Thanks to John Quinn from Seen and Heard International for this lovely and comprehensive review of last night’s epic Orchestra of the Swan concert with April Fredrick, soprano. Read the whole thing here.
“The concert opened with one of Mozart’s Divertimenti…given dapper performances”
Soprano April Fredrick
“Far greater substance was provided by David Matthews’ new work… there was a great deal to admire in both music and performance. Matthews has given his soprano soloist a wonderful stream of melody – often sensual in nature – and April Fredrick seized the moment, singing with gorgeous tone. The music ranges over a wide vocal compass and Miss Fredrick’s gleaming top register was often heard to great advantage but also the lower-lying passages were beautifully produced. I was struck by the singer’s complete engagement with the music…I relished the woodwind writing and also the truly lovely string postlude with which the work ends. In brief spoken remarks before the concert, Kenneth Woods described Le Lac as ‘communicative and evocative’. I agree. His expert conducting of this premiere gave further evidence of his empathy with this composer’s music. I liked Le Lac very much. It’s a fine, rich piece and I’m keen to hear it again in again”
“Woods’ arrangement of the [Death and the Maiden] variations is very skilful. He opens with Schubert’s variation theme presented by a solo quartet of strings, then the scoring expands to include all the strings and eventually the rest of the players are involved for the variations themselves. At the end of his piece, Kenneth Woods presents the song itself and the soprano is ushered in, very fittingly, by Schubert’s dark D minor chords, played on the harmonium. April Fredrick sang Schubert’s song with fine feeling. I thought the piece as a whole was a most effective Schubertian arrangement and Woods’ idea to bring the variations back to the song itself, the fons et origo, was very imaginative. The Orchestra of the Swan played the piece most persuasively under Woods’ guidance.”
“After the interval we heard Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in an arrangement for chamber orchestra made, I understand, in 2007 by Klaus Simon One effect of an arrangement such as this is that for the players there is nowhere to hide: the scoring is extremely exposed. I should say at once that the members of the Orchestra of the Swan had no need to fear exposure. Throughout the performance their playing was assured and precise… “
“…an abundance of inner textural detail was audible. I think it helped enormously that Kenneth Woods was in charge of proceedings for he has strong Mahler credentials… It seemed to me that throughout the performance Woods’ conducting evidenced great empathy with the music and understanding of Mahler style – the strings’ idiomatic use of portamento was a case in point. In the first movement particularly, there is an abundance of tricky corners and joins to negotiate. The difficulties of these should not be underestimated but all were negotiated with precision.”
“The second movement was tart and sardonic, as it should be. Here the concert master, David Le Page provided pithy and spiky violin solos on his deliberately mistuned second instrument. The entire orchestra played with precision and commitment. The long slow movement began wonderfully with playing of a very special quality from the strings.. I thought Woods’ handing of this movement was very fine indeed; he really exhibited a fine feel for the music and the emotions behind it. The players delivered the climaxes with fervour…”
“April Fredrick returned to sing ‘Das himmlische Leben’ and she proved to be a captivating story teller, once again displaying complete engagement with the music.”
“This was a most thoughtfully designed programme, expertly delivered.”
Recent Comments