At the same event, Classic FM launched an intriguing education partnership with Musicworks.
The Camerata was joined by young musicians from a Swedish academy in Uddevalla, which has a twin-city relationship with North Ayrshire. The composite band was conducted by head of Musicworks Chris Gray in a programme of Britten’s Simple Symphony, Kevan O’Reilly’s new Trumpet Concerto (with academy principal John Wallace as soloist), Maxwell Davies’s jaunty Birthday Card for Prince Charles, and, in an ambitious second half, Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, the Eighth String Quartet in the overwhelming arrangement for string orchestra by Rudolf Barshai.
The orchestra, especially in the Britten, sounded raw; there are some very young teenagers in the outfit. But what was clear was the meticulous detail in the playing, suggesting rigorous, disciplined coaching and the securing of an impressive level of musicality in phrasing, ensemble, dynamics and integrity.
In a superbly focused performance of the Shostakovich, all of these elements, along with the mood, concentration and intensity of the music, came together. O’Reilly’s concerto, an anti-concerto that didn’t glance sideways at the traditional model, took a different approach and set its soloist, John Wallace in soulful mode, as a solitary figure against a landscape where the strings provided the atmosphere, colour and the pulse behind the soloist’s musings. O’Reilly, recently graduated, is a young man who knows his Miles Davis.
And Classic FM’s response to Musicworks? “We’ve backed a winner,” said managing director Darren Henley at half-time.
North Ayrshire Camerata, RSAMD, Glasgow
Michael Tumelty
***
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article