| 10th Feb 2001 - 7:45 pm, The Leicester Philharmonic Choir and The Leicester Symphony Orchestra - Susan Dingle The DeMontfort Hall, Leicester. Because of the presence of the large choir the concert was performed using the stage extension with additional vertical lighting being provided from a gantry suspended above the first violins and the cellos. This immediately brings an additional presence to the performance - allowing the orchestra to communicate more directly with the audience. More amateur orchestras should consider this format when planning concerts in this large hall. Rachel Leach was in the audience to hear a competent world premier of her "The Amortisation of Intangible Fixed Assets". It may have been unwise to have three movements each structured as an arch rather than considering other forms - but the two outer movements in particular showed good development of orchestral colour and the final brooding ominous clouds of the finale were brought out particularly well by the orchestra. Bravo to Leicester Symphony Orchestra for the choice of the piece - it was an enjoyable breath of fresh air amongst some of the more traditional programmes of the recent past. This was ambitiously followed by Richard Strauss' Death and Transfiguration. Whilst stretching the band to the limits one couldn't help but be impressed by the conviction of the playing and the security of Ms Dingle's direction. The Phil gave a rousing performance of Carmina Burana - Ten out of Ten to the Capital Arts Childrens Choir (Kathleen Shanks - director) for precision and tone. Andrew Mayor (Bass) had a good tone and clear grasp of the style the piece required. Roger Swann - Leicester local press. |
| PRESS REVIEWS |
| Orff - Carmina Burana 10th Feb 2001 Reviews ************************************************************************************** Choir and orchestra’s inspiring collaboration Carmina Burana, Leicester Philharmonic Choir, Leicester Symphony Orchestra De Montfort Hall Review: Joyce Parkin - Leicester Mercury 13 Feb 2001 WHAT an excellent idea to have Leicester Philharmonic Choir and Leicester Symphony Orchestra jointly perform this programme. The main work of the evening was Carmina Burana, but the first half consisted of three pieces, conducted by Susan Dingle. There was a rousing start with both choir and orchestra with Handel’s well-loved Coronation anthem Zadok the Priest. Another successful performance came from the orchestra, with Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss. This tone poem displays the visions of a dying man with its moments of high drama and yet others giving delicious sound. Susan Dingle brought out the wonderful climax leading to the peace in death. The novel item was the world premiere of The Amortisation of Intangible Fixed Assets, a piece in three short movements by Rachel Leach - present. The principal item was Carl Orff’s CarminaBurana with 0 Fortuna. Here choir and orchestra were joined by the Capital Arts Children’s Choir and soloists were Jenny Saunders (soprano) with her sweet tone, Wynford Evans (tenor) displaying his “misery”, and Andrew Mayor (bass) pompous as the Abbot, yet mischievous. |
| New chamber orchestra serves up a musical treat. Peter Thomas - Northern Times 13 April 2001 For music-lovers in the Far North, formation of the new Highland Chamber Orchestra is the best news for a long time. As the introduction to their programme states, it has been formed by musicians for musicians. The orchestra's performance last Saturday at Ullapool's McPhail Centre was quite electrifying and was striking evidence of the combined talents in instrumental skill of a highly cohesive team under superb direction. As one weaned as a pre-war teenager on Rossini, and moving on in the late forties to Mozart and Beehoven, the programme could hardly have been more welcome. the lively and sparkling overture to Rossini's comic opera 'The Italian Girl in Algiers' (or 'The Abduction from the Casbah') made a suitable start to the programme. In the main work of the first half, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante was beautifully rendered by the orchestra in support of the violin duo, with orchestra leader Donald Goskirk's violin ably supoorted and vomplemented by Colin Warrender's viola, the lilting notes of the one instrument being answered by the other in notes that flowed like a rippling stream. Hungarian-born composer Bela Bartok is not too well known in the North and his very delightful set of Roumanian Dances made a delightful close to the first half of the concert. Following the interval, a truly rivetting performance of Beethoven's Second Symphony in D major gaave one a slight feeling of guilt, for the programme's introductory words describe it as one of Beethoven's most under-rated works. As one who hastened to acquire recordings of all nine of his symphonies in the '50's, the writer has to plead guilty to placing it last in choice. Saturday night's truly striking performance put paid to that! It was no surprise to read that conductor Suan Dingle had left her home city of Edinburgh to study music at Sheffield and that her training had been completed in St Petersburg State Conservatory. her dynamic and decisive conducting was clear evidence of her talent and demonstrated also that she had won the sympathetic and wholehearted co-operation of this very fine orchestra. It was magical to watch her hands as she handle the evening's music with professional expertise. The excellent McPhail Centre was about three-fifths full, acoustic effects having obviously featured highly in it's design. Those who missed this musical treat can be comforted by the thought that, with it's very own orchestra, the North Highlands will now look forward to visits throughout the area by these accomplished musicians. |
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