The Concert Hall Dilemma

By Richard Brewer

I’ve been to a number of different concert halls across the country. Until moving down to London, they tended to be more northern cities, like Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester. More recently, now that I live in London, I have ventured out to a few of the capital’s concert venues.

Last week, Sir Simon Rattle criticised these venues, and laid his claim for a brand new concert hall for the capital. He labelled what is perhaps the best venue at present, The Barbican, as ‘serviceable’, stating how amazing the LSO could sound in a great concert hall. Perhaps his comments were deliberately timely, given that he is favoured to take up the LSO’s reigns after Gergiev leaves later this year. It has been said that he is very close to agreeing a contract with the London orchestra; however, if they don’t meet his request for a new venue, things may change.

None other than the Chancellor, George Osborne, supported Rattle in his request. In partnership with the mayor, he has announced an official viability study into the possibility of a new concert hall for London. Osborne states the ‘significant artistic, educational and economic benefits that a modern concert hall would bring not just London but the whole country.’ He is probably not wrong in saying this; a new state-of-the-art concert hall would benefit those who already attend concerts, but surely it has to have other uses too? Nicholas Kenyon and Kathryn McDowell, managing directors of the Barbican and LSO were quoted in referring to a ‘state of the art performance and education facility for the digital age’. Knowing that two leading figures in the development of whatever this turns out to be feel this way is extremely positive.

With the huge cutbacks and devaluation to music education in recent years, education must be kept at the heart of this new project. I can see the huge potential benefits a brilliant new concert hall would have on myself and other classical music lovers (we are now one of the few remaining European capital cities without a ground-breaking facility). I fear, however, that if the hall isn’t a multi-use facility, we could further alienate the problem of music education. It could also further enhance the problem of diversity amongst audiences. If the powers that be create a venue with a ridiculous budget, that therefore ensured ticket prices were through the roof, it would only make those with less money attend even fewer concerts. Isn’t that the opposite of what we are all trying to do?

So, what is the solution? I do agree that a new concert hall would be fantastic for London. I personally can’t really see how it would benefit the whole country, though, and do have my fears as addressed above. Having Sir Simon Rattle conduct the LSO is an exciting prospect, especially given the amount of positive change he has inflicted on the Berlin Philharmonic. It would be a huge project though, with a huge budget, the majority of which would come from the Arts Council, no doubt, an organisation already making mass cutbacks; could they afford it? All that said, wouldn’t it be great to have our own ‘Philharmonie de Londres’? A state-of-the-art facility that not only addressed London’s lack of a concert hall with brilliant acoustics, but also had education at its core.

Don't forget you can buy tickets for our March concert ‘Classical Celebration II’ by visiting our events page or the main Corn Exchange website.

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia please visit our website, Facebook or Twitter page.

“It is not called playing the violin for nothing” - In discussion with Alexander Hohenthal

By Chris Billingham 

Next Friday audiences at 1pm in the Corn Exchange Newbury will be treated to Mozart and Mendelssohn at the latest Southern Sinfonia Café Concert. The pieces will be performed by The Hohenthal Trio, a combination of our Leader Alexander Hohenthal on violin, Nick Stringfellow on cello and Eleanor Hodgkinson playing piano.

To celebrate we are posting an interview that Richard and I conducted with Alexander at the end of last year. Alexander, who performs internationally as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and concertmaster, studied at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Ruggiero Ricci and Paul Roczek. His performances are critically acclaimed; Graham Caldbeck quite rightly described him as “outstanding – as a soloist, as a leader and as an all-round nice guy”.

In the video below you can hear Alex discuss musical inspirations, classical instruments, venues, audiences, family and more:

Thank you to Alexander for given us the opportunity to sit down with him, it was a wonderful afternoon and gave us some fascinating insights into life as a classical musician.

Don’t forget you can buy tickets for The Hohenthal Trio which takes place on Friday 27^th Febuary at 1pm here.

You can also find out more about our March concert ‘Classical Celebration II’ by visiting our events page or the main Corn Exchange website.

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia please visit our website, Facebook or Twitter page.

Exploring ‘Classical Celebration II’

By Southern Sinfonia 


Everyone at Southern Sinfonia was recently thrilled to announce that our March concert will contain a very exciting performance from Matthew Gee who joins us for ‘Classical Celebration II’. Our music director, David Hill, will conduct the concert also featuring Mozart and Elgar.

As previously announced the concert, which takes place at St. Nicolas Church, Newbury on March 27^th at 7.30pm will feature the following programme:

Elgar - Serenade for Strings, op. 20

de Souza - Trombone Concerto

Soloist - Matthew Gee

Mozart - Symphony no. 40 K.550

Conductor - David Hill

The orchestra will play a rare performance of Southern Sinfonia’s Artistic Advisor, Chris de Souza’s, Trombone Concerto. The concerto was last performed in 2008 by local lad Michael Buchanan - a previous winner of our Young Musician of the Year competition. Esteemed soloist and Chairman of the British Trombone Society, Matthew Gee, will perform the concerto.

Matthew currently holds the position of principal trombone for the Royal Philharmonic and Aurora Orchestra.  He has played with some of the finest orchestras and chamber ensembles in the world and worked with some of the greatest conductors of this generation. We are extremely excited for Matthew to join us for a rare performance of Chris' wonderful piece. Listen out for what is a simply gorgeous middle movement sandwiched by some outstanding Trombone virtuosity showing the extremities of what the instrument can achieve! 

 

Edward Elgar wrote Serenade for Strings in March 1892; it received its first performance by Worcester Ladies Orchestral Class, with the composer conducting. The piece is actually dedicated to organ builder and keen amateur musician Edward Whinfield. The serenade is a firm favourite amongst classical music fans, and will provide a beautiful opening to the concert.

Written in 1788, Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 is often referred to as the Great G minor Symphony. Incidentally, it is one of only two of Mozart’s 41 symphonies that he wrote in a minor key. It is often suggested that Mozart never actually heard the piece; some suggest he never even wanted it to be played. This has been disputed, however, by numerous music academics over the years following studies of his letters. The piece contains one of Mozart’s most famous motifs, used countless times in advertisements and on television programmes.

In the meantime, The Hohenthal Trio will visit the Corn Exchange, Newbury for a lunchtime recital on 27^th February. Southern Sinfonia leader Alexander Hohenthal will play alongside Nick Stringfellow on cello and pianist Eleanor Hodgkinson. The trio will play two piano trios by Mozart and Mendelssohn. We can’t wait to hear them!

To book tickets for any of our upcoming events, please visit the Corn Exchange website, www.cornexchangenew.com, visit the box office, or call 08455 218218.

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia please visit our website, Facebook and Twitter.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Women’s Orchestra

By Richard Brewer 

I have talked on previous blogs about the power of music in evoking memories and emotions. Specifically, I mentioned the concerts Southern Sinfonia performed last year which were dedicated to those who lost their lives in World War One. This time I am thinking about World War Two.

Last week marked the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Out of all the horror that occurred during the war at this camp, and many others, there is one small piece of salvation that stands out to me as a musician. Recently, Stephen Fry was filmed in conversation with a lady named Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch was one of the lucky few that managed to survive her time in the hell that was Auschwitz.

Lasker-Wallfisch puts her survival down to her ability to play the cello. In a number of camps across Europe, it was fashionable for the Nazis to form orchestras or bands with prisoners who were musicians; it was even sometimes seen as a status symbol for a camp leader to have a high quality orchestra. Auschwitz-Birkenau was no different and in 1943, a women’s orchestra was founded. For the majority of those who could play instruments, this was a lifeline. Lasker-Wallfisch describes her time:

“I was extremely lucky, it was all a matter of luck you see…people often ask how can you possibly survive that, I was one of the very few people to survive a year in Auschwitz, nobody survives a year in Auschwitz, because of music.”

I find her use of the word ‘lucky’ extremely interesting; say, perhaps, she hadn’t learned the cello at an early age before being sent to Auschwitz, it is almost certain that she would not have survived. For some, it would have been a chance to perhaps try and forget the situation they were in, a chance to express some emotions they were previously not able to do. For others, however, as Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch points out, it was offensive. She explains that some of the fellow Jews found it quite intrusive and didn’t like it (incidentally, she says this may have been due to the fact that only around 5 musicians from the orchestra could actually play their instrument well!)

The type of music performed and the situations they played in brings validity to those who weren't fans of the orchestras. The Nazi regime didn't exactly make it a pleasurable experience for the musicians, ensuring they practiced almost constantly in what were no doubt horrible conditions. They would also be asked to perform for prisoners arriving on trains, as they were led straight into gas chambers. It has been said that a regular song Nazis requested the orchestras and bands to play on repeat was “J'attendrai ton retour”, literally meaning “I will wait for your return”; a quite ironic song to those already akin to the events taking place. Additionally, they would play pompous, patriotic German marches; it is impossible to imagine how degrading and torturous it must have been for the prisoners to play such material.

I find Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch’s story extraordinary. To think that music and her ability to play the cello ensured her safety in a Nazi war camp is quite astounding. Despite the differences in their beliefs, and the way the Nazis treated the prisoners, one thing actually is quite clear; music is a universal language, one that all of us can understand and portray. Music is a savior for so many people in so many differing situations, but this one really stands out; music saved lives.

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia please visit our Website, Twitter or Facebook.