Lakeland Sinfonia, Westmorland Hall, Kendal

Lakeland Sinfonia, celebrating the start of its 40th season, presented works by Purcell, Mozart and Schubert. Philip Sunderland, at the helm for this auspicious occasion, oversaw performances that reflected the progress made by the orchestra over that period of time. However, the choice of pieces resulted in a certain blandness and inevitable lack of stylistic and instrumental contrast; surely there is a work written post-1816 that would have provided that element of adventure that, I suspect, would have been welcomed by audience and players alike.

The strings throughout the evening generally played with a disciplined approach, sweetness of tone and stylistic awareness; their performances of Purcell’s Chacony in G minor and Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik gave evidence of those attributes. In Schubert’s Symphony No 5 they, together with their horn and woodwind colleagues, produced authentic, well-balanced readings wherein could be heard an abundance of finely-rehearsed detail. Julian Bliss was the evening’s luminary. His performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto was riveting; supremely musical, technically dazzling and inspirational to his orchestral partners, who accompanied throughout with musicianly sensitivity.

Brian Paynes