Last month, BBC National Orchestra of Wales performed in Brecon, Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Llandudno as part of their tour to mid and north Wales. Laura Sinnerton kept a diary of the tour – exploring what life is like on the road with the orchestra.
Friday 28 November
The drive to Aberystwyth is quite a mission, but I always feel compensated by the prospect of a wander around the arts centre gift shop and its amazing book store. This evening is the first outing of our Celtic Impressions programme. It opens with William Mathias 'Dance Overture', a work that I am rather fond of. This is swiftly followed by Elgar’s 'Sea Pictures' with soloist Jennifer Johnston (who is wearing a stunning dark blue satin gown which my desk partner Pete and I strongly approved of).
After the interval, we play Sir Charles Villiers Stanford’s 'Irish Rhapsody No 1' (which begs the question - how many did he actually write?) and even after much rehearsal I’m still not sure what I think of this work. The orchestral colours are quite beautiful, and it is rather fun to play, but I find it somewhat over-laboured. I love the melody 'Danny Boy' as much as the next person, but I do feel as though there is just one repetition too many of it in the middle section of the work. Still, the work is good fun and the audience visibly enjoy it. With that, it is on to Mendelssohn’s 'Scottish Symphony' - my favourite Mendelssohn symphony.
Saturday 29 November
BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Bangor
Tonight’s concert is a repeat of the Celtic Impressions programme and it is interesting to hear the fresh challenges that the music throws up in terms of balance and ensemble in the resonant acoustic of the Prichard-Jones Hall. Due to the shape of the stage and the positioning of the risers, the harp and celeste are now right behind the violas which means we get to hear a completely different aspect of the music from that we normally hear. Usually we only hear these instruments at a distance over the expanse of the first and second violins!
The depth of the stage in Bangor means that the wind and brass are at quite a distance from the front of the orchestra. This makes maintaining good ensemble-playing something you have to think very consciously about, and the poor wind and brass have to almost play ahead of the beat in order for the sound to reach the auditorium at the same time as that of the strings. They sound fabulous, however and I think that the 'Sea Pictures' in particular sounds glorious this evening.
Sunday 30 November
Llandudno Beach
Sunday sees our final concert of this short tour, and not only a return to the Impressions of Italy programme, but also to a dry theatre acoustic. It is great to see such a good audience at Venue Cymru, Llandudno on a Sunday afternoon, and today I particularly enjoy Respighi’s 'The Birds' - a curious work, very sparse, but beautifully orchestrated.
With my viola packed away and a quick change back into my civvies, it’s back to Cardiff. The orchestra has a really intense recording patch coming up comprising the Doctor Who Christmas Special, and the next patch of our Sibelius recordings for Linn records under our Principal Conductor, Thomas Søndergård. There’s not much time to pause for breathe in a busy symphony orchestra, so it’s back home and on to the next project.
Listen again to Radio 3 Live in Concert, BBC NOW from Brecon.
