provide
sound and fury
GUILDFORD Philharmonic’s sell-out concert at the
Civic on Saturday night was a jolly affair, full of wit,
humour, sound and fury.
The programme started with Constance Lambert’s
Rio Grande, moving to Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the
Animals and ending with Carl Orff’s rumbustuous celebration of wine women and song, Carmina Burana.
Rio Grande is an exciting and inventive work employing most unusual juxtapositions of instruments, and
happily exploring the potential of a choir, soloist, percussion, brass and a piano in his jazz-influenced setting
of Sitwell’s poem.
The Philharmonic responded well to conductor
Jeremy Backhouse, and the jazz rhythms gave a welcome breadth to the orchestra’s repertoire.
It is hard to recognise in The Carnival of the Animals,
the same composer who created the great piano and
organ works. Saint-Saens is wonderfully funny, with
highly selective and elegantly minimalist scoring and the
orchestra communicated its enjoyment.
The Pianists was a tour de force from Jeremy Filsell
and Les Pearson, strings made great donkeys, and the
lead cellist was a particularly poignant swan.
Carmina Buranais not for the squeamish. The problem for Surrey choirsis often that they are too polite
and restrained, and on Saturday there was a tendency
for the delivery to become tame as the volume receded.
A ferocity of articulation is required and a confident
accuracy of intonation for the isolated chords. Neither
were impressive, until the work demanded full throttle.
Then the choir rose to the occasion quite magnificently.
Jane Garrett