COURAGEOUS COUPLE AT YORK CONCERT
AT the Rialto Cinema, York, last night, the audience heard Cyril Smith and Phillis Sellick play the Mozart Concerto in E flat and a concerto by the French composer, Francis Poulenc. Both these works are for two pianofortes, and have been arranged for playing by three hands.
These soloists, whom the entire music world salutesf for their courage, since Mr Smith was deprived in 1956 of the use of his left hand, are at the front rank of British pianists today. We hope Mr. and Mrs. Smith will come to York again soon.
The orchestra was the York Symphony Orchestra, the amateur orchestra of this city. Their performance of the most modern works, that is to say the Poulenc concerto and the Finale of Francis Jackson's Symphony, was good - in parts very good indeed.
WEBER OVERTURE
The first half of the programme consisted of the Overture to Weber's opera, Euryanthe and the Mozart concerto, which the orchestra played under Frederic Waine, who conducted both these works with clarity and efficiency.
The orchestra made a brave show, but Mozart's music is so delicate and transparent in texture that every fault in performance, be it lack of ensemble or poor intonation, however slight, is patent and damaging. The same applies, though to a lesser extent, to the Weber overture, where the strings, especially the violins, experienced great technical difficulty.
The highlight of the evening was the Poulenc concerto in which the orchestra, under Francis Jackson, accompanied the soloists superbly.
This work is fun - to play and to hear, and it is just the right kind of music for the non-professional orchestra to tackle, though it is far from easy technically. The Fauré Pavane received somewhat disappointing treatment.
DR. JACKSON'S SYMPHONY
The concert ended with the Finale of Dr. Jackson's Symphony, of which, under the composer's direction, the orchestra gave a creditable performance.
It is an achievement in itself to create a symphony, and Dr. Jackson is to be warmly congratulated upon it, and upon his success in training his body of amateur players to perform one of its movements.
This is a well turned-out orchestra, and its concert was well organised; its woodwind and brass were excellent throughout, especially the brass. Although the house was by no means full, the concert was reasonably well attended, and the promoters are to be heartily congratulated on their enterprise.
W.H.C.C.