BRITTEN SINFONIA

M&G Concert at the Civic Theatre

24.10.10

A wonderful, high-profile start to the new M&G Civic Concert series. James McMillan's Oboe Concerto, premièred on this Britten Sinfonia tour, and co-commissioned by them, is dedicated to the soloist, Nicholas Daniel.

It certainly gave him a challenge, both technical and artistic. The jaunty opening, with the oboe dancing wildly, was followed by a sombre Largo, the superb string section sighing under the oboe's musings, and an intense, often ecstatic Allegro finale. Both the soloist and the orchestra played brilliantly, under McMillan's own direction, expressive but never ostentatious.

The shock of the new was followed after an interval by Mozart's familiar 40^th, in a muscular but meaningful performance. An extrovert Minuet and Trio followed by a nimble closing movement, with something of the same magic between woodwind and strings we'd heard in the McMillan.

The concert opened with the Barshai reworking of Shostakovich's Eighth String Quartet; full of incident and self-reference, and featuring a ghostly waltz and an eloquent duet between Caroline Dearnley's cello and the violin of leader Thomas Gould.

BRITTEN SINFONIA

M&G Concert at the Civic, Chelmsford

01.02.09

The Britten Sinfonia, always a highlight of the M&G season, surpassed themselves this time with a programme they'd called The Lyrical Oboe.

The instrument in question was in the hands of Nicholas Daniel, who generously gave us no fewer than three concertos.

Vivaldi first, with its “trillion notes” and darkly dramatic, middle movement. Then, just before the interval, the dreamy, autumnal Vaughan Williams. Written for Leon Goossens, it's a demanding piece, but one Daniel has made his own – it was the work he played almost thirty years ago when he won the BBC Young Musician. We marvelled again at his breath control, the blend of intimacy and distance, and the pianissimo melodic line hovering in thin air. Magical.

To end the concert, the oboe was joined by the violin of the Sinfonia's co-leader Thomas Gould for Bach's Concerto BWV 1060. Flawless phrasing, especially in the Adagio, and an easy empathy between these two superb musicians, made this a sublime climax to the evening.

Britten's Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, and Shostakovich's Two Pieces for String Octet, with the Scherzo line chasing round the semi-circle, completed a typical varied Britten Sinfonia offer.

photograph of Thomas Gould by Sussie Ahlburg