Bristolian Spring – Part 1: My roundup of the latest concerts in Bristol

At heart I’m a city boy. Even though my job involves working with farmers and I love country walks and nature spotting, I feel the need to be close to where culture is. I am often reminded of Aaron Copland’s quote to a newspaper reporter when he was staying in Hollywood in 1948 scoring film music for The Red Pony and The Heiress :

Frankly I would starve to death, musically, if I stayed here. In New York, there are twenty or thirty musical events going on practically every evening. No, of course, I don’t go to all of them. As a matter of fact, I don’t go to any. But, it’s nice to know they’re there!”

Bristol is a great hub for music and contemporary arts – there’s so much going on. Like Copland, there have been periods in my life when I have found myself not going to many concerts but I feel very fortunate and reassured to be in the position that I can run down the hill at any time when the fancy takes me!

At the moment, I am going through one of those purple patch, lively periods of discovery when I am taking advantage of the many opportunities that are literally on my doorstep. There have been too many to write up individually so here’s a roundup of my Bristolian Spring!

February 27 The Hunchback of Notre Dame – film and live orchestra. Bristol Ensemble conducted by Roger Huckle – St George’s

Really impressive playing and stamina from the Bristol Ensemble -nearly two hours of music with hardly a pause for breath, let alone a sip of water! It was the first time I had seen this film and I was surprised at the brutality of the many scenes of torture. I’m glad I’ve seen it but it’s probably the last time too.

March 2 Allan Schiller and John Humphreys (piano duet matinee) – All Saints Church

My friend Allan Schiller is celebrating 50 years of partnership with John Humphreys. This was one of several concerts that included a recital at Wigmore Hall. The concert featured works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Poulenc and Ireland. With my musical tastes, the Poulenc Sonata for piano four hands was the one that attracted me most to the programme and indeed it delivered. However, Schubert’s Fantasie in F Minor (D 940) left the biggest impression. Just goes to show that once in a while, even my head gets turned by a work by one of the old masters!

March 4 London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Kirill Gerstein – piano – Bristol Beacon

An all-American programme featuring works by George Gershwin, a new work by John Adams called Frenzy and Roy Harris’s Third Symphony. A full house were treated to incredible playing and musicianship. Superb show stopping piano work by Gerstein in the Piano Concerto in F. I liked Frenzy well enough but need to hear it again. Perhaps I was expecting an all-out assault on the senses which it provided in parts, especially the nerve-jangling ending. It got a partial standing ovation and John Adams was there to take the acclaim. By contrast, the Roy Harris Third Symphony got the least applause but was perhaps the most impressive thing of the night. Always, the outsider, it kind of sums up Harris’s current place in the classical music wilderness. Since this concert I have been on a quest to listen to and find out more about Harris and why (apart from his Third) his music hardly gets a look in these days. More to follow on that.

A couple of gripes. John Adams is a superstar of classical music. I feel that we should have made more of him being in Bristol and at least covered his visit on the local news. A bit of a chance missed there. Also, I feel that the premiere of Frenzy should have been the finale. I know the intention of playing Gershwin’s Strike up the Band as the concert swansong was like playing an encore but it would have been so much more effective and brave to finish with the Adam’s. A bit of courage in convictions please. Would a Beethoven premiere have been followed by a piece by Mozart or CPE Bach? No. Case closed.

March 22 That Friday Feeling City of Bristol Choir conducted by David Ogden. Richard Johnson Organ – All Saints Church

A very pleasant start to the weekend with free wine and nibbles before a fine 80 minutes of choral mastery from the City of Bristol Choir and David Ogden. I was attracted by O Nata Lux by Morten Lauridsen but there were many other lovely pieces too. A really nice touch was that the programme notes gave the opportunity for members of the choir to explain what they liked about each piece of music. As always, things like that really help the casual listener. Well done!

March 30 Out of Darkness. Holy Saturday at St Mary Redcliffe Church Choir conducted by Joe Cryan

My wife and I went to one of the Easter services at St Mary Redcliffe Church, described by Elizabeth I as “The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England”. It was a very spiritual experience starting outside at a lighted firepit and then going into the church first with no light and then a candlelit procession. There were only about 45 of us in the congregation so it felt very exclusive. For the first time I sat in the choir seats whilst the choir sang. It was beautiful. Also, as if done for my benefit alone, there was a short section of organ improvisation with an amazing crescendo of dissonance and bent notes. One of those hairs on the back of the neck standing up experiences!

April 2 The Wizard of Oz – The Bristol Hippodrome

We love a good musical and went to the Andrew Lloyd Webber version of this timeless classic. Great family entertainment. Interesting to note that when Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg were penning Somewhere over the Rainbow in 1939, Copland would have also been writing similar wistful, dream like incidental music for the Irwin Shaw play Quiet City. The latter didn’t have any where near as much staying power but Copland’s suite version certainly did. He said

“My work in the Theater has been a flop. And no fault of mine I might add!

I’ve only just got started! If you want to see where I went next, then click this link for Bristolian Spring Part 2.