Two Centenaries in One Programme
The Ealing Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its centenary this concert season, which opened with another celebration of 100 years, the birth of Sir Malcolm Arnold, on October 9 at St Barnabas Church, Ealing. The conductor was the Musical Director, John Gibbons.
The first half contained a rare performance of Arnold’s Viola Concerto and it was a most pleasing experience. The soloist was Meghan Cassidy and the performance was scheduled to be streamed the following weekend as part of the Malcolm Arnold Festival.
The concerto was composed during a relatively happy part of Arnold’s life when living in Cornwall with his second wife, Isobel, and young son, Edward. The outer movements are generally happy and delightfully melodic; the slow movement enters much more solemn territory not far from late Shostakovich. The deliberate dissonance between orchestra and soloist near the beginning heralds an ominous melancholy that could be related to Cornwall’s decline as a major tin producer or the composer’s own state of mind, happy though he seemed to be, which was never far away from an embedded deep depression.
Cassidy is clearly a champion of this work and it is to be hoped she will gain a reputation for being its fervent advocate in as many concert halls as possible. It does not deserve its neglect.
Gibbons guided the performance as could be expected for leading the only combination of orchestra and conductor in this country to have performed the nine symphonies of Arnold live in concert. He has a new recording of the Ninth Symphony issued simultaneous to the concert. He is a trusted champion of a wonderful English composer.
The opener to the concert gave the horn section the honour of beginning the Helios Overture by Carl Nielsen, the great Danish symphonist. It is a rather cruel acclamation for cold horns, here surviving thanks to the care of the players. Gibbons had the panoramic measure of this open-air work celebrating the rising sun’s projection through a dazzling noon before subsiding back into a majestic, quiet sunset. The orchestra entered into this glorious scene with vivid and energetic playing.
To end Gibbons chose that darkness to light masterpiece. Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. The secluded opening began a journey towards salvation that was eagerly undertaken by his wonderful orchestra. Gibbons’ temperament displayed the music with all the turmoil and volcanic eruptions that permeate throughout. The glorious horn solo opening the slow movement was securely taken with a bold projection by Pamela Wise and the whole corporate effort to project Tchaikovsky’s desire to expose his most inner feelings ended with life affirming celebration of the human spirit. The audience loved it.
Edward Clark for Musical Opinion, January — March 2022