J rang this morning to chat about last week's Simone Young concert, and good it was too. It wasn't part of our series but C and G had used the clever 'bring your friends for free' tactic, so there we were. Very close. And I liked it. The sound I could get used to down there, and the proximity has its rewards, like the rather gorgeous Latvian violinist with a Strad with a perfect balance of sound which by the time it reached the circle may well have unbalanced itself in favour of the orchestra over the violin, small sound that it makes.
There are disadvantages though - you don't see any of the brass, or winds, or percussion, and you are perilously close to Simone's shoes, which had a strange perspex look about the back of them, but then my eyes have been letting me down a little. I kept wishing her trousers were longer... now I've gone off track -
J alerted me to a big unknown, a birthing, a big baby indeed: a new orchestra! and right here in this very city, at the local Town Hall, for cryin' out loud, and I missed it. And they've called it Orchestra Romantique. Baby and family (at least one daddy, Nick Byrne of the trombone, not to mention Ophicleide, with Nicholas Carter conductor, with midwives you could say, Kirsty Hilton concertmaster and the fabulous tireless Diana Doherty) are all doing well, very well in fact, Murray Black reports today. (He'll also tell you all you need to know about Simone and the SSO.)
The orchestra is "dedicated to performance of works by the great masters of the 19th century in intimate and accessible venues." And that's not all - there is a strong emphasis on returning to the instruments of the period (Berlioz is next with a Symphonie Fantastique you've likely never heard before), the hope of engaging a new young audience (pricing and concert times), and a wish to travel beyond the city.
There was a big spread in the July Limelight, which can be downloaded here. Full marks and hopefully, surely, there will be enough support for full steam ahead.
