Review by James Day for the November 2006 edition of Pride Magazine. Used with permission.

Cambridge Philharmonic Society
West Road concert hall,
Saturday 14 October

There are some concerts that stand out so strongly in the mind as to strike one as not merely memorable, but unforgettable. I rather fancy the Cambridge Philharmonic Society's opening concert of their 2006/7 season under Tim Redmond will prove to be one of these.

The concert had everything: an ambitious, 'meaty' and well-chosen programme. An orchestra - and I mean an orchestra, not just a collection of players hired as a necessary evil - on top form; a chorus that was not large by the standards of some choral societies, but which had been well trained and sang with zest, sweet yet bright and robust tone and care about dynamics, accent, diction and ensemble; a sizeable and responsive audience; and a conductor who had clearly done his homework on the works to be performed.

The programme was drawn up with a forthcoming visit to Prague in mind, so not surprisingly it opened with Dvořák's tone poem the Noonday Witch - a programmatic piece featuring a naughty boy, a harassed mother and a Wicked Witch. Not one of the composer's best-known works, but a substantial and at times strongly characterised piece that requires a highly-skilled wood-wind section, well-balanced, sonorous brass, disciplined, expressive string-playing and a conductor with a good sense of rhythm, balance and structure. It got all these in a well-paced, shapely performance of remarkable intensity with a most remarkable dynamic range.

The orchestra followed this exciting beginning up with two Debussy piano preludes that Colin Matthews has orchestrated for the Hallé Orchestra, no less. Purists may quibble, but I found these pieces fascinating in their own right as orchestral showcases. Puck's Dance was perhaps a little bit galumphing, but Fireworks was both graphic and colourful - and most effectively presented.

The chorus's main contribution - Vaughan Williams's early song for orchestra setting of Whitman's Toward the Unknown Region. This should suit the Czech audience: RVW in his best Parry/Elgar vein, with a touch of Dvořák-like Brahms and a rousing final climax that found the chorus giving of their all without forcing the tone, producing some eloquent soft singing.

But it was the final item, Henry V: a Shakespearean Scenario, Christopher Palmer's skilful arrangement for speaker, chorus and orchestra of Walton's wide-ranging score for the Olivier film of Shakespeare's Henry V, that lifted the concert from the memorable to the unforgettable. With David Timson declaiming Shakespeare's magnificent verse in fine style, the orchestra and chorus contributing as expressively as one could possibly wish for, a rousing contribution (rehearsed on the spot) from the audience in the Agincourt Song and a vociferous reception at the end, one left the concert-hall with a feeling that it was May week and the Last Night of the Proms all rolled into one. A triumph for the Phil and a treat for the audience.

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