CITY OF LONDON SINFONIA

M&G Concert at the Civic Theatre

20.03.11

Directed by guest leader Thomas Gould [who was here with the Britten Sinfonia last October], the City of London Sinfonia brought an unusual sequence of works for the last of this season's M&G Civic Concerts.

Two symphonies to start. An ebullient Allegro Assai led us into a nuanced performance of Haydn's 'Lamentatione', a reflective Adagio followed by a perky Minuet.

A much rarer treat from two centuries later: Philip Glass's Third Symphony, a chamber work for strings alone, and not without classical influence. Its mesmeric, subtly developed sequences were intelligently interpreted by the CLS, Gould's positive tempi bringing out what he referred to in the pre-concert talk as a suggestion of salsa … Movement Three was especially enthralling, with the lower strings setting up a pattern over which violin solos wove a marvellous melodic line.

A similar juxtaposition after the break: Barber's much more familiar Adagio for Strings, played with haunting intensity, preceding Mozart's Third Violin Concerto, given a performance of style and substance by Matthew Trusler, who achieved an easy rapport with the orchestral players. The spirit of Mozart was mostly clearly felt, perhaps, in the lilting Adagio, eloquently phrased by both soloist and Sinfonia. A dying fall at the end of the Rondeau concluded another hugely successful M&G series. Though it did make me long – vain hope, I know - for a proper concert hall in the county town, without the intrusive air conditioning or the annoying clink of cups and glasses from the bar after the interval.