REVIEW: Frome Symphony's Film Favourites - Mon 7 July
St John's Church

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Review Published: 17 July 2008
Author: Ann Burgess
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St John's Church is a pleasant place to sit on a summer's evening, with light from the clear West window illuminating the painted ceiling and the richly gilded screen.

It proved to be a wonderful venue for Frome Symphony's Festival concert on Monday 7 July for quite another reason. The dry acoustic made for fantastic clarity of timbre.

The concert opened with Ravel's Bolero. In its long crescendo, each instrument could be heard, from side drum, and delicate viola to flute, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, French horn, piccolo, muted trumpets and strings.

The audience's anticipation increased as a shiny black grand piano appeared for Grieg's Piano Concerto , with Stephen Marquiss, founder of Frome Symphony, as soloist and David Hynds as conductor.

I remember when these young men were pupils at St John's First School . Now they are fine examples of home-grown talent. Their music teacher deserves much praise.

From the opening timpani roll and crashing piano chords, Marquiss and Hynds drew the audience in to this much-loved work. Marquiss has a lovely sense of line, his warm cantabile tone full of beauty. Dazzling cascades of notes in the cadenzas sent shivers down my spine.

The orchestra, led by Ursula Voigt, accompanied the soloist with great assurance. One forgot that Frome Symphony is a young and inclusive, non-auditioning orchestra.

Marquiss's exquisite rendition of The Adagio showed total commitment and conviction. A change of mood in the last movement saw a boisterous folk dance, with marked rhythms. The orchestra kept pace as Marquiss's uncompromising musicality delivered a commanding performance of glittering virtuosity.

After the interval, Marquiss returned in his usual role of conductor for Debussy's charming Petite Suite , more familiar in its original piano duet version, but delightfully orchestrated here.

The slow movement from Dvorak's New World Symphony , made famous by a Hovis advert, followed with Hynds conducting. Beautiful oboe and clarinet solos revealed Dvorak's longing to be home.

The evening ended with a triumphant performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks , with Marquiss taking the baton. Stylish brass and timpani came into their own. The brass and woodwind antiphonal effects and cymbal crashes thrilled to hear.

Congratulations to Frome Symphony on a splendid concert!