Royal Northern Sinfonia, Kendal Leisure Centre
A bitterly cold evening, the temperature in the Westmorland Hall hardly conducive to high-quality music-making, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, guests of the Lakeland Sinfonia Concert Society, attempting to do just that.
Such was the scenario recently when this versatile orchestra braved the inclement Pennine conditions to air a couple of time-honoured classics, an unfamiliar clarinet concerto and Barber’s exquisite Adagio for Strings. The sinfonia's controlled, intense performance illuminated the calm tranquillity and peace of this beautifully-scored work and paved the way for Kyra Humphreys to join her colleagues in a reading of Mozart’s 4th Violin Concerto. Whilst there was much to admire here – a sensitive, stylish partnership, refinement of detail, occasional sparkle – the performance did lack excitement and an overall sheen.
The temperature was considerably raised by a performance of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. Timothy Orpen, in full command of the soloist’s widely-ranging technical and emotional demands, was partnered in exhilarating fashion by a conductor-less sinfonia, dispatching the jazz-inspired textures with great aplomb.
The familiar delights of Mozart’s 29th Symphony were vibrantly revealed in a presentation that possessed little of the near-dullness sometimes characterising the earlier concerto.
Brian Paynes
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