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Mendelssohn, Panufnik, Haydn, Stanek: Tasmin Little (vioin), Orchestra of the Swan, David Curtis. Stratford on Avon Civic Hall, 1.5.2009 (RJ)


When I want to find my way to an event I tend to follow the crowd. However that strategy didn't work on a bustling May Day in Stratford on Avon when I found crowds of people moving in  different directions. Some were off to see The Winter's Tale at the Courtyard Theatre, some to the town's literature bonanza and others were heading to the Spring Sounds Music Festival.

The latter, five days of orchestral and chamber music, has the internationally renowned violinist Tasmin Little as its artistic director. Tasmin clearly believes in a "hands on approach" - performing, advising on programmes and also introducing audiences to new works by composers she knows.

The first of these was Roxanna Panufnik whose Tibetan Winter for violin and string orchestra, was receiving its world premiere. Commissioned by the Spring Sounds Festival, it will eventually become incorporated into a Four Seasons suite, with each movement taking its influence from a country associated with a particular season. The five minute piece opened with the sound of a temple bell prefacing a wistful Tibetan melody for solo violin played by Miss Little. With its unfamiliar tonal scales, bursts of tremolo and sudden stops it had a distinctly otherworldly feel. As the violin melody became more pronounced, the upper strings provided an eerie accompaniment using harmonics. It was as if the music was gliding over the frozen wastes of a distinctly chilly Tibet.

The American composer Frank James Stanek was in the audience to hear the UK premiere of his Suite for Ursula, written as a Christmas present for the second wife of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Mr Stanek has long been an admirer of Vaughan Williams' music and there was a strong empathy for the English composer's musical style in the Suite. The Allegro Vivace harked back to the modal scales of Renaissance music which Vaughan Williams championed so masterfully. The strings of the Orchestra of the Swan seemed to relish the vigour and contrapuntal nature of this movement. The Lento espressivo was more serene, and  the spirit of Christmas seemed to enter its gentle tranquillity. But this was quickly dissipated by the concluding Allegro con brio which was more exuberantly American in character. Its bouncing rhythms which contrasted with a quieter central section found favour with the capacity audience who embraced the work with enthusiasm.

The rest of the programme was devoted to music by two composers whose anniversaries are celebrated this year. Haydn's Symphony No 94 went down a treat, with conductor David Curtis ensuring that audience members starting to drop off had a rude awakening in the second movement. The stomping Menuetto-Trio had a distinctly rustic air and the sprightly finale put a spring in everyone's step.

It was only fitting that the Spring Sounds should pay homage to Shakespeare in the Bard's home town, and so the concert opened with some of Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Although composed years after his youthful Overture to the same play these pieces retain the sparkle of youth. The fairy-like scherzo afforded the woodwind plenty of opportunity for humour and high jinks, while it was the horns that set the agenda in the dreamy, romantic Nocturne.

Tasmin Little cast convention aside by placing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the end of the concert - a move which nobody could surely contest.  The Concerto represents the culmination of the composer's orchestral output and, as such,  deserves to be treated as a grand finale. She engaged the audience's attention right from the start with her committed violin playing which captured the passion and humanity of the work. The cadenza at the end of the opening movement was more than mere virtuoso display and the violin melody of the slow movement seemed to descend from the heavens. The finale harked back to the wit and sparkle of the Scherzo that opened the concerts and one felt that the sprites were leaping about with cheerful abandon in the splendid woodwind sections. This was a bravura performance from both soloist and orchestra which moved forward to a frenetic and breathtaking climax.

Roger Jones


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