A satisfying mixture of opera arias, overture and seldom heard pieces.

A Saturday afternoon matinee concert with an operatic focus was a new venture for the Lakeland Sinfonia Orchestra. Sadly, the audience was small which was disappointing because three talented young singers gave very impressive accounts of operatic arias by Gounod, Mozart and Rossini, and the orchestra, under the direction of a highly talented young conductor, Toby Hession, was on good form.

            Rossini’s Overture The Barber of the Seville, which opened the programme, sparkled and there were some lovely solo moments from the woodwind section with strings giving firm support. Rossini’s trademark rabble-rousing crescendos was firmly controlled and the performance of the whole overture created just the right atmosphere for the operatic arias which followed. Most of these were well-known and, although presented out of context, each singer conveyed the prevailing mood of their particular aria successfully. The first half of the concert ended on a comic note with Papageno’s Suicide Aria (Pa…pa…pa from Mozart’s Magic Flute)in which we heard, of course, Papageno’s panpipes which are an integral part of this aria and add to the humorous element. In their theatrical presentation, baritone Colin Murray and mezzo-soprano Cara Blaikie managed to convey this very effectively.

            The second half of the concert was introduced by Wagner’s charming Siegfried Idyll. The opening bars were particularly impressive as Toby Hession drew a lovely quiet legato line from the string section, soon to be followed by prominent solo sections delivered with confidence by the woodwinds; and then a very effective climax before the work came to a gentle quiet close, again revealing high quality playing from the string section.

            Gounod’s first symphony, which ended the concert, is little-known and is not often played. It deserves to be better known because it is a well-crafted work revealing Gounod’s mastery of orchestration and inventiveness. The orchestra rose to the technical challenges posed by the work, and, again, Toby Hession’s clear direction, energy and enthusiasm resulted in a very satisfying performance, perhaps leaving us to wonder why the symphony is so seldom performed.

            We look forward to hearing more performances by this excellent orchestra next season.

Clive Walkley