Archived Reviews

17th March 2012
All Saints Parish Church, Loughborough


An Evening with Charnwood Orchestra
It's a bitter evening as I shuffle into All Saints Parish Church but the warmth with which I am greeted by Charnwood Orchestra soon puts an end to my shivering.

Cello soloist Deirdre Bencsik [who played Kabalevsky's 1st Cello Concerto in G Minor] is quick to compliment the orchestra, and comments on their clear enthusiasm for music. This passion is evident in the faces of the musicians; in the man whose smile falters only when he sets down his violin, in the woman whose eyes twinkle towards her music.

Sibelius' Symphony in E Minor demonstrated several outstanding clarinet solos by Suzanne Thompson and by the end of the fourth movement the orchestra was reduced to a seething mass of strings, each bow working at lightning speed yet entirely in unison, creating a rippling wave of movement. An impressive performance was also given by conductor, Nic Fallowfield, who allowed the orchestra to play without interfering with the audience' focus.

Khachaturian's Masquerade Suite proved itself to be more familiar to the audience than they appeared to have expected and the initial reaction was that of a wonderful surprise. During the several dance pieces, particularly the final gallop, it was not uncommon to see the audience bobbing along to the upbeat tempo, not bothering to conceal a grin as they did so.

All in all, I can only conclude that Charnwood Orchestra have put on a bold and adventurous programme and more importantly, a great night out.

- Genevieve

19th March 2011
All Saints Parish Church, Loughborough


Night of lively, stimulating sounds
Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture to Romeo and Juliet conveys many different moods. The music itself, of course, imparts much of this through tempo, harmony and volume, but any music must be interpreted to bring it to it's full potential. The Charnwood Orchestra produced a subtle and clear interpretation, which was pleasant to listen to, with a wonderfully dramatic depiction of the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. I enjoyed the clarity of the harp, which punctuated the music like the moon through a clear night.

[In] Glazunov’s Violin Concerto... soloist Gina McCormack gave a simply beautiful performance, well supported by the orchestra, including a wonderful cadenza which danced toward the final movement; orchestra and soloist bringing the piece to a close in an uplifting performance.

Conductor Nic Fallowfield produced a concert full of lively and expressive performance at All Saints parish church, in which each section of the orchestra could be clearly heard and yet blended to form a cohesive whole. A concert which was full of stimulating sound.

- Peter Collett - Leicester Mercury

15th January 2011
Humphrey Perkins School, Barrow


More Magic of Vienna
An evening of music entited More Magic of Vienna sounds predictable - Johann Strauss, Strauss and more Strauss?

Not so, the Charnwood Orchestra's concert began with the overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor - an opera by Otto Nicolai, based on Shakespeare's play [followed by] polkas, some like Tritsch-Tratsch and Thunder & Lightning that I knew well - but others that I'd never heard.

Of course, there were a lot of Strauss waltzes; Roses from the South, Wine, Women & Song and Vienna Blood [and] the Barcarolle from the opera The Tales of Hoffmann, by Jacques Offenbach - one of the gentlest pieces of music ever written.

At one point conductor Nic Fallowfield dropped his baton. I picked it up and took over from him for a couple of minutes - a new experience! The orchestra didn't go wrong once. Obviously I have a talent for conducting!

The evening almost ended with the world's most famous dance: Johann Strauss's Blue Danube waltz but of course it really did end with the Radetzky March, written by Johann Strauss I, father of the Blue Danube composer. This is a piece which lends itself to audience participation in the form of lots of hand clapping - and the Humphrey Perkins audience were not slow on the uptake.

This was an evening to persuade people that so-called classical music is not a serious, solemn business and it was indeed a fun evening.

- Terry Larkin - Loughborough Echo


Older Reviews

20th November 2010
Emmanuel Church, Loughborough


The noble and serene qualities needed for peace
Variations on the St Antoni Chorale by Johannes Brahms... is one of the most noble and serene pieces of music ever written, and the orchestra, conducted by Neil Aston, fully endowed it with those qualities.

[The] Enigma Variations, by Edward Elgar... has great power, fully brought out by the Charnwood Orchestra, aided by the excellent acoustics of Emmanuel Church - not a building designed with music-making in mind.

- Terry Larkin

2nd October 2010
Holy Trinity Church, Barrow-on-Soar

Guest conductor Dan Rosina seemed particularly good at interpreting the mood and style changes in the music.

It is pleasing to report that the church was very full and the audience were able to enjoy a choice of wine or beer during the interval.

- Roger Swann

16th January 2010
Humphrey Perkins School, Barrow


Infectious Viennese tunes by Charnwood Orchestra
The Orchestra's Viennese evening, The Magic of Vienna, was a sell-out, attracting a wide range of ages, but it raised a question - how do people today discover the waltzes and polkas of the Strauss family of Vienna, so familiar to those who grew up with the old wireless for home entertainment? Radio 2 perhaps? Friday Night is still Music Night, I see. Classic FM maybe. Some of the audience at Humphrey Perkins School were surely hearing this music for the first time. But they must have been impressed by the infectious tunes and playing, helped along by conductor Nic Fallowfield's introductions.

...Fallowfield got the audience to sing or shout as required in a couple of unfamiliar pieces, but almost every famous Strauss piece was there, beginning with the overture to Die Fledermaus, and ending with the Radetzky March, everyone clapping along in traditional style.

The Tritsch-Tratsch Polka sparkled but ultimately the prizes went to the grand favourites, the Emperor Waltz, Voices of Spring and The Blue Danube: The horns wonderfully led into that tribute to Vienna's great river, blue or not, and the playing came close to a genuine Viennese style.

- A.F.

21st November 2009
Emmanuel Church, Loughborough


Katya piece was on a different plane
Some fortunate circumstance must lie behind the appearance of the outstanding pianist Katya Apekisheva with the Charnwood Orchestra in Emmanuel Church. Networking by their conductor Nic Fallowfield, perhaps.

The opening piece, Beethoven's heroic Egmont Overture, was stirringly done, but the performance with Apekisheva of the Emperor Concerto was on a different plane. It had you listening to it as if for the first time. Here was no run-through or self-indulgent barnstorming, but an interpretation of authority and refinement, alternately powerful, delicate and reflective. No wonder the full audience was deeply hushed after the first movement, so that the hymn-like adagio followed with profound effect.

And as if the orchestra had not already been inspired, now the strings quietly excelled themselves. The intensity may have relaxed in the finale, but it still rang true. To quote the prestigious magazine Gramophone, Katya Apekisheva is 'a profoundly gifted artist' who has 'already achieved artistic greatness'. It was a privilege to hear her again.

- A.F.

10th October 2009
Holy Trinity Church, Barrow-upon-Soar


Superb celebration of Haydn bicentenary
Haydn's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Nic Fallowfield as soloist/conductor was nothing if not robust in the outer movements. The adagio was in beautiful contrast, the string band's gentle pizzicato accompanying his finely spun solo, even if it was not always spot on. Haydn's good humour broke out in the finale.

The acoustics were just right for Haydn's Drum Roll Symphony, No. 103, which found the orchestra in top form. The first movement was skilfully handled, its cheerful allegro so strikingly contrasted with the sombre opening adagio, surprisingly repeated later. The andante variations were done with great delicacy, the minuet stomped around the ballroom, and it was all brought to a vivid conclusion.

How inspired is the way the finale's little horn call releases the movement's theme like a call-sign. Here was a superb celebration of Haydn's bicentenary.

- A.F.