After a live concert on BBC Radio 3 from our home in Cardiff Bay, dedicated to new and old British music, we went to Swansea with a Tchaikovsky/Bartok extravaganza.
On the bill of fare was Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Bartok's Second Piano Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. It was my first time performing the Fantasy Overture (it's always exciting when you play such a well-known, well-loved work for the first time), and I've been in stamina training for the amount of vibrato and depth of expression needed in the bow for the Symphony.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
This concert was also the culmination of a short education project we have been involved in with young musicians and enthusiastic learners from the Swansea area, in association with Abertawe Festival of Young Musicians. Just after we finished our Sullivan recording sessions, an intrepid band of us zoomed down the motorway to Swansea to meet this lovely group of musicians. The project is entitled We All Like Tchaik, and explores the music of the Fantasy Overture and the Fourth Symphony.
The idea behind the project was to give the young players a first-hand peak at the music, and therefore, to give them something to listen out for when they come to the concert. Welsh composer Gareth Glyn was charged with creating an abridged, and much shortened version of the Fantasy Overture and of the Fourth Symphony, that would be accessible to learners who were beginners, grades 2-3, 4-5 and 6+.
He has done a fantastic job, not just of underlining the main melodic content of the Overture and Symphony, but also by bringing out the little motivic cells that give these works their unique character.
On arrival at the Brangwyn, the first job was to get everyone seated with the correct music for their current standard, before embarking upon helping with tuning what seemed to be an endless sea of little violins, violas, cellos and basses. The sessions were led by Associate Leader Nick Whiting who gave lots of helpful information about how to play as a part of an ensemble. The sessions followed pretty much the same structure as our normal work day sessions - the music is played through, then picked apart and reconstructed.
It really was a lovely afternoon and lots of fun for us, as well as those who had come to take part. My personal favourite memory was of violinist Mick Topping surrounded by a posse of tiny beginner violinists with pink and sparkly violins! It was so encouraging to hear the participants so enthused by the music. Moreover, it was fabulous to see what musical talent and potential there is in the Swansea area.
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales' next concert at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall is on Friday 8 March. For more information, visit the orchestra's website.
