JULY 2012 CONCERT

poster design by Rachel Goodchild

Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra
William Goodchild, conductor
David Pagett, clarinet

Rossini - Overture, The Italian Girl in Algiers
Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A
Strauss - Serenade for 13 Wind Instruments
Rachmaninov - Symphony No. 2 in E Minor

A summer concert of exquisite music that is variously sublime, fabulously romantic and delightfully exotic. Mozart's masterwork, the Clarinet Concerto in A - arguably the most beautiful concerto ever written - is performed by Bristol clarinetist David Pagett, its slow movement with a spellbinding beauty and lyricism all its own. Also programmed is Rachmaninov's sweeping Second Symphony, composed in 1906 to critical acclaim and immediate success, its surging melancholy and rich late-Romantic harmony making a lasting contribution to early twentieth century music. The stunning Serenade for 13 Instruments by Richard Strauss, and Rossini's mischievous opera overture Italian Girl in Algiers, complete the programme.

Further details including ticket prices and on-line booking can be found HERE.

'Exquisite and electrifying performances.' John Packwood, Bristol Evening Post, March 2012

DAVID PAGETT

Our soloist for July 2012, is Bristol-based clarinetist, David Pagett. David will be joining the orchestra as soloist in a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622.

David Pagett © James Dwyer

David Pagett studied clarinet at the Royal Northern College of Music with Sidney Fell and Janet Hilton. He has worked extensively throughout the UK with some of the country's leading orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. As well as working as an orchestral musician, David has played in West End Productions of Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, 42^nd Street and West Side Story. As a regular member of the Bristol Ensemble, David has performed numerous chamber works, and concertos of Mozart and Christopher Ball. He currently combines a busy playing and teaching schedule in and around Bristol.


For full details about the concert including box office, please click HERE.

PROGRAMME NOTE

Symphony no. 2 in E minor opus 27

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943)

Largo – Allegro moderato,   Allegro molto – Meno mosso – Tempo I;   Adagio;  Allegro vivace – Adagio  - Tempo precedente.

Completed in 1908, this enormously well-wrought, expansive work, with its strict inner discipline, has a cohesion given to it by its sustained vitality and the thematic continuity throughout.  The characteristic theme from the opening Largo plus that of the ensuing Allegro reappears remoulded in all four movements.  The romantic passion of this Russian work with its breadth of emotion, now sombre, now ecstatic is albeit restrained by the inner logic of the musical composition.

The score may appear dense; the music feels multidimensional, each instrument having its own space.  The upper instruments cover a wide tonal range, while the basses and the lower brass frequently balance the texture with their held notes.  The lower strings are sometimes divided, providing a soft string choir for the solo woodwind, especially in the third movement.  Rachmaninov often cleverly highlights a string tone with a woodwind instrument, resulting in a subtly altered timbre.

The first Allegro, ushered in by the cor anglais, follows conventional sonata form initially establishing the key of E minor.  In quite the longest and most intellectually challenging movement, motifs appear in counterpoint.  Rhythmic drive characterises the scherzo, which is in an extended ternary form.  The movement culminates in a brass chorale based upon the “Dies Irae”, found in many of Rachmaninov’s works.  The extended Cantilena of the third movement in A major, its lyricism broken occasionally by fast-running motifs from the first movement, is characterised by the shifting tonal sounds of the woodwind alternating with surges from the body of strings.  The energetic finale in E major, with its march-like first section, gives way to a broad second subject.  Reminiscences of the third movement provide an interlude before the recapitulation of the first section leads to an ebullient conclusion.

© Catharine Deam

PROGRAMME NOTE

Serenade in Eb Major, opus 7

Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)

This slow Andante, by a sixteen-year-old, is an astonishingly mature work, revealing absolute mastery of combining wind instruments of very differing timbres in a beautifully constructed movement with full-bodied melodies.  It is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns and tuba.  The work, in sonata form, opens with a serene, hymn-like tune on the oboe, accompanied by a harmony reminiscent of Mendelssohn.  The second subject comprises a beautiful clarinet and horn melody.  The more passionate Animato section develops motifs from the first theme, before a reprise with a slightly different scoring.  Strauss, the son of a horn player, absorbed music of all genres.  There are unmistakeable influences of Wagner's treatment of wind in the Serenade.  Strauss became one of the greatest composers of the early twentieth century with an enormous output of operas, songs and symphonic poems.

© Catharine Deam

PROGRAMME NOTE

Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K 622

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Allegro                    Adagio                     Rondo Allegro

Mozart wrote wistfully to his father from Mannheim in 1778, “If only we had clarinets!”  The clarinet was a relatively new instrument at the time.  Mozart was drawn to the instrument because of its warm melodious timbre, deep chalumeau register and high, almost piercing upper notes.

The first movement of the work had appeared as an excerpt in G Major for Basset-horn, an instrument that was in vogue at the time.  Mozart subsequently rewrote it in A major.  The concerto is scored for two flutes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings, and originally featured an early type of clarinet designed by Stadler, a clarinettist himself.  The work is now usually performed using a modern clarinet.  Mozart completed and performed the work in the autumn of 1791, within two months of his death.

The most profound of Mozart’s concertos for wind or strings, this concerto is a more extensive, symphonic work and, although following a classical form, none of the movements have a cadenza.  The solo part is highly virtuosic, displaying the extraordinary versatility of both instrument and player.  The first movement follows the classical form of the concerto with a ritornello before the solo clarinet enters.  The opening theme often appears beautifully in counterpoint with itself.  The exquisite, breathtaking melody of the second movement is an aria for clarinet in ternary form, whilst the third movement is a cheerful rondo with a number of very differing episodes, which flow seamlessly together. 

© Catharine Deam

PROGRAMME NOTE

Overture, The Italian Girl in Algiers

Gioachino Rossini 1792 - 1868

A teenage prodigy, Rossini had written ten operas by the age of 21, when he composed The Italian Girl in Algiers.  The two-act opera is a satirical, comic drama relating a tale of piracy, kidnapping, and slavery, where captured women become the concubines of Bey Mustafa of Algiers.  Rossini's incredible flexibility enabled him to captivate his audience with memorable, catchy tunes and strong rhythms.  Starting from a barely audible pizzicato on the strings, punctuated by a startlingly loud chord, a device used by Haydn to great effect in his Surprise Symphony, the music trips along until the flute enters with the theme.  The “Rossini Crescendo” for which he was famous builds up slowly, gathering emotional momentum as it does so, bringing about a colossal sound towards the end of the piece.

© Catharine Deam

KWESI EDMAN

Cellist Kwesi Edman will be joining Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra and conductor William Goodchild in a performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto on Saturday 10 November 2012 at St. George's Bristol. The Elgar will form part of an all-British programme that also includes Holst's Egdon Heath and Symphony No. 5 by Vaughan Williams.

Kwesi graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2004 where he studied with David Strange and Philip Sheppard. He performs regularly around the world as a cello soloist, chamber musician, pop musician and conductor. He has collaborated with players from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Southbank Sinfonia, Royal Opera Orchestra, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and has worked alongside artists such as Shirley Bassey, Damon Albarn, and Elton John. Kwesi performed next to David Beckham at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

As an educator, Kwesi is Head of the Performance, Advanced and Alpine courses at Oxford Cello School, and teaches cello privately in North London. Kwesi founded the Chamber Academy Orchestra in 2007 of which he is the principal conductor.

Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra is looking forward to working with Kwesi!

ROSIE SCHULTZ, VIOLIN II

Rosie grew up near Oxford and started learning the violin at the tender age of five, and has been playing in orchestras and string groups ever since. Aside from a brief attempt at creating a jazz group at school and providing backing for the Pogues Fairytale of New York at a Christmas party, she’s stuck to classical music.  Rosie moved to Bristol in 2009 for a masters and currently works in Bath, running an online science engagement project. 

‘I joined Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra in 2011, after not having played in an orchestra for a year or so. The first rehearsal reminded me how much I missed it! My first concert with the orchestra was the November 2011 Gala Concert in Colston Hall. Playing stunning music to a packed audience in an amazing venue, with everyone dressed up in black tie created an amazing atmosphere. But what really makes the orchestra is the people – everyone is so friendly. As our conductor Will ensures everyone is challenged to improve, whilst keeping rehearsals fun with little anecdotes that bring the music to life. I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t picked up their instrument for a while to come along and join in.’

In addition to playing Violin II, Rosie helps with the orchestra's PR and Marketing, and is booking agent for special events and functions. 

HAPPY EASTER!

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