Saturday 17th May 2003, Sheldonian Theatre
Conducted by Leon Gee
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade
Elgar Introduction and Allegro
Britten Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Please let us know if you have any details about this concert, especially the poster
A review of this concert by Hugh Vickers was published in The Oxford Times (23/05/2023):
Continuing an ambitious season, the Oxford University Orchestra gave us on Saturday three of the best-known virtuoso orchestral pieces, culminating in a powerful account of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.
Leon Gee, conducting, seemed - like Douglas Boyd of their last concert - to have the knack of imposing discipline on these young players without sacrificing energy or spontaneity. The Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes were given a performance of urgent dramatic force - I had forgotten the intensely sinister effect of the church-bells on 'Sunday morning', as the odious inhabitants of Britten's 'Borough' go about their business. The 'Storm' was almost too much for the Sheldonian, just as it was in the epoch-making early performances at Sadler's Wells.
If we could have done with a little more light and shade, there was chiaroscuro in abundance in Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for Strings. This work is always played far too tamely - it is indeed a resurrection of the baroque Concerto Grosso, but 'baroque' should imply not elegant precision, but as here - tempestuous contrast between the concertino quartet (sensitively led by Stuart Baran) and the rest of the orchestra. From the first, dramatic coup d'archet the whole string band played with the most refreshing vigour and vitality, particularly in the distinctly tricky fugue.
A violinist friend with whom I attended this concert said he noticed of late a finer, richer tone in the orchestra's string section, and I wonder if that may be partly due to the very gifted leader, Camilla Scarlett. She herself took the leader's seat only for Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, which was remarkable for blazing brass effects, wind solos (the 'Young Prince' trumpet was superb), and thrilling string playing in the final shipwreck. However, framing the ancient saga, were the gentle pleas of Scheherazade to the Sultan - violin solos to which Camilla Scalrett brought an aristocratic refinement of tone and phrasing which would have melted the cruellest tyrant's heart.
