Concert Reviews

A fantastique evening of French classics

Our first concert for the 2025/26 concert season featured a fabulous selection of French Classics, including Ravel's La Valse and the revolutionary Symphonie Fantastique.

We were delighted to be joined once again by Mikhail Andreev, who gave us an amazing performance of Saint Saen's 'Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso'. It truly was a fantastic night.

Shelagh Godwin's review is below.  

• Regarding A review of our first 2025/26 season concert featuring Symphonie Fantastique
•  
• Under its charismatic conductor for 35 years the Guildford Symphony Orchestra continues to go from strength to strength. Their wind and brass sections are almost as good as in any professional orchestra, and this was borne out in the programme of French romantic and ‘impressionist' music that opened the season at G-Live on Saturday 22nd November.
  
  First on the programme was Emmanuel Chabrier's Joyeuse Marche, redolent of those fairs beloved by children in particular, and full of humourous interjections from different instruments, making one think one was actually at one of those fairs (perhaps with a glühwein in hand).
  
  Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune remains, some 135 years after its composition, one of the most evocative pieces ever written, and the opening flute solo was nothing short of divine. As were the shifting harmonies throughout, settling eventually into a serene E major.
  
  Then came the prodigy, for violinist Mikhail Andreev is nothing short of that. This thirteen-year-old has all the maturity of a much older artist, and the technical virtuosity displayed in Saint-Saëns's Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso. This was not only virtuosic, it was full of the swagger that the piece demands [according to Maxim Vengerov in a BBC Masterclass some 30 years ago]. And, moreover, it was hugely enjoyable. We look forward to hearing this brilliant young man playing again, this time on the cello, at the GSO's Young Artists' Concert on 24th January.
  
  Fourteen years in its gestation, Ravel's La Valse was considerably different from the piece envisaged by Diaghilev for a ballet. One reason for this was the interruption caused by the First World War (during which the composer served as a stretcher-bearer). The trauma induced by this conflict resulted in an composition which reflected mysterious shadows, brilliantly evoked in the lower sections of the orchestra, creeping only gradually into a ballroom scene which comes and goes as though through mist. This piece of nostalgia was brilliantly executed by the orchestra.
  
  The core piece was Berlioz's response to de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater and his own infatuation with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he eventually managed to marry. Using all the orchestral forces he could, Berlioz poured his heart into the work, and was rewarded by resoundingly successful performances which have continued to this day. Searching to begin with, the central idée fixe eventually makes itself heard, but never peacefully, as it travels through a ballroom, a long and evocative country scene, a scherzo in which the artist imagines himself condemned to the guillotine – the music even depicts in low strings the head falling on to the ground – and then a sinister finale in which all the forces of hell are let loose, accompanied by the mediaeval Dies Irae chant horribly distorted by horns and tubas, not to mention clarinets. This is a piece that has never lost its vivacity, it could almost be made into film music, and the GSO gave a thrilling performance. We were on the edge of our seats.
  
  Shelagh Godwin
  

 

• Regarding our Charterhouse concert of Sibelius and Vaughan Williams
•  
• A great concert featuring music by Sibelius and Vaughan Williams.

  ---

  Under its charismatic conductor of 35 years, Darrell Davison, the Guildford Symphony Orchestra has encouraged young talent. And so it was that the soloist in Sibelius's astonishingly difficult violin concerto (which he actually had to simplify after the failure of its first performance) was a winner a few years ago of the Una Clark Young Persons' Award sponsored by the orchestra. A recent graduate of the Royal College of Music, Elizaveta Saul is a name to look out for. Her performance of the Sibelius was nothing short of miraculous, with a warm cantabile tone where desired, and also an effervescent vitality in the many rapid passages. It is a work redolent not only of lakes but of forests and storms, written at a time when Sibelius was struggling with drink problems, and even up to the last chord it is fraught with chromatic leanings. And the young soloist caught the mood brilliantly.
  Signs of foreboding are also present in Vaughan Williams's Symphony number 5, ‘dedicated without permission to Jean Sibelius'. Given that it was written during the Second World War, and between two symphonies which were full of Angst, it contains passages that are remarkably peaceful and pastoral. This must be because of the imagery quoted directly from the composer's opera The Pilgrim's Progress, and it is not without significance that that magnificent tune on the cor anglais in the third Romanza movement is played as the audience exits the set at the Wintershall Life of Christ. GSO oboist Marjorie Carrington played it beautifully and sensitively. The work begins on an uncertain note, not quite in the home key of D major but rather alluding to the old ecclesiastical modes which were unintentionally used in many folk tunes – and RVW's music is much influenced by these folk tunes. From the broad sweep of the opening music, to the scurrying scherzo with its witticisms, and the glorious romanza, to the imposing free passacaglia, Davison shaped the performance with great skill, and brought the orchestra, strikingly improved in tone and co-ordination over the last 35 years, along with him.
  The concert began with another bustling piece: the overture to Smetana's The Bartered Bride, and we were amused to hear from Davison's introductions that this was one of the favourite pieces of Gustav Mahler.
  The orchestra meets again on 17th May at G-Live for a performance of music from Spain, with saxophonist Richard Scholfield as soloist.
  
  
  - Shelagh Godwin

 

• Regarding Elgar's Cello Concerto and Vaughan Williams' London Symphony
•  
• Appropriately autumnal on a wet November evening was the programme chosen for the Guildford Symphony Orchestra's concert on Saturday 26th November.
  
  One of several highlights was Elgar's intensely nostalgic Cello Concerto, written when the composer was disillusioned with his life in the wake of the First World War, and not long before the death of his beloved wife. Poignantly the soloist was the young Russian cellist Liubov Ulybysheva, a former winner of the Young Artists competition. Any performance of this great work begs comparison with the iconic performances of Jacqueline du Pre, who made the work her own. But Liubov, with the orchestra under the measured beat of conductor Darrell Davison, achieved a contrasting interpretation, but one just as evocative, as well as faultless in execution.
  
  Nostalgia also pervaded Vaughan Williams's A London Symphony. This is not a brash introduction to the London scene as is Elgar's Cockaigne, but rather a thoughtful reflection on life in the capital, enhanced by two renderings on the harp of the Westminster chimes. It was poignant too in that, when the original score was lost, the composer was assisted in its reconstruction by his friend George Butterworth, soon to be killed in the Battle of the Somme. Full of lively catchy tunes, and yet with an essence of loneliness in the cor anglais and viola solos in the slow Bloomsbury Square movement, this symphony had us gripped from beginning to end. The orchestra played with crisp discipline, and Darrell Davison carried forward the brisk rhythms superbly, while reading the melancholy passages with great sensitivity.
  
  A contrast from the melancholy was provided in the opening item, Walton's Orb and Sceptre, written for the late Queen's coronation, performed with great aplomb but not the fastest performance I have heard. Delius's Dance Rhapsody no 2 revealed the widely-travelled, Yorkshire-born composer at his best, with an eclectic style with much of Debussy's tonal palette, yet essentially original and typically Delius in every way. And these qualities were enhanced in the orchestra's excellent performance.
  
  The Guildford Symphony Orchestra's next concert will be held in Charterhouse Hall, Godalming, on Sunday 26th March, and will include Mendelssohn's ‘Scottish' symphony and a violin concerto by Shostakovitch.
  - Shelagh Godwin

 

• Regarding Five Stars
•  
• Some 55 years ago a university student read with fascination an article about a new violin concerto. She never forgot the four-note opening motif printed in the article. Unable to attend the premiere, she nevertheless desperately wanted to hear the work.
  
  I was that university student, and last Sunday 26th March 2023 my wish was at last granted. The work in question was Shostakovich's second violin concerto, in the unexpected key of C sharp minor. It was the core work in the Guildford Symphony Orchestra's Spring Classics concert in Charterhouse Hall. Written while the composer was recovering from illness (and allegedly spurred on by a bottle of brandy), the concerto is quite gloomy in mood – the reflection of a Cold War almost gone hot, as conductor Darrel Davison explained. After its contemplative opening, that four-note motif introduced by the cellos and basses, it tears away into passages of incredible virtuosity, not only from the solo violin but from several principals in the orchestra too. Soloist Emmanuel Bach handled the piece magnificently, whether producing a wonderful tone in the long, sad, sinuous melodies or undertaking incredible feats of double stopping. The orchestra were on top form, with expert solo contributions from woodwind and horns. It was truly a memorable performance of a piece which, albeit long, deserved more performances.
  
  Mendelssohn's ‘Scottish' symphony does not quote any Scottish tunes, the programme notes informed us, but is shot through with a Scottish spirit, perhaps reflecting the life of the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots, but also a stormy coastal scene, a raucous Highland gathering, a putatively bumpy road, and a ruined chapel at Holyrood. Such images calls for tremendous variety of expression, and this the orchestra achieved in full measure. I have never heard the Scherzo played so fast and yet so expertly. There were wonderful contributions from the wind and the brass throughout the symphony, and the horns' introduction of the final melody was particularly impressive.
  
  This memorable concert began with Brahms's ‘St Anthony' Variations, again a tour de force of instrumental skill concluding with a fine passacaglia in which a countermelody is played again and again with increasing intensity. And, on a lighter note, Reznicek's Donna Diana overture gave another chance for this excellent orchestra to sparkle.
  - Shelagh Godwin

 

• Regarding Rachmaninov 150th Anniversary
•  
• It was the turn of Guildford's oldest, and surviving, orchestra to tackle the music of the great Rachmaninov (whose 150th anniversary occurs this year) at its autumn concert at G-Live on Saturday 18th November. Over the last thirty years, and under the tutelage of Darrell Davison, the orchestra has made tremendous strides and the concert was an uplifting experience, to say the least.
  
  It began with Humperdinck's overture to Hansel und Gretel, a scintillating piece full of good tunes which sing in the ear long after the music has stopped. Beginning (slightly tentatively) on the horns the music rose to a tremendous climax as the fanfares loved by many rang through the hall. But how often does one hear the complete opera?
  
  Tchaikovsky fell out with his friend, pianist Nicolai Rubinstein, on account of his B flat minor piano concerto and it was in fact premiered by another pianist, Hans von Bulow, before Rubinstein changed his mind about the piece. Full of Ukrainian folk tunes, the concerto is a magical combination of pianistic and orchestral sound, covering the whole gamut of emotions. The woodwind players were particularly impressive throughout a piece that makes huge demands on the orchestra. Not to mention the soloist, Cyprus-born Christos Fountos. He had a formidable technique, covering the rapid passagework and octave work with ease, but also playing the sinuous melodies with admirable subtlety. Above all he seemed to be enjoying the whole experience.
  
  Rachmaninov's Second Symphony, likewise, came out of a situation of abject failure, as a result of the devastating critical response to his First. In fact it took years of psychotherapy to bring him to compose again. And what a work it is. It is fascinating that Tchaikovsky quotes tunes from one movement in the others, and it is an interesting exercise to discover how much he does this: something that this performance, with its instrumental clarity, made easy to do. From its soulful opening, through a movement full of Rachmaninov's yearning melodies, through a scherzo which inevitably includes the Dies Irae theme, and a slow movement with simply heavenly melodies – well done clarinet! – the symphony surges forward to its tarantella finale with that enchanting evocation of bells before – wait for it - the opening theme recurs triumphantly in the brass near the very end. Shot through with varying moods, rhythms, and instrumentations, this is the work of a master, and was given an excellent performance by the orchestra.
  
  A most worthwhile evening.
  - Shelagh Godwin

 

• Regarding : Guildford Choral and Guildford Symphony Orchestra make splendid comeback
•  
• Guildford Choral Society and Guildford Symphony Orchestra were in full force at G-Live last Saturday 20th November 2021, to a full house, after an enforced eighteen months without concerts. They began with Brahms's First Symphony, a work which took the composer 22 months to write, so keen was he to match up to his musical hero Beethoven. Indeed he succeeded in doing that: the stirring tune in the last movement, framed by a glorious chorale melody on the horn, makes more than a nod to Beethoven's 9th (performed by the Choral Society before lockdown stopped everything).
  
  Under Darrell Davison the orchestra did a splendid job: an arresting opening followed by some passages of great emotion. The slow movement evoked some lovely sounds from the orchestra, while the intermezzo, lighter in mood, proved a beautiful diversion. But the finale, with its searching opening leading to the splendid tune, and fraught with imaginative harmonies and instrumentation, really took off.
  
  While working on the symphony, various tragedies in the composer's life, the death of his mentor Schumann and of his mother some years later, inspired Brahms to write a Requiem. No Latin Mass for this agnostic composer with a Lutheran background (the text comes from the Lutheran Bible), but an eloquent German text reflecting the human condition. From the outset the chorus sang with great conviction under Jonathan Willcocks's direction: although the sopranos were slightly under the note in some exposed passages, and we could have heard more from the altos in their great fugal lead ‘Herr, du bist würdig', somewhat drowned by some wonderful clarinet playing! The big fugal movements, particularly the one in the third movement over a pedal note ‘Die gerechten Seelen', were indeed thrilling, and there were some tender moments in the central movement ‘Wie lieblich', beloved of wedding couples. The orchestra played with aplomb, and the woodwind and the brass were particularly striking. Full marks to the flutes, one of whom switched to piccolo for one of the most dramatic episodes depicting the Last Judgement.
  
  The choir and orchestra were served by two noteworthy soloists: bass Michael Ronan sang stylishly, and Louise Fuller, a late replacement, produced a wonderfully mellow tone in ‘Ihr habt non Traurigkeit', in many ways the centerpiece of the work and the last movement to be written.
  
  In every way, this was a memorable concert.
  - Shelagh Godwin