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Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries

14 November 2004 at 7.30pm

Tickets £8.50 (children and students £4.50)

Conductor - Geoff Keating

Violin - Leland Chen

Weber :	Overture - "Der Freischütz"
Beethoven :	Violin Concerto
Brahms :	Symphony No 4

 

Solway Sinfonia rehearsing with Leland Chen

We had our largest ever audience attend this concert.  It was a great success with favourable comments from various quarters.  Robert Thurlow (viola and committee member), for example, received an e-mail from a committee member of the choral society congratulating us on the concert - "...  full house, staggering playing from Leland Chen and great playing from the orchestra - a great evening out.  The highlight of the evening was when my young son turned to me and said "wow" during one of the cadenzas." 

The following 'crit' by Maxine Windsor appeared in the local press -

"On Sunday 14th November in the Easterbrook Hall, the Solway Sinfonia orchestra, conducted by Geoff Keating, leader Paul Davidson, treated us to some great music.  I have attended all their concerts; each one seems to surpass the one before.

They opened with Weber's Overture to Der Freischutz.  This was taken at a very good pace, and although I thought the strings could have played Agathe's theme more strongly, there were a lot of exciting moments in this music which illustrates the struggle between good and evil in a ghost story.

The central item was Beethoven's violin concerto with Leland Chen.  We were indeed fortunate to have the opportunity to hear this first class professional virtuoso violinist here in Dumfries.

The concerto was magic from start to finish.   From Jamie Brand's muffled drumbeat opening onwards, the first tutti was well played apart from one unfortunate lapse which was soon forgotten at the entry of the violin which transported us into another realm of wonderful, soul stirring, romantic Beethoven, exquisitely played, perfect in every detail and with plenty of emotion to keep us all on the edge of our seats.       The second movement was beautifully ethereal - it is usually the hardest movement to accompany but Geoff Keating did a great job in following the soloist and getting the orchestra to give him all the support he needed.    The rollicking last movement gave welcome relief after the rarefied emotion of the second, and was played with a great sense of fun by everyone; one noticed particularly the dialogue between solo violin and the oboe (excellently played as always by Sue Austen).     The cadenzas in the concerto seemed to use every special technique available to the violin - double stopping, harmonics, cross bowing etc. etc., and were breathtaking in their musicality and virtuosity. 

The concert concluded with Brahms' Fourth Symphony..     The first movement was well performed with great playing from everyone.   In the slow movement , from where I sat, the cellos' second theme was rather overwhelmed by the violins, but otherwise the music gave out a great feeling of calm - rudely shattered by the third movement which was wonderfully energetic and exciting especially when the triangle joined in so effectively.  The fourth movement was dramatic from start to finish.

 After the concert we left the hall satisfied, uplifted and full of admiration for the orchestra and their conductor, who all gave such a magnificent performance.

Don't miss the next concert in March!

MW"