The Sinfonietta were in particularly good form for the first concert of their Festival of British Music (presented with support from Arts Council England and St.Helens Council).We were offered a delightfully varied programme of short orchestral works ranging from the 17th century (Purcell) to the 21st (Forshaw), and from the very well-known to some music that few of us had heard before.
The orchestra under Alan Free excelled itself in all the musical styles on display, with the strings on excellent form. Particularly enjoyed (and particularly little-known) were the 'Serenade' by William Mathias and the 'Suite of Scottish Dances' by William Alwyn. David Forshaw’s 'Planet Dances' got its second performance, and we all wallowed in several old favourites – the Mikado Overture, Vaughan Williams’s 'Fantasia upon Greensleeves', Delius’s 'On hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring', and Elgar’s 'Chanson de Matin' (played as an encore but sounding as luscious as we've ever heard it).
The attendance was rather disappointing, leading to speculation as to who might have defected to watch Saints. There are three more concerts in the Festival: string quartets by Britten and Elgar at the U.R.C. on 8th May, a bevy of vocal soloists and a large ensemble in Walton’s 'Façade' and Sullivan’s 'Cox and Box' on 19th June, and finally on 9th July, in the Town Hall again a big symphony concert with an orchestra 47 strong, and Graham Morris as soloist in Elgar’s ‘Cello Concerto'. This series deserves big audiences, and certainly needs them if the Sinfonietta is to avoid having taken a step too far. So rally round, everyone! Plenty of other chances to watch Saints, great though they may be.