EMG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAL CONCERT

EAST DEVON PRESS CRITIQUE.    28^th March 2003.

When the Dean, the Very Reverend Keith Jones, introduced the recent concert by the EMG Symphony Orchestra at Exeter Cathedral, I am sure almost every member of the audience endorsed his remarks. He referred to the troubled times in which we were living and expressed the feeling that the chosen concert of English music would be particularly appropriate to focus people's thoughts. Although the troubled times to which he referred concern the whole British nation, the music in the concert was indeed by English composers, but no doubt Scots, Welsh and Irish would have felt that here was a message for them too.

As usual, the orchestra was conducted by Roger Hendy, and led by Clare Smith. The packed cathedral was proof of the tremendous following this orchestra has in East Devon and playing of the standard we heard on this occasion explains why. Throughout Roger Hendy cajoled his players into performances both of great brilliance and heart-searching delicacy.

Next came something completely different in the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams. The music spans the centuries from the 16^th to the 19^th and at its first performance in 1910 a critic remarked that one could never be sure whether one was listening to something very old or very new. What is certain is that this work for strings is an indisputable masterpiece of English music. It was interesting to see that Vaughan Williams' instructions had been followed and that the called for, smaller, second orchestra was placed separately from the main orchestra. Unfortunately they were behind the main orchestra and they seemed a little diffident and not always as audible as they might have been. Nevertheless, this was a beautiful performance, with some good deep string tone always apparent from the full orchestra, and solos nicely taken by the section leaders.

Then there was what is almost certainly the greatest symphony ever written by an English composer - the Symphony No.1 in A flat by Elgar. Roger Hendy told me how exhilarated he had been when rehearsing this work and how his awareness of its greatness had increased the more he looked into it. It was all-apparent in this impressive performance. Those broad tunes, the marvellous brass outbursts, and the flowing episodes from the five horns - extremely well played, incidentally, all came in their turn and underlined the stature of the work. The moment when the second movement allegro melted into the adagio was magical.

This work, with its military overtones combined with questioning doubts and conflicts, and finally optimism and hopefulness, was an ideal choice for the times.

The audience reacted appropriately and the applause, I'm sure, would have gone on much longer, if the orchestra hadn't signalled that it was time to call a halt.

 East Devon Press March 2003.

Many admirers of Richard Wagner, the man who wrote  great music dramas such as Tristan and Isolde and the Ring cycle, have never been able to forgive him for writing such a blatantly grand opera, in the accepted 19^th. century tradition, as Rienzi. But for those with a more open mind the Overture, with its great tunes and jogging rhythms, can never fail to appeal.

It makes a great opener for a concert, immediately putting the audience in a good frame of mind, and this was exactly what it did at the Great Hall of Exeter University on Saturday evening. It was the hors d'oeuvres for the latest concert by the EMG Symphony Orchestra. And what a concert this was. Conducted by Roger Hendy, East Devon's own orchestra seems to grow in stature on each hearing and on this occasion they were in tremendous form. The Overture gave the full brass section every opportunity to exercise their lungs, right from the opening trumpet calls, and a thrilling sound they made. What a pity we rarely get an opportunity to hear the whole opera these days!

Somewhat less brash was the work that formed the meat of the programme, Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Richard Jenkinson, lead cellist of the City of Birmingham Symphony orchestra, and one of Simon Rattle's protogées, was the soloist. His was a very persuasive and revealing performance which in some respects made us look at what is a well worn piece in a new light. And he was well supported by the orchestra in a glowing account, rhythmically alert, and tightly controlled by Roger Hendy.

As an encore, Richard Jenkinson delighted the audience with the Prelude from the first of those remarkably difficult Suites for solo cello, by J.S. Bach.

To end there was a triumphant performance of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Taken at a cracking pace, there was no let up in the rhythmic drive from start to finish. Wagner's description of the work as 'the apotheosis of the dance', or more appropriately, perhaps, as the apotheosis of rhythm, was a remark that this performance truly lived up to.

There was an occasional hint of portamento playing in the strings, so much a part of playing in the first part of last century. But I imagine this gliding from note to note was just a lapse rather than an intended nuance

This thrilling  concert was given in aid of the Exeter Leukaemia Fund, a charity based on the R.D.& E. Hospital, where it has just funded the building of a new state of the art Haematology Unit, at a cost of £ 2.5 million, to serve the whole of East Devon.

East Devon Press November 2002.

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