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Oxford Chamber Orchestra: Sheldonian Theatre
With all the classical music on offer in Oxford at this time of year, what better choice for a Friday evening than listening to Mozart's last and finest symphony in the Sheldonian's matchless surroundings? The appreciative audience were treated to beautifully accomplished playing by the OCO - as one has come to expect over the last 16 years.
Directed by Jonathan Williams, the orchestra opened with a robust account of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture; the legato second theme providing a suitable foil to all that storm and stress. A comparative modern rarity followed, in the best tradition of Oxford music-making. This was the chamber orchestra version (arr Barshai) of Shostakovich's fourth string quartet, which was written in 1949 but not performed while Stalin was alive. The composer always expressed deeply personal feelings in his quartets, and this work, coloured as it is by folk-like melodies, rhythms and textures, reflected his concerns for Russian Jews. By turns anguished, bleak and intensely expressive - especially in the second movement, with the oboe's upwardly spiralling melody - the sound world is unmistakable to those familiar with Shostakovich's symphonies. Fuller scoring, including brass and percussion, is employed in the dance-like finale, which builds to an impressive climax before a deeply quiet ending. The silence before the applause was a clear indication of how effective and impressive this performance had been.
The full orchestra then performed Mozart's crowning symphony, the Jupiter. In the urgent first movement, exchanges between strings and wind were nicely handled and the general exuberance was striking. Elegant phrasing was evident in the beautiful Andante, one of Mozart's finest. The rustic Minuet & Trio was equally graceful and featured an appropriate wind band'. All sections of this splendid orchestra rose to the challenge of Mozart's contrapuntal masterpiece: the finale, particularly in its five-part fugal coda, to crown a most rewarding concert.
9:13am Thursday 1st November 2007
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CommentPosted by: Bea Todd, Oxford on 1:38pm Thu 1 Nov 07
Oxford Chamber Orchestra's next concert is 8 pm 29th February 2008 in the Sheldonian Theatre
Oxford Chamber Orchestra's next concert is 8 pm 29th February 2008 in the Sheldonian Theatre
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