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June 4, 2015 by billbruce Leave a Comment

Orchestra of the Swan, review from May 29th concert. Sonnets.

Last Friday’s concert featured a hugely popular piece, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, and four pieces of contemporary music.

Conductor David Curtis brought out all the surging grandeur of the opening movement and held nothing back to depict the gallumphing cellos and basses pretending to be delicate and restrained. The distinct moods of all four string instruments was deftly captured throughout the piece, particularly in the third movement which always reminds me of T.S. Eliot’s ‘glowed into words and then would be savagely still’ from The Waste Land. In this movement there is a quest to see if stillness can be found which is other than savage. Recourse to jolliness is Tchaikovsky’s first suggestion. The second is extreme introspection and the third a distraction created by a completely different tone and mood. Curtis made this last interestingly strident and rather manic. In this performance there were moments of lyrical beauty but pervasive restlessness was the key mood. At the end, despite all the exploration, despite all the searching for alternatives, we are in the same place as the opening melody is restated. It was a fine and stimulating interpretation.

After this came Shakespeare’s Sonnet No 115 written by Kristina Arakelyan for orchestra and soprano two years ago when she was eighteen, the piece which won the Shakespeare 400 Orchestra of the Swan composition award in 2014. The American soprano April Frederick’s very expressive mood creating and word colouring, together with beautifully controlled sustained long notes gave a good performance but I’m afraid Stratford ArtsHouse is wickedly unkind to solo voices. However skilled the projection and diction you are lucky to decipher a word unless you are sitting in the front row.

My favourite piece was Huw Watkins’s three minute Envoi for strings, the epilogue to his stint as resident composer to Orchestra of the Swan. Watkins’s haunting melody and sparseness make you concentrate on every moment, giving lots of time and space to reflect. As so often with World Premieres such as this I wish that the Orchestra would play it more than once. Although it’s very brief there is a lot to take in and a second hearing, perhaps at the end of the programme, would very much have enhanced the pleasure of the concert.

The other piece was a major work by Dobrinka Tabakova oddly called Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music, a setting for soprano of three poems (none of them sonnets) from The Passionate Pilgrim. Tabakova traced the mood of the poems beautifully, but I was left wondering whether I might have enjoyed it more reading the poems (helpfully printed in the programme) and just listening to the orchestra. I wasn’t convinced that the use of a soloist enhanced the piece and I didn’t feel that the Orchestra was accompanying the soloist; Tabakova appeared to me to be making them do two different things.

 

Peter Buckroyd

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Classical music, Orchestra of the Swan, reviews, shakespeare, Sonnets, William Shakespeare

February 17, 2011 by billbruce

A little about Moss Cottage

Hello,

As I have a new web site , kindly provided by David Steel at Stratford web designs, I thought I should tell you a little about my self and Moss Cottage. This also helps me get used to this world of blogs and the world wide web!

My name is William (but please call me Bill) Bruce, After working in engineering for 30 years in London, Kings Lynn and Swansea I was given the opportunity to start afresh in a whole new direction. Taking over Moss Cottage in September 2009 with no previous experience in the hospitality field was a somewhat daunting challenge. But one I have thoroughly enjoyed.

The most remarkable thing about running a bed and breakfast is that you realise there are so many wonderful, charming people in this world. I have had guests from all over the world and can genuinely say that people are the same the world over, happy to visit new areas and meet new people. Stratford-upon-Avon has proved to be a wonderful town to come to; the local people are the friendliest I’ve ever met; everyone has time for each other and happy to stop and chat to visitors.

Since taking over Moss Cottage I have gradually been able to make some changes. First to go were the small breakfast tables so that guests can now enjoy a leisurely breakfast and share their thoughts and experiences of Stratford-upon-Avon and the UK as a whole before starting their day. I have tried to create a warm environment so guests feel instantly at home, greeting new ones with tea or real coffee and a slice of homemade cake after their drive. They can thus settle in while I explain what this charming town has to offer them during their stay.

Having recently joined a new local business association, I have found that this town has even more to it than meets the eye. From the wonders of Shakespeare and the RSC, the Ghost hunts, the river cruises, the small independent shops, it has something for everyone to enjoy.

I hope to continue to improve Moss Cottage as I want guests not only to enjoy their stay here but also to enjoy their stay in this wonderful town.  As one of our guests wrote in our guest book: “It’s so much better than a faceless corporate hotel”.

Thank you for reading this. Please keep checking back for new blogs on Stratford-upon-Avon and its surrounding area.

Bill.

Filed Under: News

February 13, 2011 by billbruce

Welcome to our new blog

New updates will appear here soon

Filed Under: News

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Moss Cottage is a charming 1930s detached house located just a 15 minute walk from the very heart of Stratford-upon-Avon … More...

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Orchestra of the Swan, review from May 29th concert. Sonnets.

A little about Moss Cottage

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Moss Cottage Bed & Breakfast
61 Evesham Road
Stratford upon Avon
Warwickshire
CV37 9BA

Tel:  01789 294 770
Email:  info@mosscottage.org

Reviews from the RSC

Rsc review. The Whip.

King John. Review by Dr Peter Buckroyd.

A museum in Baghdad. Review by Dr Peter Buckroyd.

The boy in the dress. Review by Dr Peter Buckroyd.

King Lear, The Attic Theatre, Review by Peter Buckroyd.

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