Orchestra of Opera North

Leeds Town Hall

Saturday, December 7

The pairing of Benjamin Britten's Piano Concerto with Elgar's Second Symphony might not have been expected to pull in as large an audience as (say) a programme of Russian orchestral lollipops but last Saturday's attendance was really quite disgraceful. It must have been a demoralising experience for the Orchestra of Opera North to be facing hundreds of vacant seats. Exactly a week earlier these same musicians had played to an audience of 10,000 just up the road at the First Direct Arena.

The pairing of the two contrasting works, as things turned out, was an inspiration. Britten's concerto is laced with ironic humour and occasionally makes for uncomfortable listening. Soloist Kathryn Stott was a powerful advocate who made light work of the virtuosic solo part. Indeed, the striking qualities of the performance were the infectious rhythmic energy and the abundance of pianistic and orchestral colour.

Conductor Richard Farnes clearly demonstrated his Elgarian credentials in a beautifully constructed perfomance of the Second Symphony; his interpretation was complete in every sense.

The momentum of the long opening movement was immaculately judged; Farnes lovingly shaped the phrases in the central elegiac section lingering, almost holding time in suspense, but never over-indulging. The Larghetto movement composed as an elegy for the recently deceased King Edward Vll came across as a great scream of anguish. The Rondo Scherzo was wild, and the climatic coda of the final movement wonderfully controlled – culminating in the magical long-held E Flat chord. The Orchestra of Opera North is on a roll. Those who stayed away missed a brilliant concert.

Geoffrey Mogridge