It was hardly a quiet concert to begin with. The hall was rammed. And Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky made for an almost raucous opener to the evening. With every seat in the auditorium filled and late comers squeezed into corners the orchestra under the as -ever fabulous baton of Harry Sever went fully explosive. Petrushka is hard to follow. The theme of the concert was bad boys and behaviour to befit a Rascal, - and he, a mere puppet breaks the rules and yearns to win the love of a fellow puppet revived to life for the encounter. The upside-down plot cracks along at a pace with every member of the orchestra involved. There were some great moments, the trumpet -playing was lovely and the flute gorgeous. The big bass drum featured only four emphatic strokes, but they made their sonic mark as did the rest of the drums, at least three percussionists helped swell the piece. The result was a controlled kaleidoscope of sound that reached its crescendo with and sudden explosion
The Cambridge Philharmonic certainly pulled the rabbit out of the hat when is presented its packed audience with superstar pianist Junyan Chen-second Prize at the Leeds Piano Competition and Philharmonic orchestras around the country, Royal Liverpool and Royal Academy - to perform Rhapsody in Blue. A super musician she is also the quintessence of glamour at the keyboard. Everyone tried to get a look at this elegant energetic figure at the piano. Long dramatic red hair and a matching gown was just the beginning. She was at one with her interpretation of the famous number. We were in New York with a special va va voom of a performance.
She spoke to The Cambridge Critique afterwards to describe her style “I like to dance as I play, she told us. In fact, I would like everyone to dance, surely it’s the crossover between my classical training and jazz and it makes me want to move. I would like to do it again; in fact I should love to do it again right now!’
A major coup of a booking , Simon Hewitt Jones starred in the second half, a s the Orchestra Leader of three of Richard Strauss’ most celebrated pieces. Simon, a premier English violinist, stretches his musicality across the creative landscape – as well as life as a performer and writers, he also presents and produces and often appears with the London Concertante chamber orchestra and he leads the Guildford Symphony Orchestra as leader or soloist. Remarkably Simon has recorded for Massive Attack and Ed Sheeran – he cannot be accused of over-specialism but excels in all his projects.
Any orchestra approaches he genius of Richard Strauss with awe. But in the capable hands of Conductor Harry Sever, the three pieces chosen emerged with joyful exuberance. And they could not be more different.
Don Juan is his third tone poem and is soft lyrical and melodic. This Don Juan is a long chalk from Mozart’s desperado dangerous Don Giovanni. He has the same impossible quest, but his hopes are more romantic than rapacious. The music matches the man, soft and romantic. Strauss wroe it whilst falling into a relationship with his wife to be, and it reflects all the emotion of first love. The upward sweep of the opening bars signal the adventure ahead with heroic flair. If by the end of the piece Don Juan has collapsed into failure and exhaustion, we still have the joy of the adventure into the territory of love- and defeat and failure
Feierlicher Einzung , a solemn procession to herald the arrival of members of the Knights of St. John. It blossoms in volume and power with the help of brass for a massive ending of grand celebration.
The Third Song recounts the adventures of another prankster taken from medieval folk memory. His high jinxes, - literally - have wonderful string and brass accompaniment and need the versatility of the musicians to arrive at their inevitable unhappy ending. All done in great fun. Even at his dramatic death on the gallows, the figure of naughty Till appears again in the form of his musical motif.
At the end of a very full - in all senses - concert it was hard to judge who had come out best, as they were all such diverse performers. Suffice to say it was a fabulous evening with memories of some of the greatest music the world has to offer and all here in Cambridge courtesy of the remarkable manoeuvres of The Cambridge Philharmonic and their skill.
