Airedale Symphony Orchestra

King's Hall, Ilkley

Wagner's early opera Rienzi is rarely performed but its stirring overture remains a concert hall favourite. The Airedale Symphony Orchestra's bold and brassy performance, conducted by John Anderson, delighted an almost full house.

The unforgettable opening theme of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 in B flat minor, announced by the horns, leads straight into the virtuosic solo part for the pianist. Rustom Battiwalla responded to the challenge of this much-loved concerto with astonishing brilliance. However, It must be said that the uneven tonal qualities of the King's Hall instrument to some degree restricted Battiwalla's palette of colours.

Airedale Seasons, being given its world premiere at this concert, was written by Leeds composer Paul Wilkinson especially for the ASO. This attractive work provided a contrast to the dazzling pianistic pyrotechnics, and the orchestral bombast of Carl Nielsen. Wilkinson showcases all sections of the orchestra in some intricately woven solo passages. The composer beautifully evokes the local countryside and the ever-changing skies - echoes of Vaughan Williams, Holst or Butterworth perhaps? I hope we shall have the chance to hear this again.

A very rare opportunity to experience the live performance of a Nielsen symphony made this concert a not-to-be missed event. Symphony No 4 'The Inextinguishable' was conceived in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, and premiered two years later. The density of orchestral textures and fast-changing rhythms make this one of the most fiendishly difficult 20th Century symphonies to bring off. John Anderson and the ASO triumphed with a performance of blistering force, precision, and textural clarity. The brass fanfares sounded incandescent and the astringent quality of the flutes and piccolos could hardly have been bettered. Nielsen's astounding "battle of the timps" hammered out on sets of kettle drums at either side of the orchestra will remain etched in the memory. The enthusiastic audience cheers, bravos and foot-stamping at the end of this remarkable performance were richly deserved.

by Geoffrey Mogridge