My friend’s husband – well, I suppose he has become a friend too – plays in the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra and they were giving a concert, so I went along, partly to keep my friend company and partly because it is ages since I have been to a concert. They were playing “Vocalise” by Rachmaninov, Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” and Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto. I don’t know the Rachmaninov at all and only the “popular” parts of the Dvorak (I said I don’t listen to much music) but it was enjoyable and quite easy to listen to.
I have to say I was very impressed by the playing, which was of a high standard. The piano soloist, Cordelia Williams, seemed good too – not that I know much about it. I am always impressed by these pianists who do these long concertos without music – how do they remember it all?
I did wonder about going, because the last time I went to one of their concerts was more than 10 years ago, when they were called the Salisbury Orchestral Society. They were playing something which might have been a horn concerto and certainly had a lot of horn playing. I was supporting a different friend and she warned me that it was bad – it was! The pieces chosen were much too difficult for the ability of the orchestra, the horns were terrible and the rest was not brilliant either. They must have been fairly bad for me to notice! The orchestra is “amateur” but has a lot of players who have been professional or who are music teachers and I think that has always been the case. When I last heard them, they had quite a lot of young players but there were very few now. I wonder how the less good ones were “weeded out”? The programme said that “all our members are accomplished amateur musicians, mostly from the Salisbury area, although some travel considerable distances to play with us”. They seem to have gone for quality, at the cost of bringing on young musicians. I suppose that is a choice one has to make.
I was surprised at the price of the tickets (£18) for an amateur performance, but then they had to pay to hire the City Hall, pay the soloist (not cheap, I imagine) and they also paid to hire and transport, a Steinway Concert piano. The concert was popular and sold out, I think. It was of a very high standard and I am impressed at how good they were.
I also saw several members of my choir and did have a little time to chat with them during the interval, which was a bonus.
So did I enjoy it? On the whole, yes. Would I go to another concert? Well, I think that would depend what they were playing. I would prefer to have at least one of the pieces that I knew a little – I find that easier to listen to.