28 November 2013
On Saturday I
took part in a concert with Milton Keynes Sinfonia which celebrated the
centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten with two works which opened and
closed the performance. Britten’s ‘Sinfonia da Requiem’ is a serious, complex,
challenging piece – both to play and to listen to. It required huge
concentration from the orchestra and our tight, clear performance was a
significant achievement which owed much to our conductor, David Knight. We
concluded the concert with a very different piece of Britten, his joyous ‘Young
Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ with its variations on a theme by Purcell
culminating in a glorious fugue and triumphant finale. In between the two works
by Britten were a stunning performance of the Elgar ‘Cello Concerto by
Jacqueline Johnson and Holst’s ‘Ballet Music from The Perfect Fool’ – a lively,
tuneful piece with a playfully lopsided 7/8 rhythm. It was an interesting and
varied programme which brought an enthusiastic response from a packed audience.
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