Our next concert will be on 31 January 2009 at the Baptist Church in Baxtergate, Loughborough
June 21st 2008
The Loughborough Orchestra held it's Summer concert at the Parish Church in Barrow Upon Soar on 21st June with a varied programme of favourites, instantly recognisable and with a wide appeal. The evening started in traditional form with an overture - The Bartered Bride by Smetana. Concert nerves were perhaps a little in evidence at the beginning but the mix of quiet passages interspersed with a lively dance tune meant the concert got off to a solid start. The second piece by contrast was Faure's Pavane. Quiet and melodic featuring the principal flautist Alison Parrott, it allowed the orchestra to show off it's romantic playing and the acoustics of the church provided ideal conditions for it to be heard. The guest soloist ended the first half and what a treat this was. Harpist Soraya Vermeulen may still be studying for A levels but she gave a performance of Handels Harp Concerto that any experienced soloist would have been proud of. The audience thought so too and after 2 curtain calls Soraya played an encore piece. Harpicide at Midnight by Pearl Chertok was totally different, a jazzy piece for solo harp showing how versatile the instrument can be. The interval was buzzing following these stunning performances and Soraya is surely a name to look out for on the international stage in the next few years. The second half started with Schuberts Unfinished Symphony. Having only 2 movements, although believed to have been intended eventually as a traditional symphony, the piece is a perenial favourite and the orchestra didn't disappoint. The concert ended with a spirited performance of Handels Water Music, the 6 movements featuring different sections of the orchestra and the french horns clearly enjoying the spotlight with perhaps the 2 most well known themes. After such a tiring programme conductor Liz Thomas looked very satisfied with the evenings performance and the audience showed their appreciation for all the hard work.
January 26th 2008
The Loughborough Orchestra’s Winter Concert got off to a stirring start with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, Fingal’s Cave. This dramatic piece was one of the first intended to depict a mood and set a scene, and the orchestra brought the power of the waves into Loughborough’s Parish Church on Saturday 26 January. This was followed by Haydn’s Oboe Concerto in D performed beautifully by guest soloist Rosie Curtis. The inclusion of this piece was made all the more poignant by the death at 97 of Lady Barbirolli only the previous day. Lady Barbirolli was an oboist of the highest distinction and would have been proud of the performance which was dedicated to her. The audience thought so too with tremendous applause for Rosie and her wonderfully lyrical playing.
After the interval the orchestra played Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner. Composed as a birthday gift of love to Cosima the music is both beautiful and complex, and the wind and brass wove their melodies into and above the body of the strings before ending as quietly as it had begun. The concert ended with Schumann’s Overture, Scherzo and Finale with its bouncy rhythms, the Finale being particularly driven, and with typical Schumann brass scoring the concert was brought to a rousing conclusion.
June 18th 2007
The Loughborough Orchestra held their 2007 Summer concert in Holy Trinity Church, Barrow Upon Soar. The concert opened with Rossini's The Thieving Magpie Overture, a piece full of excitement and Rossini's famous accelerandos. This was followed by Pastorale d'Ete by Arthur Honegger, a reflective piece featuring the horn (Wendy Holland)and beautifully played. Next came several movements from Gounod's Ballet music from Faust and the first half was rounded off by the strings playing the St Paul's Suite by Gustav Holst.
Not to be outdone, the wind and brass opened the second half with More Old Wine in New Bottles, a suite of four movements by Gordon Jacob featuring new arrangements of four old English songs. Despite the lights failing for a few seconds mid-piece the ensemble battled on. The concert was brought to a grand conclusion with Dvorak's Suite in A major.
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SAT 3 Feb 2007
| Concert Programme... |
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| Borodin |
Overture to Prince Igor |
| Tchaikovsky | Variations on a Rococco Theme |
| Bruch | Kol Nidrei |
| Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 1 in G Minor |
The loughborough orchestra performed their Summer 2006 concert on Saturday 17th June at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough.
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The loughborough orchestra played their winter concert at All Saints Parish Church in Loughborough with our very own Geoffrey Carter soloing on the organ: -
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For our June 2005 concert, the loughborough orchestra played at the Open Air Proms Concert and Grand Firework Display at Barrow-upon-Soar. This concert was organised by the Barrow Community Association and took place on Saturday 11th June 2005. The weather was dry and we saw glimpses of the sun, but being the typical British summer it was a little on the cool side. But that didn't dampen the spirits and the whole evening was enjoyed by a good-sized audience in a wonderful atmosphere, many coming early and enjoying a picnic on the lawn before the concert began.
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On 22nd January, the loughborough orchestra performed their winter concert at Emmanuel Church in Loughborough. The concert program is shown below: -
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Loughborough Echo Review (AF)
Piano Concerto ambitions
David Arkell started to play the piano when he was five. Now he is a teacher at the Grammar School, although not of music.
Chamber music and accompanying are his interests in that sphere, and he puts the latter to good use at the school.
But his ambition to play the Grieg Piano Concerto could only happen by bringing together a willing orchestra and conductor, a suitable venue and a good piano.
Loughborough has now obliged in the form of the Loughborough Orchestra with Liz Thomas, Emmanuel Church and the Steinway what seems to live not far away.
The work may be like an old warhorse, but when you hear it live and upfront like this, it starts you thinking afresh.
In 1868 the Norwegians hankered after independence, and the concerto's minor key nationalist flavour gives it an uneasy wistfulness.
In this performance, however, there was more than a little agression, unintentional or otherwise, some of which arose from the sheer volume of sound in the church.
But, especially if you decide to moderate the first movement's tempo, then the first subject needs more delicacy than it got here.
Yet the second theme was poetic enough and this alternation of weightiness and eloquence was repeated in the other two movements.
The heaviness did pay off in the imposing final bars, and the applause from the large audience justly erupted for an achievement of some magnificence by both soloist and orchestra. The horns, in particular, were as reliable as ever.
The first movement of Mozart's Symphony No39 also suffered from a lack of impulse and lift. Tempi were somewhat better in the other movements, including the finale, so it wasn't obviously a matter of technical skill.
Indeed, Mozart's Overture The Impresario which had opened the concert with precision, was expertly paced and full of life.
At first sight, Grieg's Four Norwegian Dances, Op35 was an odd work to end the evening. But after the Mozart symphony, it did bring back the whole orchestra for a rousing conclusion and No2 turned out to be an old favourite.
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Symphony ... "no. 39 in E-flat, has seen little time in the spotlight. It deserves better. It is, like the finest of Mozart's works, a felicitous blend of joyful exuberance and somber introspection, delicate smiles and hearty laughter, carefully counter-balancing each other through the ebb and flow of ever-changing melodies. There are graceful themes for strings and perky ones for woodwinds, particularly for clarinets, which stood high in the composer's affections at this point in his career. Taken in its entirety, the Symphony no. 39 is refreshing to the ear, its pleasures only intensified by the fact that it is not much performed. Here is a work of inspiration that, due to its rarity, can still surprise and delight."
Extract written by Elizabeth Schwarm Glesner, taken from http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mozart_sym39.html
The loughborough orchestra's 2004 summer concert took place on 12th June at Holy Trinity Church in Barrow-on-Soar. We played a variety of music, this was beautifully introduced by our compere for the evening Ed Thorpe. We also entertained a bassoon soloist, Sarah Brookman, who played a couple of delightful solo pieces by Elgar and Senaille. The concert was conducted by Liz Thomas and are leader was Zosia Cocker.
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The concert ended with an encore where we played the Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March again, a favourite with the orchestra and the audience!
Loughborough Echo Review (AF)
Friday night is time for music
The spirit of 'Friday night is Music Night' was abroad in Holy Trinity Church, Barrow for the well-attended concert by the Loughborough Orchestra, complete with compere in the person of Ed Thorpe.
The programme of nine short pieces was well planned too, and didn't seem a moment too long.
This church always strikes me as a smaller version of All Saints, Loughborough, so that it is both more intimate and doesn't lose sound in the rafters, but has less room for a large band of players.
The effect on the music was variable. Weber's Overture Der Freischutz was well paced and built its drama well, but the brass and percussion were almost overwhelming at full blast.
Delius' 'On hearing the first cuckoo in spring' lacked atmosphere in the small space, and the woodwinds were too intrusive against the softly voiced strings.
Two contrasted samples of Elgar followed. A rarity, his Rhapsody for Bassoon and Orchestra, apparantly written for an amateur band, demonstrated the lyrical playing of the evening's soloist Sarah Brookman, a bassoonist in several local groups including the Charnwood Orchestra.
The piece is Elgarian alright, but not very striking and although Sarah Brookman played persuasively, the textures lacked transparency.
Yet the Pomp and Circumstance March No4, a refreshing from No1, and just as memorable, sounded very well, despite its full-blooded orchestration. So for that matter, did the final piece, Charbier's famous and brilliantly orchestrated Espana.
Sarah Brookman showed the nimble side of her bassoon playing the once-popular arrangement of Introduction and Allegro Spiritoso by the otherwise little-known Frenchman Senaille, a contemporary of Bach. Surely only the bassoon could have made this cheerful violin piece humourous.
Borodin's On the Steppes of Central Asia was good to hear and well played, but acoustically it hardly suggested a passing caravan in vast open spaces.
And I fear that the Intermezzo and Baracolle from 'The Tales of Hoffmann' lacked the lilt needed to do justice to Offenbach's famous melody.
Yet the unpredicatable nature of these events made Faure's Pavane the best of the lyrical pieces, aided by some fine flute playing.
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Our February 2004 programme included the Elgar Cello Concerto and Vaughan Williams' London Symphony . Check out the pictures below - click on them to see them appear in more detail. Don't forget to check out more photos on the pictures page in our fun section :-)
Loughborough Echo Review (AF)
Elgar Concerto at Emmanuel
I wonder how many aspiring young cellists playing the Elgar Concerto have appeared with local orchestras over the years?
Perhaps not as many as it seems, but in any case it is a much-loved piece that invites affecting interpretation rather than virtuoso display.
Ruth Marriott was a student at Chetham's School of Music and is now reading music at Christ's College, Cambridge.
Playing in Emmanuel Church with the Loughborough Orchestra, her way with Elgar emphasised the reflective rather than display, and it was disconcerting that her opening phrase hardly called us to attention.
All the same, the very gentleness of her solo, with its lovely tone, and the refined orchestral playing under Liz Thomas invited close listening and fresh thoughts about the work's soul-searching discourse.
Only the finale, with its echoes of the composer's earlier manner, managed a touch of youthful bravura in its flourish.
The church is on the small size for a symphony orchestra but the sound is resonant yet clear. The bold opening, Smetana's Vlata, was given a careful performance, but it kept flowing, its various episodes were clearly set out and the effect was often imposing.
For Vaughan Williams' A London Symphony the orchestra was augmented further but perhaps caution prevented the climaxes from being wholly overwhelming.
Listeners unfamiliar with this loveable but leisurely impression of the great city may have found Liz Thomas' tempi too expansive but she knows her players.
Even the Scherzo was rather deliberate but I just sat back and enjoyed the succession of familiar themes, colourful scenes and nicely touched-in details from soloists.
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This was on 14th June 2003 and included the Weber "Clarinet Concerto" with soloist Timothy Putin of the Birmingham Conservatoire. The concert was once well received by the audience in the Loughborough Paris Church and Timothy produced an excellent solo performance.
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For copy of the poster for this concert select here.
Loughborough Echo Review (AF)
Perfomance is well balanced
When local orchestras tackle works even just outside the popular repertoire, as Loughborough Orchestra did in their concert at All Saints church in the town, there's a chance they may be giving local permieres or at least the first performance for a long time.
That's all well and good, but when much of the audience may not have heard the music before, you hope the performances won't leave too much to the imagination.
Dvorak's Symphonic Variations were a case in point. They took a few moments to get into gear but Liz Thomas soon had them running reasonably smoothly. The composer rarely distinguishes his ear-catching theme, uses the orchestra inventively and keeps each of the 27 variations quiet short. That helped the players make a decent flowing and characterful job of them, rounding off with a touch of brilliance.
Weber's Clarinet Concerto No1 may not match the Dvorak for memorability, but in the right hands it can sound like a masterpiece, given the shortage of good clarinet concertos. And Tim Putin really did make it sound masterly. Still only in his second year at the Birmingham Conservatoire, he threw off the work with utter confidence, spirit and fluency. He has a great future.
The adagio could have been more expressive, but was shapely nevertheless, and the passage with the orchestral horns (a nice Weber touch) was expertly managed. I have noted the quality of the Loughborough Orchestra's horns before, and as so often, the concerto found the orchestra well prepared and carefully balanced.
The other works were the Bax's Coronation March, from 1963 of course, and Saint-Sa�s' Suite Alg�ienne from 1880, contemporary with the Dvorak, but with French imperial and midly exotic flavours.
The Bax was much as you'd expect from the Master of the Queen's Music, though the big tune surprisingly reminded me of Nielsen. The piece opened roughly but settled down, whereas the Saint-Sa�s, the closing work, was as all-round success.
And speaking of dates, Weber's are 1726-1826 but acquired Berlioz's in the programme notes. He was 26 when he wrote his clarient concertos, not mine!
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This was on 8th Feb 2003 at the Cope Auditorium, Loughborough College of Art and Design. The concert featured an outstanding performance by the soloist, Iona R. Brown playing the Sibelius' Violin concerto in D minor. The concert was well received (see review below) by a capacity audience.
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For copy of the poster for this concert select here.
Loughborough Echo Review (AF)
Gripping performance by soloist
It speaks volumes for the high standards of musicianship today that we could be treaqted to a gripping performance of Sibelius's Violin Concerto by a soloist who is primarily an orchestral violinist.
To be sure Iona R. Brown is a principal first violin with the Northern Sifonia based in Newcastle, and is an experienced soloist. She has played with the Loughborough Orchestra before, but the Sibelius Concerto is singularly demanding, and to come so close to her beautiful warm-toned and responsive solo was hugely rewarding. It seemed so effortless that you forgot what had gone into it.
As so often with a concerto, the orchestra and their conductor Liz Thomas (Iona's early teacher) were inspired to produce their very best, and certainly realised Sibelius's often dark and growling tone colours convincingly.
I gather that those near the back of the packed Cope Auditorium were equally happy with the balance of orchestra and soloist. The concert opened well too. Previously this orchestra has stumbled over their overture, but this time, choosing Berlioz again for the bicentenary of his birth, their performance of 'Les Francs Juges' ranquite smoothly, much helped by the wonderful tune famous from TV's 'Face to Face' interviews. (Nor, of course, did it need to be stretched out while the credits rolled).
With the final work, Beethoven's 7th Symphony, nothing matters more than maintaining pace and momentum, and for that alone Liz Thomas and the orchestra deserve high praise. The opening could have been more assertive, but the Vivace soon came into focus, and the beginning of the second movement was quite beautiful.
The performance was not without its roughness, but generally the balance was pretty good.
The last two movements dance away spiritedly, there was a well-judged contrast for the trio sectionof the scherzo, and the finale's celebratory joy held out before the exhaustion set in.
Two little footnotes, How delightful to see Iona R. Brown in the Beethoven happily playing in the back row of the first violins. And apologies to Emmanuel Church that I could not get to their excellent cello and piano recital on the same evening.
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This was on June 15th 2002 and was an open air prom type concert including music by Gershwin, Butterworth, Khachaturian, Grainger, Holst and Elgar to name but a few. Michelle Martin was our guest soprano and as in the millennium concert 2 years ago was a great hit with the audience. The concert was followed by a spectacular firework display provided by "Pyro1" the present national pyrotechnic champions. The concert was the climax to the centenial celebrations for Humphrey Perkins School in Barrow and was attended by an enthusiastic audience of well over 500 people. The flag waving was perhaps even more vigorous following the 3-0 win over Denmark earlier in the day.
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For copy of the poster for this concert select here.
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For copy of the poster for this concert select here.
Loughborough Echo Review (AF)
Making a real impact
THE Loughborough Orchestra's concert in Emmanuel Church with their conductor Liz Thomas was an exciting affair and not only because a 60-strong symphony orchestra makes quite an impact there.
Tom Maley was the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3. It takes you back when someone you know turns out to have slightly unsuspected powers. I knew he played the piano (and I knew of music in Braille) but not that he played to this level.
This work cropped up regularly when I was a Birmingham student, but it was good to meet it again, familiar but not quite remembered.
The performance was bright and robust, and maybe at odds with the C minor key, but orchestra and piano were well balanced and in accord, save for the odd disappearing woodwind. It can be difficult playing in the chancel.
Acoustics had much to do with the lively piano sound, although not responsible for notes that jumped out disconcertingly.
The Largo was sufficiently serene, the finale properly joyous, and there was natural virtuosity too, much appreciated by an enthusiastic audience.
So a rivetting solo and the classical-sized band produced the best performance of the evening. Even so, the full orchestra in the Academic Festival Overture generated plenty of Brahmsian fervour once it had got through some murky introductory bars.
I clearly remember the thrill of first hearing Sibelius Symphony No 3 in a Proms broadcast in the mid-l950s but it was an unexpected choice here.
I anticipated the performance with relish and, putting it a little unkindly, Sibelius was definitely in there somewhere, trying to get out.
Movements began or finished well, but continuity was lost in several subdued passages where thematic development just couldn't he heard clearly.
For example, the first movement themes were clearly stated with lovely cellos in the second subject, but then the detail began to dissolve, in spite of Liz Thomas' clear heat and sensible tempi.
But Sibelius did break out in the end, thrusting defiantly into a C major Finnish sunlight. Back in the 1950s, professional horns might not have done so well at such a moment. I was glad to hear this underrated symphony again.
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JAN 2000 Concert
The Loughborough Orchestra played the Strauss Horn Concerto No.1 with a solo by our own Simon Marshall and Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. The concert was held at the Holy Trinity Church in Barrow-upon-Soar.
Extract from www.cigol.co.uk
"A gutsy performance of Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony (particularly stately slow movement) was preceded by Strauss Horn Concerto No 1 ... The orchestra coped admirably with a highly taxing programme."
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