"Sublime pieces of music played"

The European Union Chamber Orchestra and Nicola Benedetti

St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury

Shropshire Star, 17 Feb 2007

Shropshire Music Trust presented a concert by the European Union Chamber Orchestra on Thursday.

It was a group of just nineteen players directed from the violin by Gernot Sussmut.

Unusually, they played standing up, which gave all the audience in St Chad's a good view of the musicians.

The programme was attractive with familiar works by Haydn, Mozart and Dvorak while Michaela Plachka was new to us.

Haydn's symphony No 22, The Philosopher, came first.  Using two cor anglais rather than oboes was unexpected, but gave some glorious sonorities.  The performance was a delight - beautiful string sound aided by minimal direction.

Nicola Benedetti played a Stradivarius in Mozart's Violin Concerto in G major K216.  This was musical bliss!  It was a performance totally at one with with her orchestra and the spirit of the work.

It lacked the fireworks of the later concerto repertoire but instead we heard an intimate conversation between soloist and accompanying orchestra.  Miss Benedetti played with a rich tone and a warmth which captivated her audience.

Plachka's 'You Gave Us Quiet' was beautiful.  The composer was born in 1986 but surely is a voice to listen out for.

Dvorak's Serenade for Strings Op 22 completed the programme.  The playing throughout was excellent.  Perhaps the only critical note to be sounded concerned the encore as Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was too long a piece and the players were unsurprisingly showing signs of tiredness by then.

This caveat cannot disguise the fact that we were treated to an evening of sublime music.

Andrew Petch

Last Updated : 17/02/2007