Sinfonia, Symposium, Symphony
Feb. 7th, 2025 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBrowsing the Barbican's concert listings, I'd spotted Walton's First Symphony in their "Half Six Fix" series, but on closer inspection, there was a full concert in the same week with that work as the second half with some interesting other works, and I decided I'd give the full concert a try. I noticed the hall was hardly packed; despite this, I was sandwiched between people who were forever fidgeting with their phones, which did make me question why they'd spent money on coming to the concert.
The London Symphony Orchestra were conducted by Sir Antoni Pappano, and after a brief introduction, the concert began with George Walker's Sinfonia No. 5, "Visions". I was curious after hearing his Lyric for Strings a few years ago. This piece was a response to yet another mass shooting in the US, and it carried a lot of emotion. I wouldn't rush to hear it again, but at the same time it wouldn't deter me from seeking out his other works.
A last minute change due to illness gave Carolin Widmann the opportunity as the soloist in Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's "Symposium"). I'm not a huge Bernstein fan; West Side Story is justifiably popular, but I can't think of any other works that really caught my attention. Similarly with this one, I was mostly indifferent, although I did enjoy the fourth movement ("Agathon").
Fortunately, the performance of Walton's Symphony No. 1 had energy in all the right places. It struck me in particular that the dry acoustic of the hall quickly silenced the orchestral sound whenever the players stopped. Although my response to the other pieces might have been one of indifference, I felt the experiment had been worthwhile, and this final piece reassured me that the concert was worth going to see.
The London Symphony Orchestra were conducted by Sir Antoni Pappano, and after a brief introduction, the concert began with George Walker's Sinfonia No. 5, "Visions". I was curious after hearing his Lyric for Strings a few years ago. This piece was a response to yet another mass shooting in the US, and it carried a lot of emotion. I wouldn't rush to hear it again, but at the same time it wouldn't deter me from seeking out his other works.
A last minute change due to illness gave Carolin Widmann the opportunity as the soloist in Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's "Symposium"). I'm not a huge Bernstein fan; West Side Story is justifiably popular, but I can't think of any other works that really caught my attention. Similarly with this one, I was mostly indifferent, although I did enjoy the fourth movement ("Agathon").
Fortunately, the performance of Walton's Symphony No. 1 had energy in all the right places. It struck me in particular that the dry acoustic of the hall quickly silenced the orchestral sound whenever the players stopped. Although my response to the other pieces might have been one of indifference, I felt the experiment had been worthwhile, and this final piece reassured me that the concert was worth going to see.