David Curtis and his Orchestra of the Swan are either gluttons for punishment or greedy so-and-so’s. How on earth do you take it upon yourself to perform the world’s greatest symphony, Beethoven’s third, the Eroica, twice within a few hours?
But that is what they did last Wednesday, in the afternoon at Birmingham Town Hall and in the evening in Bedworth Civic Hall, once a favoured venue of the CBSO.
The Birmingham performance was astonishing. I know and love this symphony so well, but wasn’t prepared for the brightness, clarity and well-balanced tone Curtis and his players delivered. This chamber-sized orchestra clicked with detail, accents were spot-on and no-nonsense, and structures were well-built.
And Beethoven’s famous trio of horns were splendid here, whether roaring triumphantly or tentatively nudging. Diane Clarke’s flute flutterings in the finale were worthy of Mozart’s Queen of the Night, but best of all was the awesome catafalque of sound Curtis drew in the adagio’s funeral march.
The programme had begun with the overture to the 12-year-old Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne, something and nothing, though its triadic opening anticipates that of the Eroica.
But then followed Mozartean grandeur, Martin Roscoe the soloist in the Piano Concerto no.25 K503. This was such a musicianly performance from Roscoe, no ego, just a devotion to the score, clear and unfussy, and the crystalline, rippling account from the soloist was matched by Curtis’ poised, patterning orchestra in an atmosphere of joyous creativity.
