GO TO A CONCERT

RNCM lunchtime concert – 14/12/17
Luigi Cherubini – Faniska Overture

Not a composer I had heard of before, but a contemporary of Beethoven so I guess there’s a connection between the 2 pieces in the programme. Additionally, the RNCM are also running a French theme to many of the concerts this season and this composer ties in with that as he spent much of his working life in France.

The person introducing this piece of music informs us that there is a nod to a Beethoven theme somewhere in the music. Although I am looking for a Beethoven references during the piece, I don’t hear it.

The principals from Manchester’s Camerata also join each string section for this concert. The first violinist is particularly enthusiastic and there were some spicy motifs played on the violin and some call and response type phrases between violin and other sections. Overall I can’t say much more than that other than it’s all very tuneful.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony number 1, Opus 21.

By coincidence, I had been listening to this symphony several times recently, before I knew that it was on the programme for this concert. It was good to be familiar with it before seeing it ‘live’. I very much enjoyed the performance. There were several things of note though…

A lady had come with her baby and though it was generally quiet, there were one or two moments during the quiet bits where you could hear baby / infant noises. I found myself listening to that corner of the auditorium as much as the orchestra, particularly during those moments when the music goes quiet.

The Beethoven symphony was conducted by four separate conductors, one for each movement. I felt a little sorry for the person who was conducting the 3rd movement as there wasn’t much to it (Trio or minuet, I’m not sure) and it was rather short.

Some other points in my head: use of a brass section that included a trombone in Cherubini’s Overture. Just the one instrument sounded pretty powerful by itself. This got me into thinking that the size of the orchestra (I mean the strings) was relatively small and it must be more of a challenge to balance the sounds of the sections in a small Orchestra compared to a large orchestra, possibly.

Finally, the quality of the playing was generally excellent, and perhaps it’s my ears, but there seemed to be one or two moments – I think towards the beginning of each piece, where the winds and/or brass sounded slightly off. There were quiet moments towards the start of each piece where the winds & brass come in and it sounded momentarily slightly out of tune and/or tentative in relation to the rest of the orchestra. I am guessing that it’s quite hard for these sections to play softly and have good control over their intonation, particularly at the start of the pieces(?) It was only for the briefest of moments, but a bit like the baby noises you end up metaphorically crossing your fingers. Very enjoyable nonetheless.