percussionist Evelyn Glennie
specifically requested a return appearance with Mr Stait and the Arion.
She brought her own arrangement of a Vivaldi concerto, the original piccolo
slot part being replaced by a vibraphone. The overall effect was rather like
injecting lemon into a fruit cake, with the slow movement acquiring a whole
new dimension as Evelyn Glennie used the sustaining pedal to make the melody sing.
Next a jarring contrast. "Neglected" could describe Shostakovich's Chamber
Symphony, Op 110a. "Deliberately disturbing" is certainly appropriate.
Composed in 1960, this is Shostakovich's stark reaction to the saturation
bombing of Dresden in 1945. Brian Stait plainly feels deeply about this
piece, with its heartfelt cries from a lost child and its dissonant crashes
as the bombs fall. Not surprisingly, Mr Stait drew a committed performance
from his players, nearly banishing a nagging feeling that Shostakovich
repeats himself too much and so blunts the horror.
Bags of bounce from the new after the interval, as Evelyn Glennie
reappeared to play Ney Rosauro's 1986 Marimba Concerto. This piece is staple
Glennie fare, exploiting both the mellow and the hard, percussive nature of
the marimba, and Involving several Concorde-speed leaps up and down the
Instrument.
This was indeed a varied concert. What, I wonder, will the Arion serve up
when they return in April?
Giles Woodforde
EVELYN GLENNIE
Old ones, new ones, neglected ones..." Was it pianist Semprini who
introduced his radio programmes this way?
No matter, the description certainly fitted the Arion Orchestra's
Sheldonian concert. The old topped and tailed the evening, with Bach's
Brandenburg Concerto No 3 and Rossini's first String Sonata. The all-string
Arion is unfashionably large for this repertoire - eight cellos, for
instance. The warm, romantic sound reminded me of the Boyd Neel Orchestra as I first heard it emerging from that new-fangled Invention, the LP record.
Romantic certainly, but conductor Brien Stait has a strong sense of rhythm.
One reason, no doubt, why the definitely modern percussionist Evelyn Glennie
specifically requested a return appearance with Mr Stait and the Arion.
She brought her own arrangement of a Vivaldi concerto, the original piccolo
slot part being replaced by a vibraphone. The overall effect was rather like
injecting lemon into a fruit cake, with the slow movement acquiring a whole
new dimension as Evelyn Glennie used the sustaining pedal to make the melody sing.
Next a jarring contrast. "Neglected" could describe Shostakovich's Chamber
Symphony, Op 110a. "Deliberately disturbing" is certainly appropriate.
Composed in 1960, this is Shostakovich's stark reaction to the saturation
bombing of Dresden in 1945. Brian Stait plainly feels deeply about this
piece, with its heartfelt cries from a lost child and its dissonant crashes
as the bombs fall. Not surprisingly, Mr Stait drew a committed performance
from his players, nearly banishing a nagging feeling that Shostakovich
repeats himself too much and so blunts the horror.
Bags of bounce from the new after the interval, as Evelyn Glennie
reappeared to play Ney Rosauro's 1986 Marimba Concerto. This piece is staple
Glennie fare, exploiting both the mellow and the hard, percussive nature of
the marimba, and Involving several Concorde-speed leaps up and down the
Instrument.
This was indeed a varied concert. What, I wonder, will the Arion serve up
when they return in April?
Giles Woodforde
Arion Orchestra
Wells Cathedral: Arion Orchestra
Rarely can this cathedral have played host to such a remarkable live performance.
The 60-strong Reading-based Arian Orchestra thundered out crescendos worthy of their description during Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5.
Conductor Brien Stait extracted an energetic interpretation that delighted the audience.
The strings developed a sombre opening movement with apt restraint. The third movement blossomed in dramatic contrast, with the brass section belting out a convincing fanfare above the strings, which continued to develop the main theme.
Heather Harrison adopted a controlled rather than flamboyant approach in her presentation of the Elgar cello concerto in E minor. Her artistic phrasing brought Elger's melodic score to life.
The third movement was particularly engaging, with the orchestra's faithful support creating a happy union of sound.
Mike Thomas
Rarely can this cathedral have played host to such a remarkable live performance.
The 60-strong Reading-based Arian Orchestra thundered out crescendos worthy of their description during Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5.
Conductor Brien Stait extracted an energetic interpretation that delighted the audience.
The strings developed a sombre opening movement with apt restraint. The third movement blossomed in dramatic contrast, with the brass section belting out a convincing fanfare above the strings, which continued to develop the main theme.
Heather Harrison adopted a controlled rather than flamboyant approach in her presentation of the Elgar cello concerto in E minor. Her artistic phrasing brought Elger's melodic score to life.
The third movement was particularly engaging, with the orchestra's faithful support creating a happy union of sound.
Mike Thomas
Varied trip through emotions
THE Arion Orchestra conducted by Brien Stait and consummately led by Nicholas Miller, provided their capacity audience with one of the finest orchestral concerts ever heard in Leighton Park School, last Saturday evening.
From start to finish their playing under Brien Stait's inspired direction proved the perfect example of string orchestra teamwork, in a versatile programme which only the finest of string ensembles
would have attempted.
The Four Seasons, Vivaldi's appealing conception of nature was an aural and mentally visual delight, the tonal contrasts being so effectively achieved that one could all but see the weather
change!
Stark antithesis was made with a memorable interpretation of Shostakovich's emotive Chamber Symphony Op110a, composed
after a visit to Dresden when the full horror of its destruction during the 1945 saturation bombing raid was brought home to him.
However the orchestra's versatility was wholly revealed with a delightful performance of Mozart's Divertimento in F, to send us home in cheerful mood!
"Cantabile"
Chronicle, Friday, July 5,1991
THE Arion Orchestra conducted by Brien Stait and consummately led by Nicholas Miller, provided their capacity audience with one of the finest orchestral concerts ever heard in Leighton Park School, last Saturday evening.
From start to finish their playing under Brien Stait's inspired direction proved the perfect example of string orchestra teamwork, in a versatile programme which only the finest of string ensembles
would have attempted.
The Four Seasons, Vivaldi's appealing conception of nature was an aural and mentally visual delight, the tonal contrasts being so effectively achieved that one could all but see the weather
change!
Stark antithesis was made with a memorable interpretation of Shostakovich's emotive Chamber Symphony Op110a, composed
after a visit to Dresden when the full horror of its destruction during the 1945 saturation bombing raid was brought home to him.
However the orchestra's versatility was wholly revealed with a delightful performance of Mozart's Divertimento in F, to send us home in cheerful mood!
"Cantabile"
Chronicle, Friday, July 5,1991
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