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Guildhall Strings/Robert Salter (director, violin) Clare Finnimore (viola) Blackheath Halls February 2 2003 Rossini String Sonata No 1; Mendelssohn String Symphony No 9;
Britten Simple Symphony; Elgar Serenade; Puccini Crisantemi;
Milford Meditation for Viola & Strings This was a good, meaty programme for a Sunday morning, framed by juvenalia by Rossini, Mendelssohn and Britten. The Mendelssohn in C made a particularly happy impression heard live, with its original disposal of quartets of violins alone, followed by violas, cello and bass, in the slow movement. Elgar's Serenade is imperishable, however often heard, and Robin Milford's Meditation was a real discovery, to be included in a Hyperion CD in preparation. The inner Playful Pizzicato and Sentimental Sarabande of the Britten were more persuasive than the forced jollity of its outside movements. Guildhall Strings was one of the first groups to 'stand and deliver', and this helps visibility and communication with the audience in halls such as Blackheath's Recital Room, which has a flat auditorium. Drawn originally from Guildhall School of Music and Drama students, the ensemble is now 21 years old and has retained many of its founder members. Fielding 11 players for this programme, they might have sounded better in the Great Hall downstairs, especially the Rossini, in which the first violins had a harsh tone which made one wonder whether gut E strings might have helped to mellow the sound? Guildhall Strings have made a niche for themselves in early 20 C English music, with a well reviewed CDs of Armstrong Gibbs and Peacock Pie, a pleasing collection of concertinos for piano and strings (many of them composed for schools and the amateur orchestra movement) with attractive small works, notably those by Gordon Jacob, Madeleine Dring and Robin Milford, all crisply played by Martin Roscoe with the Guildhall Strings euphonious in support; Hyperion CDA67316.
Armstrong GIBBS Hyperion CDA67093
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