Dewi Tudor Jones - violinist star of the evening

What a pity the St Helens Cultural Awards nominations have already closed – too soon for St Helens Sinfonietta’s greatest contribution this year, their concert on Saturday night (28th November ’09) at St Helens Town Hall.

At the interval we were already congratulating ourselves on an evening well spent, with two very pleasant renditions behind us. First we heard Beethoven’s ‘Egmont’ Overture, full of familiar Beethoven sounds of triumph over oppression and the joy of ultimate freedom.
Then we had Schubert’s ‘Tragic’ Symphony No 4 in C Minor where the 19yr old composer seemed to render in music the unsettled moods and anxieties of youth, and the struggle for serenity and optimism.

Two lovely pieces, full of familiar sounds, decently played, and live; no re-recording or editing to get the sometimes surreal accuracy of modern recordings, but here and now, with a responsive audience, a truly alive experience.

But this was only the prelude for the real gems of the evening.
First, up on stage came David Forshaw, our own local composer to explain how his new piece ‘Shadow over Parinacota’ is an attempt to convey, in music, the emotional upheaval he experienced on first being present during a total solar eclipse, high in the Peruvian Andes in 1994.

A modern composition! Should we panic? Get out the earplugs? Grin and bear it?
No, no, just sit back and lose ourselves in the music, panpipes and all.
Not being a very visual person myself, I was sceptical about the project. Music trying to convey sounds is one thing, but views? Where the light disappears?
But what we heard, from the panpipes onwards, was pure atmospherics and emotion. I did not see the sun eaten up or the glory of the corona – but I did feel the awe, the agitation and fear, the superstitious imaginings, the build up of tension as the sun is eaten and the light ‘dies’, the holding of the breath in panic, and the gradual release as the sun returns and the sense of the miraculous overwhelms everyone. I can’t tell you how he did it, but as we were left with only the whispery panpipes again, I let out a long-held breath……..

I really hope we hear this piece again, and soon. David gave great credit to Ted Kirk (‘my old music teacher’, he told us) for his careful editing of the score and orchestral parts for performance and publication. The orchestra had clearly responded to its power, and if this is what we get when these people work together, then let us have more of it!

But we weren’t finished by any means. The ‘headline act’ was soloist Dewi Tudor Jones playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 1 - the very famous and fiendishly difficult one that every young virtuoso needs to master. It starts with exquisite exchanges between the violin and orchestra, almost a competition, moves into a slow melodic movement of sheer delight, pauses momentarily for breath, then embarks on the amazing gypsy-style finale testing the soloist to the limit, with the orchestra joining in joyously.
So it’s always a great high to end on. But we hadn’t counted on the verve and vigour of this young man. Perhaps his recently acquired 1749 Pretzschner violin has inspired him, but if he usually plays like this, I’m surprised he hasn’t come to our notice before. The orchestra certainly rose to the occasion, Dewi’s playing was so fresh and exciting, so involving, that we didn’t want it to end. When did you last see an audience on its feet with such joy?

It was a breathtaking end to the evening. And it happened here, in St Helens, in the Town Hall where Beecham conducted. Our local orchestra, the St Helens Sinfonietta, our local conductor Alan Free, our local composer David Forshaw, and a gifted young violinist who helped make the music sing to everyone in the place that night.
Such a wonderful atmosphere of infectious enjoyment – take everybody you know to hear a live Sinfonietta concert! And if you hear of Dewi Tudor Jones playing anywhere, let me know immediately!

J.C.
30/11/09