Orchestra proves it is as popular as ever

A GREAT musician needs a great instrument to play - and Antoine Tamestit proved the point when he performed William Walton’s Viola Concerto with a 1672 Stradivarius viola to an appreciative audience at the arts centre.

His delicate touch on the viola, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation, was perfect for the romantic sections of the concerto and his playing blended beautifully with the orchestra.

Earlier the orchestra began the evening of British music with a modern, quirky piece, Dances from Powder Her Face, the first opera by composer Thomas Ades. It was a lively start to a programme full of contrasts.

The LSO is one of the world’s leading orchestras, but as a British institution, it was perfect to perform the main piece of the evening, Elgar’s Symphony No 1. The orchestra brought out the drama and emotion of the symphony, with popular conductor Antonio Pappano putting all his energy into the pulsating climax. The whole of his body, including his flowing locks, seemed to move in time to the music.

The ovation at the end proved that the orchestra is as popular as ever, especially when it plays Elgar to a Midlands audience.

Peter Gawthorpe