Reviews by pupils from Liberton High School
On the 11th of December 2007, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra performed Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' at St Cuthbert's Church. It was a successful night as there were a lot of people there. It was an allegro opening, which personally I found a great start. The solo violinist did an excellent job on the night, I was very impressed, especially with imitation of the birds singing during the spring season. Also when the full orchestra played to create the atmosphere of a violent storm was magnificent! Spring, out of all the seasons played, had to be my personal favourite. I also felt the viola during the summer season was very effective in creating a quiet and relaxed atmosphere. Moreover, the beautiful dance melody at the beginning of autumn was wonderful; it created a very peaceful atmosphere to the music. Winter was calm at the beginning, giving us the impression of snow falling during the cold winter. This came across very effective aswell. At the end of the whole performance everyone applaud the performers, this lasted quite a long time, longer than a normal applause would. At this point the atmosphere was great. I found it an amazing performance of 'The Four Seasons'.
Gillian Forson
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On the 11th of December I attended a concert at St Cuthbert's Parish Church
where I watched The Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform a very enjoyable performance of Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons'. There was a wide variety of people in the audience from young children to older adults. The music was played spectacularly with every member of the orchestra being extremely engaged in what they were playing and put a lot of feeling into their performance. I have listened to 'The Four Seasons' a few times before but have never heard it live and I think the performance was very pleasing.
Some of the music was joyful and lively and I
really enjoyed this but there were also parts throughout the performance I did not enjoy so much as it did not seem as interesting as other parts of the performance did. I have never attended a classical concert before and was not expecting to enjoy the performance quite as much as I did, I am not sure if I would consider attending another concert like this one but it was a great experience.
Nicole Whitelaw
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This sold out performance of Vivaldi's 'The Four seasons' was very similar to versions I had previously heard, I enjoyed this performance though, as it was exciting and left the audience with a warm, happy feeling.
Usually I would not have picked to go to a classical concert as I do not have much of an interest in it, but after this performance by the SCO I could be tempted to give others a chance. The orchestra performed well together displaying good dynamics and contrasts of teh seasons.
'Spring' was my favourite season as it was the one I had recognised the most and had enjoyed the light and refreshing feeling it left me with. It was played well with good pitch and always sounded full and together. 'Autumn' was also a season that stuck out at me, at points the music was played lively and loud but other parts would seem empty and almost a lost feeling was given, this gave me a slightlyl confused feeling as autumn was meant to be a happy season but this was then pushed to one side as the music became lively and pleasing to listed to again.
Overall this performance was a great success as the audience applauded as Anthony Marwood the director and main violinist returned to the stage.
Allana Whitelaw
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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra's rendition of Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' was greeted with unanimously rigorous applause following the performance of the four short violin concertos.
Spring was a lively affair which, although the second movement was somewhat incongruously dominated by the solo second violinist, later in the movement resolved into an effective contrast in tone colour and dynamic. The solo passages displayed wonderful virtuosity, sometimes flying by so quickly you barely heard them. Summer was contrastingly languid and furious. THe contrast gained by the soloist between harsh and soft was highly effective.
Whilst Autumn's second movement could easily have been soporific, the curiously flat texture of thesoloist maintained the interest. This was replaced by a lively thrid movement with a pleasing ping pong between first and second violinists and much bounce from the soloist whose left hand fingers were fascinating. Winter is the least interesting concerto as a piece of music yet storms seemed a little conservative from all other than the first violin leader and the soloist whose enthusiasm was visible even from a distance. The only criticism would be limited acknowledgement of the audience. One felt a little intrusive.
That is not to say that the concerti were not exceedingly well played. There is no denying that the SCO skilfully portrayed the various moods and affections of the music, with perfect synchronicity of head-bobbing, throughout playing as one cohesive unit.
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From the moment of silence it was clear that the musicians were not only talented, shown by their excellent communication, however exceptional dramatists. They allowed the quiet to lengthen; and then a thunder of clapping began, waking some from their reveries. Thus the arrival of Anthony Marwood: the director and main solo Violinist. Everything from the director's suit down to the leader's beard were neatly trimmed; a reflection of the music. Upon the arrival of the ripieno in Spring there was such an array of emotion from the players that even the youngest of children seemed eager to watch and listen, I was greatly surprised that such a concert had equal amounts of youth against old. Moreover, I believe the elderly must have had quite a start during the Summer. The section of music which depicts a quiet, relaxed atmosphere and 'the Suckoo', 'Turtle Dove' and 'Goldfinch' is the cause - the audience were rapt with how wonderfully Marwood played the solos, which was, however, once again beaten by the ripieno, giving the players a chance to leave you breathless from the expanded motif of the solo violin which was played with the perfect balances of feeling. Furthermore, the whole audiences attention was truly captivated immediately after the repetition for 'Flies and Blowflies' when the music went from becoming pianissimo. To the sudden storzando. During the season of Autumn the body language of those listening portrayed they were doing so intently, whilst those playing seemed to be allowing everything free. There was no restraint. The sleeping drunkard almost made me daydream it was so tranquil and yet had all the colours of autumn. Although Autumn allowed a stupor to be cast around the church, Winter was most definitely a wake-up call for anyone reflecting upon the haziness of Autumn. The discordant notes at the beginning woke you up, so you could fully appreciate 'A Violent Storm'. The section of Winter which truly showed the endless talent of the players was 'Rain' when the violins began their pizzcato with hints of double-stopping.
Overall, the performance was, in my opinion, something that for those who attended will stay in their memories. For those who were not at the concert I can only feel sorry. I could sum up by saying there was a round of applause, the like of which I have never heard before.
David Fulton
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