John Wilson is a brilliant conductor and arranger of light music and its pugnacious advocate.
He prefaced the performance of Haydn Wood鈥檚 Soliloquy: 鈥淚f this piece had Delius鈥檚 name on the title page we鈥檇 hear it a lot more.鈥 He鈥檚 right of course: music lovers who鈥檇 be sniffy about an orchestral miniature by the composer of Roses of Picardy and would delight in this languorously evocative work if they thought it was a companion piece to In a Summer Garden.
Sullivan鈥檚 overture to Iolanthe would not be out of place at the start of a 鈥渟erious鈥 concert: its fairy music inhabits the world of Mendelssohn and Weber and there are some delightful opportunities for the clarinet.
The eccentric Percy Grainger鈥檚 music is always fun and Shepherd鈥檚 Hey was a riot with the players clearly enjoying themselves. The central movement of Eric Coates鈥 suite Springtime was graced by a tender cantabile duet for first violin and cello.
The orchestra delivered Walton鈥檚 Crown Imperial with great verve and swagger, almost convincing one that its pomp isn鈥檛 utterly hollow. Britten鈥檚 Soir茅es musicales, witty orchestrations of Rossini miniatures, were enjoyable lollipops.
Vaughan Williams鈥 song cycle On Wenlock Edge, settings of Housman鈥檚 poems, received a passionate and immaculately articulated performance by tenor Andrew Staples who was equally effective in the light-hearted Oh, when I was in love with you and the dramatic Bredon Hill where even the moron with the mobile phone switched on couldn鈥檛 spoil Staples鈥 beautifully floated last line 鈥淚 hear you, I will come.鈥
