E U CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

E U CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

M&G Concert

at the Civic Theatre

15.04.12

The last of this season's M&G Civic concerts featured the Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, in a memorable performance of Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp, backed by the European Union Chamber Orchestra, directed from the violin by Jerome Akoka.

Both Catrin and her "partner in crime", flautist Fiona Slominska, were prominently placed at the front of the small chamber ensemble, giving a fresh impetus to the familiar slow movement, and dynamism to the uplifting Finale.

The harp stayed in place after the interval, for a stunning Danses sacrée et profane by Debussy, the interpretation helped by some positive phrasing from the strings.

The evening opened with Handel's first Water Music Suite, with a beautiful oboe solo in the Adagio, and agility and charm in the fleet-footed Allegro.

To end, Haydn's Symphony No. 64, played briskly, but with an expressive Largo, and elegance of expression as well as energy in the closing Presto.