BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Conductor - Francois-Xavier Roth

Soloist – Leslie Hatfield

Blake Theatre, Monmouth 15^th October 2005

Saturday 15^th October saw the NOW returning to Monmouth for, what we hope, is their annual visit as part of the Merlin Music Society series of concerts.  They were welcomed by a full Blake Theatre and a live broadcast on Radio Wales.

Rameau’s Suite from his opera-ballet Les Indes Galantes, was something of a surprise, and a good one to open on.  Here was a work from the early eighteenth century stage and the slightly strange, almost ‘folk dance’ got everyone alert and listening.  The music is fresh and very rhythmic; it was particularly enjoyable to see the ‘authentic’ drums used.  Each dance was short and accessible, and the playing had a crispness that we didn’t expect to hear from an orchestra so used to the grand sweep.  More importantly, each had the kind of tune you can whistle in the shower.  Roth, the conductor, was clearly enjoying himself and directed things with real physical presence.  The Mozart Violin Concerto, although his third, was written when he was only nineteen, and still living in Salzburg.  Leslie Hatfield was the soloist, and although everyone likes a nice violin concerto, whether they expect each movement to end in a three and a half minute cadenza is another thing; I felt this sapped the energy from the work.  Nevertheless, Hatfield played superbly.  The famous middle movement contains some of Mozart’s most well-known orchestral music and the rapport between soloist, conductor and orchestra was easy to see as well as hear.  The final movement is more playful than the others and Hatfield brought this out well, clearly enjoying the interplay between soloist and winds, and soloist and strings.  This concerto has a rather unexpected ending; the soloist and oboe seemingly disappearing, rather than the usual emphatic finale Mozart used to let his audience know it was over.

The second half began with the rarely-heard La Creation du Monde by Darius Milhaud.  This is a piece about colour and rhythm rather than the more normal preoccupation with melody and harmony expected by western audiences.  The piece is very sectional and some of these sections seemed to be rather disjointed.  However, I thought the piece as a whole was awesome, especially the effects; jazz walking basses, a ‘cakewalk’ and flutter-tonguing flutes.  The bass-player’s tapping foot gave the whole thing a relaxed, big-band air.  The concert ended with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1.  Although his first, it was written when his life was already more than half over.  The orchestra was exactly suited to this repertoire and the Beethoven’s characteristic orchestrations shone through.  The woodwind especially brought this particular period, the cusp of 18^th and 19 centuries, to life.  The final movement is marked Allegro molto vivace and Roth went for it, betraying both his excitement and ease with this work with every stroke; the orchestra rose to the challenge magnificently and the audience clearly loved it.

W. Amos

Monmouth School