THE Lakeland Sinfonia Concert Society promoted its second Northern Sinfonia concert within a fortnight, this time with maestro, Thomas Zehetmair in charge - wonderful!
A rarity by Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question, immediately set the standard of performance for the evening.
Only the most talented of string sections could have maintained throughout this short piece, with utter control, the extreme pianissimo and with what powerful effect did the immaculate solo trumpeter and woodwind quartet question and mock!
Zehetmair, for whom everybody has total veneration, both as conductor and violinist, was the soloist in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
His was an attractive, personal, individualistic reading which, however, did occasionally lead to balance and ensemble problems and to distinctly uncharacteristic (disappointing for him) moments of untidiness.
His colleagues were their usual valiant, alert partners and, like the audience, were stunned by his encore – a Paganini Caprice.
Tchaikovsky’s not-so-familiar, but thoroughly engaging, Symphony No 2 concluded the evening in commandingly triumphant fashion.
The excellence of all aspects of the Sinfonia’s execution, together with Zehetmair’s positive overseeing, enabled us to marvel at the sheer quality and beauty of Tchaikovsky’s imaginatively radiant scoring.
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