1975
(
Vernon qndleys Prom debut
VERNON Handley made
W|fh Sir Adrian
his debut at a Promenade
Concert last week when he
conducted the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra in two of
the
main
works
British / Beethoven
gramme.
The
of
a
- pro-
two
.other
items were under his origi-
nal
mentor,
Sir
Boult.
Orchestrally
portant
handled
of
the
the
Adrian
'
more
t(wo
by Handley
Meditations
on
a
imi-
works
was
Theme
the
of
John Blow by Bliss. This was
played in memory of the composer who died earlier in the
vear. The last time Handley
played
this
was
with
the
GiP.O. at Canterbury and the
immediate comparison between
the two occasions was in the
acoustics. For all the vicissitudes of the Cathedral, the ef-
fe¢t came across with more im-
mediacy
there
than
in
the
rather remote vastnesses of the
Royal Albert Hall which somehow seems {o disperse, 'dissipate, sound so mercilessly.
Nevertheless . the
B.B.C.S.O.
managed (o reproduce the requisite variety in these variations, from flailing attack to
"meditative
single
flute
and
oboe. Half a dozen timpani/
percussion in the 100-strong en-
semble ensured the maximum
impact possible in such a hall.
while Handley also succeeded
in the inexorability of his reading to navigate the eddving
v&;tlces and cross-currents skily
From this welter of material.
heard
skiftering
the
bites
massed
of
with ‘'high
strmgs .and
entry. The work is certainly
a fusion of old and new into
a satisfying unity, vet in the
acoustic context of this Prom
performance, we missed the en-
veloping
with its
sound
Canterbury magic.
veritable trident of
from
‘the
three-prong
points of leading violins, brass
and timpani/percussion.
}
[ bave always thought of the
B.B.C.5.0.
ds
possessing substantial depth in its string tone,
from the days of hearing it at
the
Royal
{Naval
Barracks.
Portsmouth, { some
30
years
ago!
Magic missing
we
harp
some fa:rl\! vivid vertlcahty of
brass,
woodwind,
This is slfll a feature, not
surprisingly since it boasts 55
string
came
players.
to
the|
Their
fore
quality.
during
the-
marked such intimacy between
soloist and conductor.
main work of the evening, the
Beethoven Violin Concerto in
D major. The soloist was Itzhak Perlman who contracted
polio at the age of four. There
was
this
with
nothing
disabled
Handlev
he managed
virtuoso.
however,
about
and
to
p|oduce a memorable. render:
ing of the much- played ‘master-
piece. During the silken string
idyll he yielded some trans-
cendental moments.
Spacious = woodwind
and
strong string forces gave continuity to the
soloist.
Tod
Handley chiselled away at his
concerto
dovetailing
with
craftsmanship — the sort of
musical carpentry so . familiar
to Guildford audiences! The
end of the Kreisler cadenza
Accompaniment
was kept
alert vet light, with woodwind
and brass ranged in two rows
at the rear, a stroke that suecessfully separated their layers’
of sound. The larghetio came
across as possibly “the best of
the
three
movements.
There
was a magic mood in moments
such
as ' the
clarinet/violin
solo dialogue. while Perlman
played with a quality suggested
by his name—pearl-like, Similarly in the rondo. the haorn
responses (o the solo were fine.
Perlman and Handley shared
an ovation as prolonged as any
heard for some time at a Prom.
Boult' had set the tone for
the evening with Elgar’s clegiac Introduction and _Allegro
for Strings. with violas making one of their rare promlnent contributions. Berkeley’s
Voices of the Night turned out
to be a pleasant nocturne in
meandering
mood
for large
forces
including vibraphone.
harp and muted brass,—J.F.T.