THE Middlesbrough Town Hall series found the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra, directed by leader Bradley Creswick, pulling in the largest audience of Teessiders I’ve seen for many years.
The concert featured the orchestra’s principal flautist, Juliette Bausor, and the former Prince of Wales’ royal harpist Katrin Finch as soloists.
From their opening of Fauré’s charming Masques et Bergamasques and Elgar’s equally popular Salut d’Amour, with Creswick in the leading role, the marker for quality was laid down in readiness for the entry of Bausor and Finch in Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp K 299.
In this, the two instruments produced a wonderfully smooth and polished partnership both in duet and with the orchestra.
More excellent playing came in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ all-too-short Fantasia on Greensleeves, with its unification of the Greensleeves theme and a Norfolk folk melody into a satisfying whole. Debussy’s Danse Sacree et Danse Profane benefited from a notable lightness and precision from Finch’s harp.
Finally, to round off the evening, Respighi’s Suite Gli Uccelli (The Birds) found the Sinfonia in fine form with their representations of dove, hen, nightingale and cuckoo sparkily projected.
The Sinfonia returns to Middlesbrough Town Hall on April 28 when Nicholas Kraemer will direct the players and Bradley Creswick in Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending, plus Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony; details and tickets from the box office on 01642-729729 or 815181.
Dave Robson
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