News and Reviews

Review: sinfonia ViVA - Talent for Restoration
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 7th Nov 2007

When sinfonia ViVA are on top form the effect is a bit like seeing an old master painting whose layers of varnish and grime have been removed to allow the original bright colours to shine through. Their trademark transparency of orchestral textures was much in evidence on Wednesday evening [7th November 2007] as they worked their magic with some familiar favourites, making them gleam like new. Take their decision to unearth the original 1830 version of Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture; small forces did not mean any diminution in dramatic power.

There were also two eighth symphonies. Beethoven's is a small-scale essay in exuberance and wit; here the briskness and buoyancy of the outer movements was balanced by relaxed tempos adopted by conductor Alexander Shelley in the middle of the work. As a sharp contrast, Schubert's was given a depth of rich romanticism with beautifully shaped phrases and a sense of mystery.

Ashley Wass was the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No.22. Crystal clear articulation characterised both pianist and orchestra. There was plenty of sensitive interplay between them, the slow movement elegantly handled and the fast movements full of the sort of vitality and unforced spontaneity which makes good Mozart playing so exhilarating.

Reviewed at thisisnottingham website

With André de Ridder recently taking up his new job as sinfonia ViVA's Principal Conductor, the Orchestra has also been forging a relationship with Alexander Shelley, first prizewinner in the Leeds Conductor's Competition, 2005.

The two completed movements of Schubert's Symphony No.8 were given a performance marked by finely judged tempos that allowed a sense of drama to come across without unbalancing the overall emotional impact.

Ashley Wass joined the Orchestra for a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No.22 that combined grandeur and intimacy. In the first movement Wass's attention to subtle dynamic shadings was a delight, and the orchestral sound was both warm and clear. The second movement was marked by great tenderness, but in the third variation Wass invested his playing with an unexpected degree of strenuous vehemence. This carried over into the central episode of the finale, which felt as though it was being made to carry rather more emotional weight than it warranted. The rest of the movement felt a bit subdued, taking just a little of the shine off an otherwise beautifully scaled reading.

After the interval came Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, but in the composer's first version of 1830 as edited by Christopher Hogwood and published by Bärenreiter in 2004. While the impression remains that Mendelssohn was probably right to revise the work to produce the version we know today, it was fascinating to hear that well-known opening veering off into completely unknown music, and to recognise familiar phrases in unfamiliar contexts.

Beethoven's Eighth Symphony ended the concert in a dynamic reading full of driving energy, pert and dapper in the second movement, and with the finale surging along on a tide of irresistible momentum.

Review by Mike Wheeler