Salomon Past Concerts

Tuesday 9th October 2007 at St John's Smith Square

Conductor Philip Ellis Clarinet Mandy Burvill

Ravel Rapsodie Espagnol

Lindberg Clarinet Concerto

Rachmaninov Symphony No.3

Maurice Ravel lived in Paris almost all his life, but he was born in the Pays Basque of Basque/Swiss parentage and had an affinity for all of Spain. Manuel de Falla was an admirer of the evocative Rapsodie Espagnol, but Pierre Lalo, son of the composer Édouard of Spanish descent was not a supporter of Ravel's new kind of  music, contributing to its mixed reception at the première directed by Edouard Colonne at the Théâtre de Châtelet in 1908. The Rapsodie starts with an ostinato using a distinctive part of the Andalucían scale, and ends in a spectacular festival from the region.

Andrew Clements of The Guardian wrote of Magnus Lindberg's fantastically virtuosic concerto: "Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto is that rare thing, a piece written by one of the leading European composers of our time that manages to be unfailingly approachable and rewarding without making any compromises in its musical language or technique... an instrumental fabric that is so richly coloured, so packed with incident and instantly memorable musical ideas and so logically put together that the ear absorbs everything without hesitation, and when the work has ended immediately wants to experience it all again."

The concerto has received praise and awards since its première in 2002. From Richard Morrison's review in The Times for the Proms performance on 28th July:

'...Magnus Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto, which - if there’s any justice - will soon be as oft-performed as Mozart’s concerto... ...With its fluttering solo line (full of multiphonics and other special effects), elfin fanfares, birdlike woodwind textures and shimmering strings, the piece seems to fly us giddily through an enchanted forest of bewitching sounds. But it also goes from A to Z cogently and transparently. The simple folk-like phrases of the opening grow to a “big tune”, before melting, like Prospero’s magic isle, into thin air. A perfect concerto...'

Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto inspires repeated listening. See classical label Ondine's page about the much lauded recording by dedicatee Kari Kriikku.

"...just fabulous...it wouldn't surprise me if you played the work straight through twice at a sitting. It's that good." ClassicsToday.com.

We are grateful to the 'Sibelius and Beyond' festival promoted by the Finnish Institute and the English Chamber Orchestra for extra publicity for the Lindberg Clarinet Concerto.

It was not lack of inspiration that slowed Rachmaninov's output once he had left Russia, which is shown in the great late works including the 3rd Symphony, Symphonic Dances and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, but the necessity of constant performing to make a living. The last symphony, written in Switzerland in 1935-36, has the Rachmaninov characteristics of great energy, lyricism and inevitably the Dies Irae, but also has the 3rd and final movement starting with a chord reminiscent of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, of which Rachmaninov attended the first performance in 1924, and a jubilant ending.

Clarinet Mandy Burvill

As a result of winning the Britten-Pears Concerto Competition Mandy performed the Mozart Clarinet Concerto on the opening night of the 1998 Snape Proms. She has also performed concertos with orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra; in 1998 she played the Copland concerto with The Salomon Orchestra.

In 1999 she joined the RLPO, featuring in their contemporary music group the 10:10 Ensemble, and has played with the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Welsh National Opera. Forthcoming engagements include Brahms' Clarinet Quintet in Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall, and Rossini and Baermann with the Haydn Chamber Orchestra.

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