From the Surrey Advertiser, published on 8 July, 2011<\/p>\n
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Three Symphonies, Electric Theatre, Guildford, June 18, 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n THIS was a bold programme.<\/p>\n On Saturday, June 18 at Guildford\u2019s Electric Theatre, the Surrey Mozart Players presented us with three symphonies, a daunting prospect, avoiding the customary contrasts of introductory overture or guest soloist.<\/p>\n Indeed, two of these symphonies-Sibelius 7<\/em> and Brahms 1<\/em>– are among the most serious in the entire repertoire.<\/p>\n In a sense, contrast was provided by the opening symphony, Mozart\u2019s Symphony no. 35 (Haffner)<\/em>, which began life as a serenade.<\/p>\n Conductor Kenneth woods and his well-disciplined orchestra captured its special qualities with economy and panache.<\/p>\n The outer movements, in particular, impressed with telling detail and precision.<\/p>\n For later composers, the Beethoven legacy proved a heavy burden.<\/p>\n Brahms and Sibelius were both very conscious of this, and set themselves the higest ideals as a creative challenge.<\/p>\n Sibelius 7<\/em> is in one continuous movement, the zenith of an approach to form that had pre-occupied him earlier in his Symphony no. 5.\u00a0<\/em>Tension and momentum were impressively sustained throughout, though the conductor\u2019s energetic gestures to the strings brought with it some grunts (as at Wimbledon).\u00a0Orchestral balance was commendable, given the chamber-orchestra size of the string sections.<\/p>\n There can surely never be another such individual, indeed experimental First Symphony<\/em> as that of Brahms.<\/p>\n Especially convincing in this performance were the first\u00a0 and last movements, appropriately weighty and generally more secure in rhythmic impact.\u00a0The overall effect of the slow movement was\u2026 expansive- there was some beautiful solo playing, including from the leader Sally Dewey.<\/p>\n By Sebastian Forbes<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Funny- this is the second time in my life I\u2019ve been taken to task for grunting in a concert, and the other time was also in a Sibelius symphony, No. 2 in that case. I\u2019m extremely unbothered by vocalizations of musicians as long as it is not an affectation. In both Sibelius incidents, I wasn\u2019t aware my usual huffing and puffing had tipped over into grunting, so I can\u2019t say I feel too much guilt. Still, if any listeners were put off, I do apologize.\u00a0 The real question is why Sibelius makes me grunt- fodder for a future blog post, perhaps?<\/p>\n FYI- I actually corrected the original text from “bought<\/strong><\/em> with it some grunts” to “brought<\/strong><\/em> with it some grunts.” I know all too well that attempts at snotty sarcasm bing (sic) with them a heightened risky (sic) of typos.<\/p>\n