A LARGE turnout on Saturday night for Jerzy Maksymiuk and the BBC SSO;
and no doubt from the buzz in the foyer that the prime topic of
discussion was the news of Maksymiuk's contract not being renewed. And I
can tell you this: the management may not want him any more; many of the
band may not want him any more; but he is still valued by the audience.
It was a good programme on offer: something new, something neglected,
and an opportunity. The opportunity belonged to Paul Boyes, principal
bassoonist with the orchestra. Mozart's bassoon concerto can sound like
a bit of a galumph, given the nature of the instrument. Boyes has a
pleasant sound, warm and mellow, and made it very much a lyrical
experience, playing on the expressive nature of the music. Very curvy,
very well-phrased.
The new was by Penherski, whose little work, Signals, is a kind of
Polish mini-Bolero; behind a galloping drum rhythm and bits of fanfare,
an orchestral texture begins to assemble. It accumulates in density and
culminates in a blazing major chord. Pleasant, though not strikingly
original.
Sibelius's Sixth Symphony has never found favour with concert
planners; a relatively restrained work, it doesn't have the obvious
dramatic or melodic appeal of its siblings, though, once known, it
reveals itself as a very clever symphony, of no lesser quality. In the
confines of the studio, it came across as rather more intense than it
should be -- harshly bright rather than luminous, feverish rather than
restless. Good to hear it though.
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