Sunshine streamed through a thronged Town Hall, and sunshine streamed joyously from the trumpets which were the focal point of Wednesday’s matinee from the Orchestra of the Swan.
Huw Morgan, one-time BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, was the headline soloist, launching proceedings with a rare hearing of Jeremiah Clarke’s complete suite featuring the famous Trumpet Voluntary, misattributed to Henry Purcell.
This proved a charming piece, each movement knowing exactly when to stop, with Morgan’s tone brightly communicative, his phrasing eloquent, articulation crisp, and the accompaniment from the Orchestra of the Swan under David Curtis stately and gracious, tinklingly enlivened by Christine Whiffen’s harpsichord.
Morgan was joined by concertante oboists Victoria Brawn and Louise Braithwaite for Telemann’s D major Trumpet Concerto in a ravishing collaboration, followed by OOTS principal Hugh Davies in a joyous account of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets. The soloists’ very different instruments here blended and pinged off each other in a glorious performance.
There were also two trumpet-less symphonies: Haydn’s rarely-heard Symphony no. 30, the Alleluia, horns noble and abrasive, Diane Clarke’s flute soli both perky and gloopy, and Mozart’s 29th K201, neatly patterned, colours both pastel and bright.
Rating * * * *
