Reviews by pupils from Beeslack Community High School
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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra astounded its listeners as it performed an outstanding programme of "City Symphonies", expertly led by Nicholas Kraemer at CL@SIX last night. They executed radiantly three great works of art; Mozart's symphony number five "The Hague", Haydn's symphony number ninety-two "Oxford", ,and to finish off Mozart's symphony number thirty-four "Paris". The orchestra played each piece with feeling enough to move one to tears (in particular the flautists who wielded their energy with ferocious sentiment). In fact each piece was played so emotionally that repeated tuning was needed for some of the instruments, but to no small effect. Even in the high seats of St Cuthbert's Church you could feel the raw passion radiating off the players as they poured their heart and sould into the music before them. The music was frighteningly inspiring, moving you to wherever the composer had the whim to take you, not letting your attention drift for a moment with its spectacular contrasts in everything from prevailing instrument (predominantly violin or woodwind in Mozart's "Paris") to the sheer volume itself. It is unfortunate that this run of CL@SIX concerts is nearly at an end for they are, in my opinion, the most umissable series of concerts so far this year. They provide the perfect way to unwind after a stressful day of work, and being from 6pm until 7pm they let you cut out the rush hour traffic, and let you be in the perfect place to go for dinner afterwards. With CL@SIX you will never need another Tuesday night in!
Sophie Pitts
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As I entered St Cuthbert's Church I weas overwhelmed by the lovely architecture, I thought that it was a perfect venue for the concert to take place as the sound from the orchestra echoed resoundingly around the church. I thought that the atmosphere was also fantastic and it was a joy to see other people watching the concert swaying in their seats to the music. To see the old fashioned, traditional French horn was also a great treat! I found throughout the concert that the sound from the violins was almost too overpowering and I felt that they were leading too much however the conductor, Nicholas Kraemer, seemed to be in total control holding the orchestra together spectacularly. All three symphonies washed over me in an overpowering, ecstatic manner. A big thanks and congratulations to everyone that was involved, it was a pleasure to be part of that atmosphere.
Kate Mills
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For me, an over-sized hallway stuffed to the gold rails leading out with middle aged cronies hunched over clutching a bag and a programme or otherwise fixated on a previously arranged score, opened on the wrong page, did not sound like a way to spend a Tuesday night. However, on entering St. Cuthbert's Church (west end) to hear raptuous applause for the upcoming symphony and watch the conductor almost bound onto the podium had to be promising. Aside from this was the rather impressive and imposing backdrop of the incredibly ornate church with a marble sculpture of the last supper arcing round behind the somewhat small, yet powerful orchestra, seemed to be an incredibly appropriate setting. The first symphony washed over me with a sense of statelyness and grandeur followed by an angelic wavering melody with envigorating contrast in dynamics and style in the second. The conductor, Nicholas Kraemer, led as though playing one immense instrument with the entire orchestra so timely placed under his wing that it was impossible to see where the gap between him and the orchestra members was. In the third symphony a person to the right of me, so intent on finding out the name of the piece, missed the natural horn player waving the instrument in the air tuning and releasing trapped water, as well as teh conductor's extravagant facial expressions signalling to one section to enter as the fugal entries of a little motif passed round the orchestra. The evening in all was well received I thought as it was generally agreed that the short length of 50 mins could be fitted nicely in between tea and 'after eight's' still allowing
work due for the next day to be completeed. A big congratulations and thank you to all involved.
Nathalie Holbrook
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The Classics at 6 by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra was quite a mixed experience for me, but I strongly believe that this is by no fault of the SCO themselves - I just generally found the music, well, boring.
The first symphony was the Hague Symphony commposed by the man himself, Mozart. Personally I found the style too repetitive and short for my liking. However, this is most likely because it was written by Mozart at the grand old age of 10.
The second symphony was Oxford by Haydn was the highlight of the evening. Despite the brass section sounding like a business man at a lower league football match in the second movement, just a tad out of place, I found the whole symphony a lot more exciting than anything else that evening. The conductor, Nicholas Kraemer swished with the strings and smashed with the brass! I like that. A lot.
The second symphony by Mozart of the evening, also the 'grand Finale' if you will, was the Paris Symphony, and by no means whatsoever a Grand Finale. The first two movements were very similar and repetitive. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a man, probably in his fifties, fast asleep. No kidding, he was so underwhelmed he was knocked out. The third movement picked things up however, being generally more fast and exciting than the rest of the symphony. The timps and woodwind were just enough to keep everyone awake after the infinite boredom of the previous movements.
Kieran Johnson
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Overall the performance was well rounded. Three star performances with a fantastic conductor Nicholas Kraemer and a great venue with a beautiful baby blue ceiling and a fantastic alter. With a nice, easy, homely feeling. The first piece was by Mozart "Symphony No.5 The Hague" was a fantastic piece to start the performance. A nice lively opening iwth Nicholas Kraemer really getting involved and into the music. The second piece was by Haydn. "Symphony No. 92 Oxford". It didn't have much of an impact and with all the tuning going on before the piece confused the public to where it started. The constant changing in the dynamics of the music meant your attention was kept on the music but at one point the cellist had banged his head off the cello because he was getting so into the music. The final piece was again by Mozart "Symphony No.3 Paris". i personally did not enjoy that piece as it seemed to be very repetitive. All in all a wonderful performance in a fantastic location.
Julian Ramos
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A performance to remember. The perfect venue with beautiful acoustics helped, every note played crisp and sharp. The Mozart that opened the concert was the perfect piece to play, bright and easy listening. They Haydn was played sweetly and the unexpected dynamic contrast kept the audience's attention. Very brave of the conductor to play the pieces without the score or a baton, but as he started I realised that he was still in complete control of teh players. "Paris" by Mozart went down well, a grand sound grabbed the people's eyes back from the amazing detail of St Cuthbert's church. During most of the concert the only two people that looked like they were enjoying themselves was the front desk of the cellos...Overall the perfect programme with a well recognised conductor and orchestra made for a very entertaining and enjoyable concert. 5/5
Finlay Hargreaves
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