Review: Viennese Christmas by London Concertante
London Concertante, one of England’s leading chamber ensembles, performed a range of Viennese pieces by various composers from Vienna including music from the Classical, Romantic as well as 20th Century film music, at Cadogan Hall.
The London Concertante was established in 1991; it was well known for thrilling performances. They have performed in many prestigious concert halls in the UK, including St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Cadogan Hall, Southbank Centre, and St. James’ Piccadilly. They have also performed in festivals, music clubs and theatres, and have accompanied many operas. They have even had tours worldwide to the USA, Finland, France and many other countries.
When I entered the atrium of Cadogan Hall, the ambience was very good as there were many people, there was some calm Christmas background music and they were selling some snacks and drinks. The programme included Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss, Nutcracker Suite No.1 by Tchaikovsky including March, Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy and other favourites. They also played the Sleeping Beauty Waltz, also by Tchaikovsky. A new piece for me was Schubert’s Rondo for Violin & Strings K.438. I really liked how they articulated the piece and had it really had lots of style. The Guest Director for this concert, as well as the lead soloist for Violins, was Ben Norris.
The first half of the concert was very enjoyable – The ambience was very good; many of the pieces each conveyed a different story. The pieces were played with confidence and emotion. I really liked and enjoyed the selection of music played; they all fitted seamlessly. The musicians were also very professional and played very expressively and well. The atmosphere was amazing; the music was played at the correct and at a steady tempo, and there was a great range of dynamic contrast. One of the main highlights for me was the Nutcracker Suite. There was a celloist who narrated and gave a bit of background on the all of the pieces to give us some helpful insight. The professional musicians were all very talented and played very well.
The second half of the concert brightened the hall with style and elegance with two soloists playing the violin and the cello. For me, my main highlights were the Sleeping Beauty waltz by Tchaikovsky and some pieces from the Nutcracker Suite, also by Tchaikovsky. The concert featured a wide variety of Viennese pieces, as well as some surprise pieces their own arrangement of a medley of popular Christmas songs. I found the medley quite weird because there were two soloists; an accordionist and a violinist. The accordion was quite quirky, but it fit well and the piece sounded quite unique. This demonstrates the wide range of musical styles that the London Concertante play.
The London Concertante was a pleasure to listen to. They played well rhythmically and their choice of repertoire fitted seamlessly. Overall, they played wonderfully and it was stylish but subtle.