Welsh Sinfonia

The Crescendo Tour

Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon

Saturday, February 20

This charming concert by the main professional chamber orchestra from Wales deserved a much larger audience.

Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro was the good potboiler it always is, leading to the English premiere of Seagull Nebula, by Michael Csanyl-Wills, a former pupil at Wells Cathedral School and now the Sinfonia’s composer in residence.

It was probably the piece which accounted for the sparse audience which was a pity for it was bright, intensely atmospheric and deserving of the applause afforded the composer as he took his bow.

Mark Eager conducted with passionate care, making it the highlight, and the Sinfonia responded in full measure.

Another product of Wells Cathedral School, 17-year-old Berlin-born Julius Scholz was the outstanding soloist in Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat Major. Captivating glimpses of his personal immaturity merely added charm to an amazingly mature performance.

Yet another name from the Wells school, Kirsty Chaplin, joined the sinfonia as pianist for Arvo Part’s interesting percussive piece, If Bach Had Been a Beekeeper - like its title, an interesting and unusual composition.

But, then, you have to wonder these days, how many couples will spend fifty quid, plus nearly another tenner if they fancy a drink in the interval, on an event like this.

The poor turnout is sad, because under Eager, the Sinfonia played well above themselves. But then you have to wonder these days how many couples will spend £50 plus nearly another tenner if they fancy a drink in the interval, on an event like this.