THE ADVERTISER, MAY 8, 1992
Audience responds
_ to cello warmth
and choral power
INTERNATIONAL
cellist
Felix Schmidt’s performance
of Elgar’s famous concerto on
Saturday proved that the work
does not need Jacqueline du
Pre-style
emotionalism
to
bring out the passion and the
pathos.
:
The Civic Hall audience
was not only treated to
Schmidt’s very musical interpretation, but also to the expertise of former Guildford
director of music conductor
Vernon Handley, one of the
greatest exponents of Elgar’s
music.
;
Schmidt’s clean but warm
tone never went OTT. His intonation was spot on, and his
bowing arm was wonderfully
relaxed for the frenetic passages in the Allegro Molto.
He brought out the introversion of the Adagio very
well, and the slow section of
the finale emphasised his
super bow control, which enabled him to create a sense of
went on to perform magnifi-
cently in Vaughan Williams’
electric Sea Symphony.
From the clean brass fanfare which starts the work the
performance was confident
and exciting. The choir produced a good soprano tone
and Handley made the most of
choir and orchestra’s dynamic
palette to bring out the expan-
sive
The concert of music by
British composers started with
Britten’s arrangement of the
National Anthem, accompan. ied by an erratic crescendo of
seats snapping shut as the
audience uncertainly and belatedly rose to its feet.
It proved a good warm-up
piece for the vastly improved
Philharmonic
Choir,
which
of
ing.
The result was a terrific per-
formance to round off the 91/
92 season of concerts,
Jane Garrett
withdrawn isolation — Guild-
ford Philharmonic Orchestra
holding back to provide a sensitive accompaniment.
The orchestra, apart from
some poor brass intonation,
was alert and responsive under Handley’s baton and the
audience responded to the
concerto with enormous enthusiasm.
descriptiveness
Vaughan Williams® writing.
Baritone
Brian
Rayner
Cook’s vigorous and articulate
delivery made the poetry by
Walt Whitman come alive and
soprano Alison Pearce easily
projected het fine voice over
the choir and orchestra.
The choir put enormous energy and power into their sing-
—