Jonathan Dodd shares his review of the latest Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra (IWSO) concert. Images with kind permission of Allan Marsh. Ed
Finally, during the constant rainfall and lack of sunshine, an event took place on the evening of Saturday 16th March 2024, that stirred our blood and made us smile again. It was, of course, the third concert of the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra’s 2023-2024 programme.
As always, hordes of eager concert-goers descended on the Medina Theatre to listen to a feast of exciting music. Just the thing to raise our spirits.
I often wonder whether everyone experiences a concert in the same way I do. Or, indeed, whether anyone has the same experiences as me. The music is the same for all of us, but I’m always fascinated to try to imagine what people around me are thinking about, or whether or even how they might be taken over by the music. I suppose that musicians in the audience will be concentrating on the music itself, and the performance, whilst others may be studying the players or the audience, or even thinking about something else entirely.
The audience at the Medina is always very attentive, and I have very rarely been shocked to find someone flicking through their phone or taking pictures, thank goodness. It seems to me to be the very epitome of rudeness. I know it still happens, having recently had to poke a photo-taker at Sadler’s Wells of all places. We are very polite and considerate here on the Isle of Wight, and aware of the hard work and enthusiasm of all involved to bring us the best musical experience possible.
A Cursed Hunter
Saturday’s concert started with a bang. I have never heard anything by Cesar Franck, as far as I know, and I was looking forward to hearing something fresh and different. His tale of a cursed hunter, who dared to go hunting on the Sabbath, started with a terrific fanfare from the horns, and proceeded to gallop along with great speed and vigour, following his increasingly frantic ride, pursued by various demons.
There was lots of work for the horns and brass sections, and the strings kept up a feverish pace as the galloping horse flew along, until a dramatic final chord allowed us to breathe again. This was non-stop fun, and I really enjoyed it. Fantastic.
Gershwin’s Piano Concerto
After a readjustment of the orchestra, Viv McLean strode diffidently onto the podium and took his place at the piano. It’s always an event when Mr McLean arrives to play for us, and I was greatly anticipating the first time I would listen to this concerto. I’ve always been a fan of Gershwin, and I was almost ashamed not to know this at all. I needn’t have worried that nothing would compare to the great Rhapsody in Blue, but from the first notes I knew it would become just as firm a favourite.
This concerto started with a bang, literally, from the timpani. And then the orchestra joined in with enthusiasm, tripping through a lovely series of repeated notes interspersed by more timpani, until the piano began very quietly, and built up into an exuberant tune that made me want to get up and dance in the aisles. Luckily, I resisted, because I would never have been able to keep up. Then there was a lovely yearning tune that built and built, and a lovely jazzy tune with lots of percussion and a lot of nifty fingerwork from Mr McLean, and a terrific finale. And that was just the first movement.
The whole concerto was completely entrancing, moving majestically from great drama to light moments and beautiful melodies, with a heart as full as Mr McLean’s brilliant playing. My eyes couldn’t leave those hands as they surged all over the keyboard without putting a note wrong, and the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra matched and supported him throughout. I have a new favourite Gershwin piece to listen to. Thank you all.
Calm Othello
After a well-earned break, the orchestra returned to continue the concert, with the Othello Suite by Samuel Coleridge Taylor. This Edwardian composer has featured before, being a mixed-race South London composer, who was named after Samuel Taylor Coleridge the famous poet. As if that wasn’t confusing enough, a printer added a hyphen, so he is also known as Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
The actor and impresario Herbert Beerbohm Tree, founder of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, asked Samuel in 1909 to compose a suite of incidental music for a production of Othello. The piece has remained popular, and has survived despite the music not feeling particularly relevant to the play itself. The IWSO performed this rather formal suite of five pieces of music with great dignity and precision. It was a welcome in between Gershwin and the Strauss piece to come.
Owl and Mirror
In 1895 Richard Strauss decided to write an opera about a legendary merry prankster from the 14th century, who went by the name of Owl-Mirror, or possibly something like that. He was unable to turn the subject into a suitable story for opera, so converted it into a tone poem. The music employs all the instruments of the orchestra in a rollicking set of descriptions of the various pranks and fixes this character gets up to, varying from frightening to silly, and including horse rides and a hectic chase after which he is caught, sentenced, and hanged. But it ends with a funeral march, and the repeated theme suggests that he might have managed to fool the authorities and escaped to prank again.
This tone poem is lively and full of drums and dramatic playing, especially from the horns and brass and the percussion section, and it seems to my unpractised ear to require fantastic timing, with lots of sudden stops and starts, and unexpected noises and fanfares. It was very enjoyable, and it was obvious from the faces of the musicians that they really loved playing it. Fantastic. Well done all.
Thank you B. Blumenthal for the excellent programme notes, without which I would be lost.
Next concert
The IWSO will return to the Medina Theatre on Saturday 18th May 2024 at 7:15pm at the Medina Theatre.
They will serve up to us a piece called Scenes from the Humber by Hedges, and an Introduction, Theme and Variations by Rossini, followed by the great Night on a Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky, Weber’s Concerto in E Flat, and the Symphony No. 2 in B minor by Borodin.
It promises to be a strong program of dramatic and joyful music, not to be missed! I’m looking forward to it all immensely.
Get your tickets ASAP, or even better, buy season tickets. Every little helps, and you’ll always know where your seats are.
See you there!
