22nd March 2022
The ‘Fantasy and Adventure’ concert given by the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Sunday 20 March provided an afternoon of pure classical music escapism for early Spring. An attentive audience were guided knowledgeably and humorously through three contrasting pieces from the classical repertoire by Tom Redmond a well-known figure from BBC Radio 3.
Evocations of Mickey Mouse in Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ were followed by arguably the least well known item (but perhaps the jolliest) a set of movements of music from Poulenc’s ballet Les Biches. This conjured up a French country house setting in the 1920’s where some perhaps less than proper activities went on around a large blue sofa in a drawing room with a group of young girl and boy ballet dancers.
The second half consisted of a spirited account of the enchanting Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov before which Tom Redmond asked the orchestra to demonstrate various aural ‘signposts’ in the piece for the audience. Violin solos in the piece were played with brilliance by Mihkel Kerem, an old friend of the Orchestra who stood in at 24 hours notice for a covid-stricken Orchestra leader Adam Summerhayes.
The icing on the cake of a wonderful afternoon was the raising, via a bucket collection from the audience, of just over £1,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine appeal. A big thank you to everyone who came to the concert and donated on what was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Don’t forget to join the Bardi on Sunday 15 May at De Montfort Hall for an all-Elgar concert featuring the Cello Concerto and Symphony No.1. A concert not to be missed! Find out more here.
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