Usually at the first desk of the violas, versatile Richard Thorn took the solo part in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor at last night’s concert by the Municipal Orchestra under Hugh Fenn.
After a nervous hurried start, he settled down to give an elegant and classical performance most convincing in the lyrical slow movement.
By treating the finale as serious music – not just frothy display – he made the concerto sound much better balanced than usual.
Zest
An unfamiliar item was Weber’s Symphony in C major, which turned out to owe much to Haydn. It was well played, and the oboist showed progress, though he was not fully in control of the exposed passages in the scherzo.
The orchestra sounded much more involved in seven delicious Roumanian Fold Dances by Bartok, which they played with zest and precision. These were the same dances which Lili Kraus played here in piano version some years ago.
Mendelssohn’s Overture, The Hebrides, Which opened the concert, ended well. But much of the magic of the early pages went literally up the spout in some flatulent brass sounds.