Review shared by Tim on behalf of Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra. Images with kind permission of Allan Marsh. Ed
A large and appreciative audience welcomed the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra back to the Medina Theatre stage last Saturday. Due to the pandemic the Island had been starved of live orchestral music for eighteen months.
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Under the baton of Musical Director Jonathan Butcher the orchestra opened with the sadly neglected tone poem Tintagel by Arnold Bax.
This work written in 1921 was conceived after a visit to the ruins of the Tintagel Castle on the north Cornish coast.
The music cleverly depicts the scenes, landscapes and moods found in such an often wild place.
The orchestra were then joined by their soloist Ben Goldsheider for a performance of the rarely played Horn Concerto by Ruth Gipps. This concerto written in 1968 is a very lyrical piece and calls for a virtuosic soloist.
Luckily in Ben (who had flown in especially for the concert), the orchestra had such a soloist. Ben produced a wonderful quality of tone and the ease that he played the work cleverly disguised its difficulty.
At the conclusion of the concerto, Ben gave a short encore for solo horn.
After the interval there was just the one work, the monumental Fifth Symphony by Gustav Mahler. The symphony, begun in 1901 is in five movements, lasts for over an hour and requires a very large orchestra.
The orchestra coped with the complexities of the music wonderfully well and at the conclusion of the concert they were rewarded by extended applause by the knowledgeable audience.
Particular mention must be made to Gareth Balch (principal trumpet) and Joel Roberts (principal horn) for their wonderful solos in the Symphony.
Book now
Tickets for all four remaining Medina Theatre concerts are now available from the Medina Theatre Box Office.
For your diaries, the next concert is Saturday 22nd January 2022.
Image: All With kind permission of © Allan Marsh
