Fine music; fine sound

Press, 29 May 1978, Page 6

Fine music; fine sound

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C. FOSTER BROWNE

<JThe Canterbury OrchestrAs concert in the Town WW on Saturday will be teKr|<tnbered wfth pleasure b for the beauty and skill the playing and-for the ipeFrest of the arogramme. 7>he concert began with & William Walton’s “Facade" with Elric Hooper as NWator, ac.or panied Ly a snall group of players — Michael Haber (cello). Tony ftrner (flute and piccolo). Jtetth Spragg (clarinet and l|ais clarinet), Stu Buchanan John Snelgrove (Jrflmpet) and Craig Kennedy (Zprcussion). The work is Abetting of 21 poems by Dame Edith Sitwell, recited tfjp-sung. ■ Sy Mr Hooper* rendering dpjhese verses fell short of I do not know in Mmdt way. There was no obhjityable mistake, and he performed from memory. He Sag! strictly in time with «Kplayer». and his range of "local nuance was as wide as il»<as good; there was per(jjt clarity and amazing range of dramatic vocal iSlling. • wach player realised the rjianing of his own part.

I and the most subtle relation-1 ships with all the others.! Very wide demands were; made on varying volumes i and (imbres, and all werei fulfilled with exactitude. , Walton’s score shows j 'imaginative rapport with the' , words, and dazzling tech-i jnique in bringing the whole! ] work together. Dobbs Franks: ped a performance of thrillI ing colour, precision, and < i perception. i The full orchestra, led byi Ruth Pearl, returned with! John Luxton the soloist in< Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto! No. 4. The solo part was< written for the left hand t only, and while this is of 1 service to pianists who havet been deprived of their right t hand, it lessens the possibility of what the composer: might have achieved. i However, the work hasj beautifully lyric expression.: and is astonishingly inge- 1 nious. Mr Luxton brought tot it a poetic mind, as welt as a mastery of all its diffi-j culties. He had splendid clarity and heightened sensej of occasion, and the orches-, tra played with sure sense' and with vitality. ‘ The programme ended’ with a seemingly immacu-a

late performance of Schu- . belt's Symphony No. 5, played with Viennese texture : and finesse This attention !to details, most noticeable in polished endings to all phrases, cast a lasting glow. The orchestra responded with gossamer delicacy to i Mr Franks’s demands for the miceties. This concert gave thefirst chance of noting the changes made to the acoustic conditions of the hall. The aim is ito spread the sound evenly, so that all players on the 'stage can clearly hear the 'others. For a good orchestra this is of great advantage; for a bad one it is an additional annoyance and distraction. Inquiries of the conductor and some players after Saturday’s concert suggest that excellent improvements have been made. The texture Of sound reaching the audience seems to have an added homogeneity, and a new "top” to the strings. The alteration to the stage accoutrements looks like a large and shallow inverted bowl. In off-seasons the authorities could keep in it a private school for goldfish.