Virtuosic talents of Haffner Orchestra players shine (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Virtuosic talents of Haffner Orchestra players shine
5:30pm Wednesday 11th July 2012 in Music
By Gazette newsdesk
Haffner Orchestra,
Ashton Hall, Lancaster
DVORAK’S lovely Serenade began the programme, scored mainly for solo wind instruments with cello and bass. The clarinets and oboes were particularly brilliant, and the happy atmosphere was well conveyed, with its swaggering march, folk-flavoured menuet, a gentle andante where the cellist’s pizzicato contrasted well with the wind instruments, and a vigorous finale. This was followed by Bach’s Second Suite, with a small string group and a solo part for flute, played by Christine Lorriman, the orchestra’s principal flautist for 15 years; the seven movements floated by with varied faster and slower sections, ending with perhaps the most familiar movement, a badinerie or chatter-piece, giving the soloist a fine opportunity to show her skills: a delightful performance.
After the interval came a movement from the warm and romantic Serenade for strings, by Josef Suk; some may wonder why we were given only the first movement, but it proved an attractive aperitif to Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony. Here all the orchestra could let rip, in a rumbustious performance, well controlled by the conductor, Natalia Luis-Bassa, whose balletic skills on the rostrum were fully matched by the fulsome string sound and the virtuosic talents of all sections of the orchestra.
Donald Smith
