Reviews by pupils from Biggar High School
This concert was one of the first classical ones that I have attended. I was impressed. The acoustics of the church were incredible and only added to the amazing atmosphere. The conductor, Olari Elts, was in inspired form. This showed from the beginning of the first section, the Czech Suite by Antonin Dvorak. The use of dynamics and increasing tempo created a real sense of drama. The 'sousedska' stood out for me. The woodwind was prominent and impressive and this, along with all the other musicians playing, portrayed the passionate and dramatic mood of the piece. The tempo built up to a frantic pace and this was a fitting climax. The Bartok sectoin featured an excellent clarinet solo by Maximiliano Martin. The origin and influence in traditional dance was obvious and I wanted to tap my foot along. The third and final section Kodaly was also impeccably performed. It was jumpy and eciting and had me on the edge of my seat...
Liam Adair
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St Cuthbert's church was the perfect place to escape the cold and enjoy the dramatic and passionate music of the SCO. The concert...was based on traditional, nationalist music and was greeted enthusiastically with a full audience. The contrasts in sounds and tempo were effectively played with the church's acoustics adding to the excited atmosphere.
Olari Elts, the conductor, conducted very passionately and added to the contrasts of dynamics portraying different moodds and stories within each piece.
I found the clarinet's solo and the passion which he depicted inspirational. The sounds which he created had the audience waiting in anticipation for the faster striking movement which was to follow.
I really enjoyed the concert and hope that I will have the chance to attend many more.
Amanda Clark
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With its beautiful traditional decor and history, St Cuthbert's chruch was the ideal venue for the SCO's performance of "The Invitation to the Dances"...The pieces' passionate and patriotic influences were greatly depicted through the interactions between players and the conductor, who himself, showed his passion and love for the music through his extravagant conducting technique...
The highlight of the concert was hearing Maximiliano Martin's solo in the 'Dances of Galanta' and the uplifting sounds created, within the enthusiastically filled church. I really enjoyed the concert and wished the music to go forever.
Victoria Tessyman
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The St Cuthbert's church was filled to capacity, exploding with anticipation for the music it was about to receive.
Dvorak's Czech dances were full of passion and drama. The clear tone from all produced a slight echo, due to the great church acoustics. It was a very uplifting way to stat, ranging in dynamics providing a passionate performance. Differences in tonality and textures added to the appeal, where the strings section used the pizzicato technique to keep the music alive. The piece moved onto a peaceful, romantic accompaniment to a beautiful flute solo, which was joined by the rest of the woodwind, creating outstanding harmonies. It ended in a dramatic movement, where our pulses were racing with excitement.
Bartok's dances flowed like a waterefall, with grace and distinction. It ended with a forceful and driving movement, with syncopated rhythms, which excited the audience.
The last piece composed by Kodaly started off very eerie with solo clarinettist playing with amazing tone and legato style. Tonality changed and the music flew like a bird. The flautist was exceptional...there was great depth in the strings section with hugely contrasting dynamics. The ending's tempo was enthralling, and ended with a real show stopper.
I would high recommend the SCO to others.
Carolann Barrie
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Waiting in anticipation for the SCO to begin, the sound of the orchestra tuning up to the rich sound of the oboe whilst the audience chatted quietly. Silence overwhelmed St Cuthbert's church as conductor Olari Elts graced us with his presence.
The Czech suite was a fantastically moving work which showed immense feeling and passion. The first four movements showed similarity in feeling and the stately tempo, all rather legato and tranquil. The last movement however, was a complete dramatic contrast, changing tempo vigorously and frantically experimenting with dynamics keeping the audience in suspense. It can only be described as a fantastic over the top way in which to conclude the suite.
Kodaly's 'Dances of Galanta' gave clarinettist Maximiliano Martin a chance to show his potential with a breathtaking solo which left the audience in awe, he played with conviction producing an amazing tone which moved me. The end movement of Kodaly's work...was very impressive. The expression and feeling as well as the flying tempo and massive dynamics was astonishing.
The SCO on the whole were fantastic and I will definitely be looking into attending some of their performances in the future and for anyone who does happen to read this I would highly recommend you do too.
S Smith
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As you walk into the sanctuary, you hear the faint sound of the instruments warm up notes and the gentle shuffle of the audience finding their seats. Eventually the orchestra come in and place themselves in the appropriate seats. They all tune up and are then ready to perform.
The conductor, Olari Elts enters and the orchestra are ready. The first piece is called 'Czech Suite'. The piece has a lot of emotion which the audience feels and was played so beautifully that the audience made no noise at all...The finale was called 'Dances of Galanta' by Zoltan Kodaly...The piece was fabulous and impressive.
In general the whole concert was brilliant.
Jennifer Gillespie
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Having only been to very few classical concerts before, I was excited. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this one or not. St Cuthbert's was getting busier and more excited as musicians began to take their places and warm up.
I really enjoyed Czech Suite. Olari Elts used interesting movements, unlike any that I have ever come across before, to conduct the orchestra almost to perfection. After they finished there was a slight pause, where there was a deafening silence, before the audience showed their appreciation.
Dances
of Galanta ceratinly showed the SCO's talent. The conductor got very into what he was doing, and the musicians got more and more into the music. The clarinet played an exceptional solo. I was very tense, as if I was awaiting his mistake, which never arrived. He certainly played extremely well.
Having only attended a few classical concerts in my lifetime, I enjoyed this one. It certainly has motivated me to attend more in the near future.
Sarah Davidson
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St Cuthbert's church was full of warm rich sounds coming from the very enthusiastic chamber orchestra. The first piece was the Czech suite by Dvorak. With a strong bassoon solo shining through the band, warm sounding bass section and playful melodies the very varied audience was kept well entertained. The last movement of theis piece was my personal favourite movement as the sound was lifted by the introduction of the French horns and the trumpets...I felt this movement was fantastically played by all performers and well interpreted by the conductor Olari Elts.
Next up was the Rumanian folk dances by Bartok. This began with a pulsating bass section setting the mood for the movement. I really liked the clarinet solo in this piece as it was very well played and with feeling. The orchetra played well together all playing in time with each otehr and listening to each other...To our suprise the orchestra played an encore, the Hungarian ballroom dances by Ligeti. This was emotionally played by all players again, and the clarinet and flute duets provided a warm sound in the church which had very good acoustics making the orchestra's beautiful sound echo throughout.
Overall all pieces were played with emotion and confidence and I would definately go again. Everyone in the audience left that night with a smile.
Mandy Kerr
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St Cuthbert's church in
Edinburgh was the first and definitely not the last time I see the SCO play. Their happy faces and difficult instruments, that they can play quite amazing, made me feel quite privileged to be listening to such musically inclined men and wome and I can say that I enjoyed it a lot!
A few minutes into their warm up and I felt like I was in the middle of a Disney movie. The first piece, Antonin Dvorak Czech Suite, was very enjoyable. The pauses between movements were excellent. So dramatic I didn't know if I was to clap between movements as each one was played to perfection. The dynamics were very recognisable and gave the piece a lot more vibe! So enthusiastic about the music!
The second piece, Bela Bartok's Rumanian Folk Dances, the strings caught my eye in this one...The piccolo caught my eye next, so well played, very strong and the player, I thought, felt very confident. I like to see people with smiles on their faces before playing; gives me a sign that they love doing this. Again, so much confidence and energy put into this piece.
Zoltan Kodaly Dances of Galanta
was my favourite piece. The instruments all had solos and were all played very loud and clear. The clarinet caught me in this piece, and not just becuase I play clarinet, because of the amazing talent on moving from note to note so fast then so slow. It ended so bold! This made me want to hear more.
It was a very enjoyable night for me. I strongly recommend that more of the public should see the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Emma Whitelaw
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