News and Reviews

Review: sinfonia ViVA with Nicholas Daniel (oboe) and Lucy Wakeford (harp)
Djanogly Recital Hall, Nottingham - 10th October 2009

This concert was sparked off by the bicentenary of Mendelssohn's birth. It featured three German masters, one baroque, one romantic – the birthday boy at the age of 12 – and one modern.

Now in his eighties and still very active, Hans Werner Henze has been prolific in various genres including opera. His Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Strings dates from 1966 and was influenced by Italy, where he has lived for many years.

Nicholas Daniel and Lucy Wakeford scintillated in the arresting nuances of their virtuosic solo parts, the music's shifting moods being delicately pointed up by an ensemble of 18 orchestral strings.

Not the famous Mendelssohn wedding march but a traditional one from a Swiss mountain valley went into the scherzo of his String Symphony in F, No. 11. Led by Benedict Holland, conductor André de Ridder's players brought both opulence and pulsating excitement to this precocious work.

The evening opened with JS Bach's dark-hued Sixth Brandenburg Concerto, based on an Italian model but striking out in new directions. Two violas and a cello enjoy leading roles in the absence of violins. ViVA's three fine soloists were adroitly supported by congenial colleagues.

Review by Peter Palmer