Unfamiliar Haydn symphony shines in Macclesfield

By Peter Connors, 01 November 2015

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Reviewed at Heritage Centre, Macclesfield on 31 October 2015

Haydn, Symphony no. 21 in A major ( )

Mozart, Bassoon Concerto in B flat major, K191 (K186e)

Tchaikovsky, Souvenir d'un lieu cher: Mélodie in E flat major for violin and orchestra, Op.42 no.3

Dvořák, Serenade for Strings in E major, Op.22

Northern Chamber Orchestra

Nicholas Ward, Artistic Director, Violin

Ben Hudson, Bassoon

From the ballroom to the trenches: The Land of Might-Have-Been

Sarah Noble, 15th July

Setting the life of Vera Brittain to the music of Ivor Novello, Buxton Festival's new musical is a welcome if overambitious showcase for them both.

***11

Arcadia in the Peak District: Mozart's Il re pastore in Buxton

Sarah Noble, 9th July

Mozart's early opera seria may not be his greatest achievement – but lightness of touch from all involved highlight its charms in Jack Furness' new production.

***11

La donna del lago in Buxton: glorious music, confusing production

Peter Connors, 15th July

Buxton International Festival presents Rossini's exhilarating La donna del lago with fine singing, but it is undermined by Jacopo Spirei's staging.

***11

Buxton Festival celebrates 40th anniversary with Eugene Onegin

Robert Gainer, 6th July

Every July, Buxton’s charming opera house hosts an international festival of opera, literature and the arts. This year the festival opened with a strong familiar favourite, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

****1

Flute, harp and Haydn in Macclesfield

Peter Connors, 12th January

Katherine Baker and Lucy Wakeford delighted in Mozart, Debussy and Fauré with the Northern Chamber Orchestra in a concert crowned by an undeservedly rare symphony by Haydn.

***11

Staples of the Romantic repertoire from Freddy Kempf and the NCO

Aaron Davies, 28th September

Manchester's highly polished Northern Chamber Orchestra is joined by Freddy Kempf to deliver a highly enjoyable performance, full of vim and vigour.

****1

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Peter Connors

Peter has been attending concerts and operas enthusiastically since his parents took him to see The Mikado in Liverpool when he was a boy of ten and to a “family concert” given by the RLPO a year or so later. Peter studied Modern Languages at Worcester College, Oxford and Law in Manchester. After spending twenty years as a pensions lawyer in Manchester, he retrained as a teacher of English as a foreign language, which took him to Germany and to Serbia. With the onset of the pandemic he returned to the UK and now works online and frequents concert halls and theatres in the North West of England.