Stratford Herald October 2010
Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto
Orchestra of the Swan, at Stratford Civic Hall
Newly-wed cellists play as if they’ve been together for a lifetime.
Not only has he gone on board as an associate artist but as featured guest soloist for the opening concert on Tuesday last week at Stratford Civic Hall, he set a standard that will be hard to live up to for the rest of the series (apart from when he returns to play in February).
An obvious sell-out, the concert opened with Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – although beautifully performed it was a precursor for the genius that was to follow.
Taking on Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C, Mr Lloyd Webber was not only cornfortable with his performance, but comfortable with an orchestra he has not previously performed with in his current role. He naturally brought out his virtuosity, bowing to all of the highs and lows with great staccato showmanship.
The spirited ending made way for Alec Roth’s Departure of the Queen of Sheba, a piece played with great passion depicting the parting of these two legendary lovers by the orchestra. Regular musicians with the orchestra, oboeists Victoria Brawn and Louise Braithwaite, showed their musical prowess.
The concert theme was based around the departure and arrival of the Queen of Sheba – lively and expectant at the start, turning into sad and passionate at the end.
Many local music-lovers have met cellist Ms Cheng, but at the concert last week they were privileged enough to hear them play together for the first time in Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto in G, delivering a piece that was mind-blowing as if they had played together for a lifetime.
The evening fittingly ended with one of Haydn’s “wittiest symphonies” according to conductor and orchestra artistic director David Curtis – Haydn’s Symphony No 45, Farewell.
As the musicians forlornly left the platform one at a time, they received a well-deserved applause in recognition of a great start to what will hopefully be an exciting seven-concert series.
The next concert in the Orchestra of the Swan’s new Tuesday Classic season, ‘Vaughan Williams – an English Fantasia’, takes place in Stratford Civic Hall on 16th November. It has to be said that Stratford’s Orchestra of the Swan pulled off its finest seasonal opening to date this year when Julian Lloyd Webber performed for the first time in Stratford with his wife of 15 months, fellow cellist Jiaxin Cheng.
Review by Sandy Holt
