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Review: sinfonia ViVA - Russian Nights
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 31st Dec 2007

When I saw that sinfonia ViVA were offering a 'Russian Nights' programme for their New Year's Eve Gala Concert this year I thought that at last they might have bitten off more than they could chew. After all, where would a chamber orchestra find that ocean of opulent sound (and all those strings) needed to express all that Slavonic passion?

The concert's opening piece (Mussorgsky's Great Gate of Kiev) was bound to prove me right, I thought. Surely only massive forces would do here? But no. Not only was their sound sufficiently weighty but their cunning plan to play Walter Goehr's arrangement (rather than Ravel's) allowed them to show off the subtlety for which they are noted.

Having established that their modest size was a positive advantage, they then became the ideal ballet orchestra in numbers from Swan Lake, Spartacus and The Firebird.

Pianist Ian Buckle may not be the biggest name to have graced the Concert Hall's stage but he gave an outstanding performance of Rachmaninov's 2nd Concerto. With nothing egocentric in his approach, all his energy was channelled into plumbing the depths of the music. Massive strength and faultless technique combined with an ability to seek chamber music intimacy amid the grand gestures.

The second half's Strauss dances not only benefited from conductor Nicholas Kok's imaginative attention to detail but also from his genial rapport with the audience. He may not have achieved dancing in the aisles but he inspired some enthusiastic singing - as well as thunderous applause.

Review by William Ruff