I know the weather isn’t strictly a bookable Festival event, but it certainly contributes a certain something to the general atmosphere. So it must just be coincidence that EU Chamber Orchestra had chosen what seemed to be the perfect programme for this soft summer evening, full of gentle evocations and soothing airs.
Their opening offering was Bach’s Violin Concerto In A minor in which the whole ensemble displayed an exquisite tone in which every instrument sounded clear. The piece itself was lovingly constructed on an architectural scale as one would expect from the master.
Mozart’s Divertimento in F Major was lighter in ever way, playful as only Mozart can be and all the more amazing since it was written at the age of fifteen. There were breaths and zephyrs everywhere in the first movement, and an atmosphere of uncomplicated joy. The second was stately, then almost languorous, the third sprightly and high spirited.
Bach’s Concerto for two violins featured soloist Tamsin Little and orchestra director Hans-Peter Hoffman. Perfectly complementing each other they winged their way effortlessly through the intricacies of the first movement, the stately measures of the calm second and the lively intricacies of the third.
After the interval Ms Little disappeared leaving the orchestra to give us Two Aquarelles by Delius, perfect for a quiet evening when the sun had almost set but the sky still held its light. The second piece had an almost Shaker Loops quality, dance music heard across warm, twilit fields.
Grieg’s Two Elegiac melodies by contrast sounded rather sentimental to modern ears, although the playing of both Heart’s Wounds and Last Spring created an ethereal sound with exquisite delicacy. But the final offering, Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances was a more or less a text-book demonstration of orchestral beauty.
A perfect Festival evening, a taster menu of celestial offerings leaving us eager to come back for more.
