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Critique from East Devon
Press 6. 12. 2004.
Concert Exeter University
Great Hall
Saturday 27th
November 2004. |
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| The EMG Symphony
Orchestra brought a very popular programme to the University
Great Hall for their latest concert on Saturday.
Conductor Roger Hendy, also well known as
a Honiton teacher, considers his orchestra to be the best in
the South West and on the evidence of this concert, and the
standards that have been maintained on other recent
occasions, I would certainly agree with him.
Much of the orchestra’s success has been
due to his own dedication and flair, but also to the quality
of the leading players, many of whom are of professional
standard. Few amateur orchestras are able to put on the
platform a band complete in every department and in excess
of 80 players, including a solid body of strings. East Devon
is indeed fortunate to have this orchestra to provide some
of its musical needs.
The opening work in Saturday’s concert
was indeed popular. Bernstein’s overture to his operetta Candide
first produced on Broadway in 1956, had, by the 1980’s,
become distinguished as the most played orchestral piece by
a living composer. It set the evening off to a good start,
its sparkle, vivacity and boisterous exuberance being
brought well to the fore in an exciting performance.
Elgar’s Cello Concerto has also become
increasingly popular in recent years and to play the solo
part EMG brought back Richard Jenkinson, principal cellist
of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Having worked
with EMG on several occasions his rapport with the orchestra
and the conductor was extremely good. He brought out
particularly the autumnal qualities of the work (this was
Elgar’s last major composition) and underlined the moments
of passion and meditation. The orchestra accompanied with
sensitivity but allowed itself the few moments of excitement
that the composer provided in his score.
Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, at least the
last three, are some of the most popular in the repertoire.
And so, with his Fourth, in F minor, the concert ended along
familiar lines. The whole work is bound up with the power of
‘Fate’ which Tchaikovsky said ‘hinders one in the
pursuit of happiness’. This heavy burden, so apparent in
the music, was well realized and the orchestra was able to
bring its full weight to bear very successfully, especially
in the outer movements. The famous pizzicato scherzo was
delightfully accomplished.
Of course, there were moments when
criticisms could be leveled at specific aspects of the
performances – for instance, wind solos could have been
more marked in the Tchaikovsky – but few members of the
audience could have gone away less than satisfied. The
concert was given in aid of Hospiscare and in view of this
worthwhile cause it is a pity that the audience was rather
smaller than usual for EMG concerts. |
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EMGSO
CONCERT EXETER CATHEDRAL 13th. MARCH 2004.
Under its
conductor Roger Hendy the orchestra played to standards rarely
found in amateur players. And they never take the easy option.
This time, as the main works, they chose The
Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss, and A
London Symphony by Vaughan Williams.
But, to
open, the large brass and percussion sections were given a chance
to shine with the Fanfare for the Common Man by the American composer Aaron Copland.
The players made a fine sound as the music echoed throughout the
cathedral, but in the opening bars the trumpets gave the
impression of being a little nervous at being given the
opportunity to open proceedings, as they failed to take some of
their notes cleanly.
Then the
young soprano Claire Prewer, who is making a considerable name for
herself at home and abroad, came on stage to sing the popular aria
from Dvorak’s opera Rusalka.
I last heard this young singer in more intimate surroundings and I
wondered how she would cope with the backing of a large orchestra
and in a vast building. I need not have had any such concerns for
she was perfectly at home and she sang this charming piece with
expression and meaning and with a voice of great clarity.
And she
stayed on stage for the highlight of the evening, the Strauss
songs. No composer could ever have written a more conscious
swansong than this. At the age of 85, in 1949, he had suffered the
deprivations of war and was weary of life when he discovered poems
by Eichendorff and Hesse which mirrored his own feelings exactly.
Four of these he set for soprano voice and orchestra and produced
one of the most poignant musical experiences for any audience.
And at
this stage in his life, when it might have been expected that he
would make the easy choice of writing for a small orchestra, he
followed his practice of old and employed huge forces.
But it was
never intended that these forces should overwhelm the soloist and
Roger Hendy made sure that his players were completely controlled
as they made beautifully sensual sounds, with soaring strings and
lush, warm harmonies. And there were those exquisite interludes
for solo violin, expressively played
by leader Clare Smith.
The
orchestra’s accompaniment of Claire Prewer was sensitive and
supportive, as her voice soared beautifully through the building.
The large vocal range required posed no problems, except that it
may well have been that in the lower register the voice may not
have carried to the extremes of the cathedral. For one so young
she was able to express so completely the thoughts of an old man
and to make this performance an emotional experience.
The second
half of the concert was taken up by a very different work, the
Vaughan Williams symphony. The orchestra was now able to let
itself go in this robust depiction of London life and they did so
in fine fashion.
East
Devon Press. March 20th. 2004.
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GREAT HALL, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
SATURDAY 29th. NOVEMBER 2003.
ROTARY BENEFITS FROM EMG
CONCERT
The International Rotary movement appeal for
the worldwide eradication of polio is set to benefit from a
considerable sum as the result of last Saturday's concert in the
Great Hall of the University of Exeter. Given by the EMG Symphony
Orchestra, the concert project was coordinated by the Rotary Club
of Otter Valley, and they helped to ensure a tremendous response.
Musically, the concert conducted by East
Devon's Roger Hendy, was another triumph for the orchestra. It
is a great tribute to the musicians to be found locally, here in
Devon, that playing of such quality is possible. And the orchestra
never takes easy options in choosing its programmes.
This was a concert of Great
Russian Classics but, except for the final 1812 Overture, it didn't consist of the obvious popular works but
rather two outstanding works of the 20th. century -
the Fifth Symphony of Shostakovich and the First Piano Concerto of
Prokofiev.
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Roger Hendy & EMGSO
Robin Davis (piano) |
EAST
DEVON PRESS CRITIQUE.
16th July 2003
Positively
marvellous!
The
days, it gets more and more difficult to find anything
negative to say about the playing of the EMG Symphony
Orchestral.
These
musicians, who do so much to provide high quality music
throughout East Devon, have achieved such a peak of
performance that one can only marvel at the fact that they
are amateurs and semi professionals, rather than full
professional players.
This
remarkable standard has been achieved under the baton of
Honiton's Roger Hendy who, in his 20 years as Musical
Director, has conducted more than 100 concerts with the
orchestra both here and on tours aboard.
Their
latest concert was given in St. David's Church, Exeter and
despite the counter attractions of Exeter Festival, the
church was full.
The
programme on this occasion was a popular one, well suited to
a steamy, hot evening. It opened with the incidental music
to Rosamunde and, responding to Roger Hendy's every
wish, the orchestra gave a nicely rounded performance of
this delightful music.
Soloists
in Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp were
flautist Jane Pickles, who has held posts with many leading
orchestras, and harpist, jean Price, a daughter of East
Devon who hails from Combe Raleigh.
The
orchestra was suitably scaled down in chamber proportions
for this work and there were some beautiful playing from the
orchestra and both soloists although, as often happens in
this concerto, with the nature of the instrument, the harp
was not always sufficiently projected.
To
finish, there was a cracking performance of Dvorak's Eighth
Symphony. There were some slightly ragged moments -
even the most renowned orchestras have them - but the
woodwind, horns and brass were able to shine. The horns
played those fiendishly difficult passages especially in the
last movement with apparent ease!
Proceeds
from the concert went to Clyst Caring Friends, based at
Broadclyst.
A
positively marvellous concert! |
EMG SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRAL CONCERT
EAST
DEVON PRESS CRITIQUE.
28th March 2003.
When
the Dean, the Very Reverend Keith Jones, introduced the recent
concert by the EMG Symphony Orchestra at Exeter Cathedral,
I am sure almost every member of the audience endorsed his
remarks. He referred to the troubled times in which we were living
and expressed the feeling that the chosen concert of English music
would be particularly appropriate to focus people's thoughts.
Although the troubled times to which he referred concern the whole
British nation, the music in the concert was indeed by English
composers, but no doubt Scots, Welsh and Irish would have felt
that here was a message for them too.
As
usual, the orchestra was conducted by Roger Hendy, and led by
Clare Smith. The packed cathedral was proof of the tremendous
following this orchestra has in East Devon and playing of
the standard we heard on this occasion explains why.
Throughout Roger Hendy cajoled his players into performances both
of great brilliance and heart-searching delicacy.
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The first
item on the programme harked back to that other war when the
Spitfire fighter was one of the decisive weapons of victory.
It was the Spitfire
Prelude and Fugue taken from William Walton's music for
the film The First of the Few that told of the development of the aircraft
and the way in which its inventor R.J. Mitchell burned
himself out in the process. It was a rousing opening to the
concert, with the brass making their presence felt, and the
fugue taken at a cracking pace. |
Next
came something completely different in the Fantasia
on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams. The music
spans the centuries from the 16th to the 19th
and at its first performance in 1910 a critic remarked that one
could never be sure whether one was listening to something very
old or very new. What is certain is that this work for strings is
an indisputable masterpiece of English music. It was interesting
to see that Vaughan Williams' instructions had been followed and
that the called for, smaller, second orchestra was placed
separately from the main orchestra. Unfortunately they were behind
the main orchestra and they seemed a little diffident and not
always as audible as they might have been. Nevertheless, this was
a beautiful performance, with some good deep string tone
always apparent from the full orchestra, and solos nicely taken
by the section leaders.
Then
there was what is almost certainly the greatest symphony ever
written by an English composer - the Symphony No.1 in A flat by
Elgar. Roger Hendy told me how exhilarated he had been when
rehearsing this work and how his awareness of its greatness had
increased the more he looked into it. It was all-apparent in this
impressive performance. Those broad tunes, the marvellous brass
outbursts, and the flowing episodes from the five horns -
extremely well played, incidentally, all came in their turn
and underlined the stature of the work. The moment when the second
movement allegro melted into the adagio was magical.
This
work, with its military overtones combined with questioning doubts
and conflicts, and finally optimism and hopefulness, was an ideal
choice for the times.
The
audience reacted appropriately and the applause, I'm sure, would
have gone on much longer, if the orchestra hadn't signalled that
it was time to call a halt.
East
Devon Press March 2003. |
