Abounding in rare richness
A FULL house is an encouragement to all performers, professional or amateur, and the York Symphony Orchestra responded to the occasion last night in their concert at St. Peter’s School. Also adding dignity to the proceedings was the presence of the orchestra’s president — Basil Cameron — a former member, now of conductor status.
The concert began with the overture to the Marriage of Figaro, by Mozart, and the orchestra gave a happy rendering of this auguring well for the weightier items to follow.
In the D major Symphony by Beethoven, the orchestra took a little time to settle to a firm unanimity, but when this was established we enjoyed some robust playing., The contrasting patterns of the Larghetto are difficult material and the orchestra under Frederic Waine’s careful baton was keen to make the best use of them.
John and Charles Tunnel have local links and this made their performance even more enjoyable. The Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello is a work of striking moods and the two soloists played convincingly and fluently, in complete harmony one with the other. Francis Jackson, conducting, conveyed to the orchestra a fine sense of its purpose, both as accompanist and announcer, and more trickily as a combination of both. Some of the hushed moments of this concerto were memorable by any standards, indeed the treasure of the whole evening was the Andante which abounded in richness not often experienced.
K.R.P.
Yorkshire Post, 17th November, 1967
Virtues and faults
THE virtues and faults of last night’s concert by the York Symphony Orchestra in St. Peter’s Hall appeared clearly in the opening piece, Mozart’s overture to the Marriage of Figaro. Commendable verve and attack were coupled with slight technical deficiencies - faulty intonation and balance, and imprecise rhythm.
Things improved as the concert went on - whether because the players warmed up, or because the music was easier in some ways, I am not sure, and Beethoven’s Second Symphony fared much better. Unfortunately, the momentum with which the first movement. began disappeared as Frederic Waine seemed increasingly involved in the problems of the individual moment but the slow movement was nicely done, and the lapses of the last two alternated with passages of genuine power. In Brahms’s double concerto - perhaps inspired by the impeccable ensemble - we relaxed into an enjoyable performance.
R. M.