Brighton Philharmonic play their socks off at the Brighton Festival

Joanna MacGregor conducting the
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Fernando Manoso

William Kentridge (director)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Joanna MacGregor (conductor)

'Oh To Believe in Another World'

Brighton Festival

8pm, Sunday 17 May 2026

Brighton Dome

★★★★

Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975): Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

Oh To Believe in Another World
- film by William Kentridge

'Could (the BPO) rise to the challenge of Shostakovich’s mighty Tenth Symphony? Happily, yes they could, with some of the best playing I have ever heard from them'.

'Their skittering race fitting well with Kentridge’s ironic imagery on film of bustling transport and crowds, later skewering the idea of relentless progress with shots of the realities of harsh manual labour'

'Principal Horn Alexei Watkins delivered Elmira’s motif with secure warmth, while the flutes and piccolos screamed the D-S-C-H motto'.

'From the orchestra, we had a wonderfully acerbic solo from bassoonist Jonathan Price, and the brass hammering out that D-S-C-H motto at the conclusion certainly cried out defiance'.

'Neither the film nor the music gave us a clear answer, but the combined effect was nevertheless emphatically powerful'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Johnston's Tavener the highlight for the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra with MacGregor

Guy Johnston
© Frances Marshall

Ruth Rogers (violin)

Guy Johnston (cello)

Joanna MacGregor (conductor)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

2.45pm, Sunday 29 March 2026

Brighton Dome

★★★★

Vaughan Williams, Ralph (1872-1958): Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Vivaldi, Antonio (1678-1741): Le quattro stagioni, Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV269 'La primavera' (excerpts)

                                                                               Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV297 'L'inverno' (excerpts)

Richter, Max (b.1966): Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons (excerpts)

Ruth Rogers, Joanna MacGregor
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Vaughan Williams:

'.... was a great place to start, allowing the BPO strings to demonstrate warm tone and strong ensemble'.

Vivaldi/Richter:

this was a highly enjoyable rendition, with Rogers leading with spirit, dancing to the offbeat rhythms in Richter’s obsessive take on Spring.

Vivaldi had the last word, and the BPO strings positively fizzed

Guy Johnston, Joanna MacGregor
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Tavener:

'The star of the show proved to be cellist Guy Johnston, with an intensely focussed performance'.

'Johnston’s variety of tone ... was astonishing'. 

'A wonderful performance from Johnston, but also raising MacGregor and the BPO strings’ game to a new level'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Aaron Azunda Akugbo impresses in Marsalis' Concerto for Trumpet, and the BPO give confident readings of classic Nyman film scores

Aaron Azunda Akugbo, Joanna MacGregor
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Frances Marshall

Aaron Azunda Akugbo (trumpet)

Joanna MacGregor (conductor)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Ruth Rogers (leader) 

7.30pm, Saturday 24 January 2026

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★

Marsalis, Wynton (b.1961): Concerto for Trumpet

Nyman, Michael (b.1944): Prospero's Books Suite

                                          The Draughtsman's Contract for Orchestra

Once again Joanna MacGregor delivered an interesting programme for the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s latest outing, as they move into the second half of their season. A very contemporary trumpet concerto by the fabulous jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis was coupled with two of Michael Nyman’s iconic film scores from the late twentieth century, repertoire that clearly sparked interest, with Brighton Dome very nearly full.

Aaron Azunda Akugbo & Joanna MacGregor
 © Frances Marshall

Marsalis’ Concerto for Trumpet was written for trumpeter Michaeal Sachs, who premiered the work with the Cleveland Orchestra in 2023. Across its six short movements, it covers a wide variety of styles, almost serving as a brief history of the instrument, across classical and jazz genres alike. Inevitably, this means it is a bit of an eclectic mix, and nothing stays still for very long, even within each movement. This creates a huge challenge for soloist and orchestra alike, not least because many of the short episodes within have many complex rhythms and balance issues to be grappled with along the way. Edinburgh-born trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo traversed the many styles and demands with style, warming into the appreciative atmosphere in the Brighton Dome as his confidence grew. The orchestra on the whole successfully navigated the rhythms and the individual episodes thrown at them by Marsalis, but one felt that there wasn’t quite enough breathing space for them to see how this all fitted together. To be fair, Marsalis does take things at breakneck speed, so there is seldom chance for any element to establish itself before the next idea comes along. Balance was also occasionally an issue – a focus on ‘getting it right’ perhaps didn’t allow for time to listen, and in the opening March, the heavy use of percussion and lower brass was in danger of drowning out the soloist. However, there was some great cartoon scurrying from the strings, along with comic muted trombones here. The second movement, Ballad, allowed Azunda Akugbo to show off a more lyrical style, with a gently bouncing swing in the orchestra, and a delicate duet exchange between the soloist and the oboe. In contrast, Mexican Son had more virtuosic show from Azunda Akugbo, with mostly tight ensemble from the orchestra in the dancing rhythms. At the end, the strange whooping sounds from held horn and woodwind notes that accompanied the soloist weren’t entirely convincingly confident, but the woodwind solos in the following Blues movement were more assured. Here Azunda Akugbo showed off the differing effects of not one but four different mutes, including the most bluesy of all, a felt hat. The French Pastoral was full of twisting, winding lines, before Harlequin Two-Step brought the work to a spirited conclusion. The energetic opening section did get a little wild at one point, on the brink of coming adrift, but then settled into a quieter, smoother section, allowing for more expressive playing. And just when we thought it had ended, wild whistling and crazy noises in the coda led back to a final elephant call from the soloist, as the work had begun. All in all, a great showcase for the talented Azunda Akugbo, and the orchestra largely pulled off their contribution, but I’m not sure they managed to convey an overall coherency in this highly challenging, episodic work.

Joanna MacGregor & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Two of Michael Nyman’s scores for Peter Greenaway films filled the second half of the evening’s programme, starting with the Prospero’s Books Suite. MacGregor and the BPO seemed on safter ground here, although as MacGregor said in her introduction, this music is still challenging to perform, just in a different way. The first movement, Prospero’s Magiclaunches in straight away with Nyman’s signature pulsing repetitive figuration in the strings, and the BPO bassoons throbbed away beneath the slower moving woodwind and brass chords. MacGregor shaped the slow build, and the violins soared above the texture when they shifted away from their perpetual motion role. The quirkier Prospero’s Curse had mostly tight rhythms here, triplets against fours mostly locked in, although it felt like MacGregor allowed the overall momentum to lapse a little here. Glassy, shimmering strings dominated in Cornfield, the soft trumpet emerging slowly. Miranda, the final movement, had good drive, with pecking woodwind, although the clarinet raced ahead rather at one point, risking a loss of ensemble, and the various changes in tempo felt a little insecure initially. However, the final drive to the finish had the necessary energy to pull it all back together.

The Draughtsman’s Contract for Orchestra, Nyman’s suite from his score for the Greenaway film, contains some of his most familiar music, the final movement in particular, and Nyman draws much of the musical content from Purcell, in particular in his use of the ground bass. Its opening movement, A Watery Death, starts with emphatic low chords, before the violins scream in, and the BPO gave this their all, with some deft work from the brass section. The ground that forms the bases of The Garden is Becoming a Robe Room set off with some rushing and disagreement between the bassoons and double basses, but settled, with more fluid lines from the violins calming the texture. An Eye for Optical Theory moves into jazzier, swinging rhythms, and MacGregor gave these a nice swing. And then the finale, Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds. The processional opening, with hammering piano had real drive, and the violins’ triplets against the prevailing fours were tight. The Black Beauty-esque section galloped along, followed by sparky exchanges between the woodwinds and brass, and MacGregor led them to a strong finish, with some of the most confident and assured playing of the evening from the orchestra.

And so again, MacGregor and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra showed us their enthusiasm for tackling challenging repertoire. On the night, the Nyman proved more assured than the Marsalis, but hats off to them for bringing us this striking work, especially along with the highly talented Aaron Azunda Akugbo.

'A Fairytale Christmas' - the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra combine a Christmas favourite with unfamiliar treats

Joanna MacGregor &
the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Sarah-Lousie Burns

Alise Siliņa (accordion)

Joanna MacGregor (conductor)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Ruth Rogers (leader) 

2.45pm, Sunday 7 December 2025

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★

Delius, Frederick (1862-1934): Eventyr (Once Upon a Time)

Trojan, Václav (1907-1983): Fairy Tales: A Concerto for Accordion

Encore: unnamed

de Hartmann, Thomas (1885-1956): Koliadky: Noëls Ukrainiens, Op. 60

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich (1840-1893): The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a

Alise Siliņa, Joanna MacGregor 
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Sarah-Louise Burns

‘A Fairytale Christmas’, a programme of orchestral music for Christmas from the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra – can you guess what might have been on the programme? Well, true to Music Director Joanna MacGregor’s imaginative programming form, apart from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite, it’s unlikely that anyone would have guessed, or possibly even have recognised the other three works on offer today. If it was designed to bring in more families and children to the audience, then that certainly worked, as there were noticeably more youngsters and even toddlers in the Dome concert hall. Having said that, I’m not sure the programme was quite attractive enough to maintain young attention spans, beyond the interest of the accordion and The Nutcracker Suite at the end.

Delius’ unfamiliar tone poem Eventyr, or Once Upon a Time, opened the programme. Composed in 1917, it’s fair to say it’s not secured a footing in the repertoire, so it was great that the BPO gave it an airing, with support from the Delius Trust. Eventyr actually means Adventure, and the inspiration here was Norwegian folk tales – whilst a possible Christmas meal to tempt the trolls and hobgoblins is mentioned in Delius’ description, the Yuletide connection is limited, with the focus more on the mysterious creatures who need to be won over by hunters to ensure good luck. The music is suitably atmospheric, with a watery harp, tinkling celesta, glockenspiel and xylophone all providing delicate colour, and the BPO gave us a relatively committed performance, although Delius’ subtle orchestration was perhaps not enough to captivate the younger members of the audience, and noises off meant a few pickups from the orchestra were consequently a little distracted and tentative. It would be good to hear the work performed again on a less festive programme to fully appreciate its atmospheric colour. 

 

This was followed by Fairy Tales: A Concerto for Accordion, by the Czech composer Václav Trojan (1907-1983). Trojan was best known for his many scores for animated films in the 1940s and 50s, and this suite of seven short movements certainly has a filmic, often cartoon-like feel. The star here was the young Latvian accordionist, Alise Siliņa, currently studying for her Master’s at the Royal Academy of Music. The work allowed her to demonstrate the range of the lightly amplified instrument, from lyrical, wistful melodic lines in The Sleepy Princess, to playfulness in The Magic Box, and virtuosic display in The Naughty Roundabout. This movement and the next, The Sailor and the Enchanted Accordion, had pleasantly swaying waltz rhythms, with the latter more dreamily bluesy in places. The finale, The Acrobatic Fairy Tale was full of circus tumbling, almost like a cartoon chase, all building to a fun, swirling finish. Siliņa played with character throughout, and was well supported by  the orchestra, with some particularly atmospheric cor anglais solos, although the work surprisingly doesn’t foreground the accordion as much as one might expect. Siliņa then treated the audience to a highly engaging solo encore, a touchingly wistful melodic line following a darkly lilting opening, and here we could really hear her command of the instrument. 

Alise Siliņa
© Nick Boston

Ukranian-born Thomas de Hartmann (1885-1956) is better known to me for his connection to his spiritual teacher, George Gurdjieff, many of whose works de Hartmann transcribed for piano, forming some four volumes of sacred inspired hymns and rituals. Influenced by Gurdjieff’s mystic ‘Fourth Way’ spirituality, de Hartmann and his wife were closely entwined with Gurdjieff and other follows for many years, and this music has a meditative, ethereal quality. The work on today’s programme, Koliadky: Noëls Ukraniens, Op. 60, is much more closely linked to Ukranian folk culture, although de Hartmann stressed that he was influenced by folk tunes, rather than drawing directly on traditional melodies. Having been performed in 1946, it is thought that today’s performance may have been its second ever in the UK. The opening Chant spirituel began with a cello solo, who was then joined by the strings for a haunting hymn, its Ukranian roots also sounding reminiscent of Vaughan Williams’ modal harmonies. Next, a bouncy quartet for cor anglais, clarinets and bassoon, Viens, Koladá, viens, followed by a dark, slow dance from horns, oboes and bassoons to herald Les rois mages (The Three Wise Men). This is a fascinating work, with such short glimpses of colour from de Hartmann that you are definitely left wanting more, from Górecki/Pärt tinged moments for low strings against violins, to thick brass and ringing bells, and a lively dance, Goussak (Gander Dance) as a brief finale. Thanks to Joanna MacGregor for bringing it to our attention, and to the BPO for presenting it so convincingly.

Joanna MacGregor & the BPO
© Nick Boston

And so to the popular Christmas highlight, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite. Unfortunately the attention spans of some of the children in the audience had long since waned, so sadly some had now left before the piece on the programme that would have surely most grabbed their attention. But those that remained clearly enjoyed the lively and familiar tunes, with some particularly spirited conducting from one young girl in the front row of the circle during the Waltz of the Flowers. The BPO delivered it all with enthusiasm, although ensemble was occasionally a little shaky, with MacGregor not quite martialling the accelerando in the Chinese Dance, and some untidy rapid scales in the Dance of the Mirlitons. A few intonation issues in the outer first violins in the Miniature Overture, and some rather rustic brass in the March all pointed towards perhaps more rehearsal time being dedicated, understandably, to the three unfamiliar works on the programme. This left the Tchaikovsky to rely on familiarity, which was a pity. That being said, it was a joyful enough performance, and a hit with the audience to end the afternoon.

Playful Coleridge-Taylor contrasting with dramatic Mahler from the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Elena Urioste
 © Chris Gloag

Elena Urioste (violin)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Alice Farnham (conductor)

Ruth Rogers (leader)

2.45pm, Sunday 19 October 2025

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★★

Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel (1875-1912): Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 80

Encore:

Arlen, Harold (1905-1986): Over the Rainbow (?arr. Poster, Tom (b.1981))

Mahler, Gustav (1860-1911): Symphony No. 5

For their latest programme, ‘The Romantics’, the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra presented two highly contrasting works, with Mahler’s mighty Symphony No. 5 following the lighter offering of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 80. Ben Gernon was originally scheduled to conduct the concert but was replaced by Alice Farnham, whose combination of precise direction and energy made for a highly engaging afternoon’s programme. Of course it shouldn’t be worthy of note, but it’s great to see an all-female roster (for the second time this season) of conductor, soloist (Elena Urioste) and leader (Ruth Rogers) – with Music Director Joanna MacGregor the overall driving force. 

Elena Urioste
© Nick Boston

Violinist Elena Urioste was born in the US, and has an established solo career, performing with orchestras around the world. She is also a committed chamber music, with her Chamber Music by the Sea festival in Maryland celebtrating its tenth anniversary this year. She also co-founded with her partner, Tom Poster, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, frequent performers at the Wigmore Hall and at the most recent Coffee Concert at Brighton Corn Exchange. She first performed Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto with Chineke! in 2019, recorded it with them in 2022, and has become a strong advocate for the somewhat neglected work. It’s an open-hearted piece, full of lyrical invention and plenty of opportunity for a virtuoso soloist to shine. Born in Croydon, of mixed Sierra Leonean and English heritage, Coleridge-Taylor originally intended to use spirituals for the melodic material of his Violin Concerto, but wasn’t happy with his attempts, deciding instead to use his own thematic ideas. Of course, Dvořák’s take on ‘American’ music also must have had an influence to bear here too, but the resulting work has a great sense of fun and individual style, which Urioste communicated here with great enthusiasm. 

Following the brassy stately opening from the orchestra, Urioste launched with a flourish into the first melodic idea, and from there, delivered each episodic entry with panache, at one point dancing her line over the accompanying pizzicato strings, and elsewhere injecting just enough bite to point up her dotted rhythms over the full orchestra. That dotted rhythm featured highly in her impressive cadenza, leading to a dramatic conclusion from the orchestra. The second movement is unashamedly lyrical, and the BPO strings set up just the right kind of muted accompaniment to allow Urioste to sing the silky lines above them. Orchestral ensemble was kept tight by Farnham through the ebb and flow of the rubatos whilst Urioste’s tender solos roamed effortlessly. The sprightly finale is once again packed with thematic invention, and Urioste and Farnham drove on through with playful energy (accompanied by frequent audible foot-tapping from Urioste). Virtuosic downward scale passages and skittering runs were aplenty, and weighty tuttis from the orchestra made for a brightly dramatic conclusion. In stark contrast, Urioste gave a simple yet highly tender rendition of Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen (arranged I believe by Tom Poster), with gentle double-stopping providing some harmony, but the emphasis being on the beauty of the melodic line, delighting the Brighton audience.

 

Alice Farnham & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

In contrast to the light-hearted ease of the Coleridge-Taylor, Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 was of course a completely different matter. The funereal opening movement immediately takes things in a darker direction, and the challenge for the orchestra is equally weightier. There is a great deal of pressure on many soloists from the orchestra, chiefly the trumpet and horn, and on the whole, the BPO acquitted themselves very well. It has to be said, however, that the overall strike rate today of brass splits was relatively high, which was a pity. The first movement’s woodwind dance had finesse, with some wild car-chase strings to follow, and Farnham steered the orchestra through with great clarity, although the latter part of the movement lost a little forward momentum. The screaming opening of the second movement had great drive, and the concluding brass chorale gleamed brightly, although the central marching section could have taken a bit more bite. The Scherzo had lilt and swagger, although at times a little too precisely measured, and once again, it was the woodwinds that shone the most, with the pecking bassoon and delicately precise oboe proving most noteworthy. The Adagietto was beautifully shaped by Farnham, with warm and tender playing from the strings, and sumptuous playing from harpist Alex Rider. The finale raised the mood, with precise horn and woodwind solos leading to the cellos deftly setting off the playful fugal section that followed. The orchestra appeared more in their element now, and the brass climaxes, swaying strings and woodwind interjections were knitted together with momentum by Farnham, with the final accelerando racing to a spectacular finish. So if not the most precise Mahler 5 at every point, Farnham and the BPO certainly delivered a performance with high energy and many great moments. 

'A New World' - Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off their 101st season in style

Junyan Chen

Junyan Chen (piano)

Joanna MacGregor (conductor)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Ruth Rogers (leader)

2.45pm, Sunday 28 September

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★★

Rachmaninov, Sergei (1873-1943): Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

Encore: 

Gershwin, George (1898-1937): The Man I Love, arr. by ?

Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937): La Valse, poème chorégraphique pour orchestre

Bartók, Béla (1881-1945): Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Sz.73

Joanna MacGregor

After a cracking 100^th season, the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra are back for their 101^st (my season preview is here),and there’s no sign of Joanna MacGregor letting up on the imaginative programming we’ve now come to expect. So whilst there was a big hitting concerto for the first concert of the new season, they went for Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 – popular of course, but not as well-known as the second. And rather than the usual overture-concerto-symphony sandwich, the Rachmaninov opened the concert, bold and up front, with Shanghai-born pianist Junyan Chen at the keyboard. A former pupil of MacGregor’s, Chen has performed with the BPO previously, and last year won not one but three prizes at the Leeds International Piano Competition, including the Silver Medal.

Right from the steadily rolling opening of the Rachmaninov, it was clear that Chen was in control here, setting the pace with incision and steering progress through the frequent rubatos at the ends of phrases. The orchestra were a little slower to get going, with a somewhat muted response, and MacGregor’s occasionally uncertain beat meant that in solo-free passages there were a few hesitant cadences. Woodwind solos were strong, however, with a particularly fine moment from the bassoon alone with the piano. Flute, oboe, clarinet and horn all got a chance towards the end of the movement, and all acquitted themselves well. The muted strings in the slow movement could have still had a little more weight in their sound, but their ensemble was tight, giving secure support to Chen’s swirling romantic solo. The movement’s conclusion was authoritative and arresting, with the finale following at a healthily steady pace. Once again, Chen drove the tempos, and apart from the odd uncertain pickup, the orchestra followed obediently. Chen demonstrated some particularly seductive, slinky playing here, with impressively virtuosic solo passages, and a glorious surge to the finish, here matched with a rich, full sound from the full orchestra. She then treated the appreciative Brighton audience to a sensual arrangement of Gershwin’s The Man I Love (possibly Art Tatum’s arrangement?), with its seductive outer thick chords beautifully contrasted with the brief vamping central section. Definitely a pianist to watch, and hopefully we’ll be treated to a return visit in Brighton sometime soon.

 

Junyan Chen & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Ravel’s La Valse is a wonderfully anarchic unravelling of the Viennese Waltz, originally intended as a ballet for Diaghilev. He turned it down, souring their relationship for good, even though Diaghilev acknowledged it as a musical masterpiece. As well as a reflection on the dying world of the waltz, was it also a comment on political decay in Europe, post-World War I? Well Ravel said not, but it is hard not to read some sense of the end of an era into his wildly evocative picture of the opulent ballrooms of Vienna gradually swirling out of control into chaos. MacGregor and the BPO gave us a suitably dark opening, with slithering glissandi from the violas and an ominous cor anglais solo. MacGregor steered through the frequent rubatos and Viennese holdups, although these felt occasional a little mechanical rather than fully felt. As things built to the inevitable climax, timing unravelled ever so slightly, and the seasick surges from the orchestra needed even more, but MacGregor punched through to a suitably wild finish. 
 

Joanna MacGregor & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Then came the most intriguing programming choice of the afternoon. Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin Suite is not performed as often as it should be, but when it is, at just over twenty minutes, it often appears as the warm-up act. But this densely imaginative and exciting score deserves more attention, and by ending their concert with it, the BPO were able to show off its dramatic and unsettling power. Described as a ‘pantomime ballet’, the original full work, with its shocking tale of tramps forcing a girl to entrap men so they could rob them, was in fact too shocking for audiences of the day, and it had to be withdrawn after its premiere. Bartók’s concert suite was however performed in his lifetime, perhaps because the ‘action’ now stops at the point when the mysterious Miraculous Mandarin, the tramps’ third victim, chases the girl, and avoids the ensuing failed attempts by the tramps to kill him, as well as his sexual union with the girl, before he finally dies. Nevertheless, the Suite still contains the darkness of the drama, right from the opening raucous cityscape to the chase scene, via the increasingly complex characterisations of the three victims, all portrayed via clarinet solos. MacGregor and the BPO were in their element for the opening bustling cacophony, with trombone car horns and swirling, whistling woodwinds. Principal clarintettist James Gilbert’s solos were full of the necessarily individual character, and with mournful turns from cor anglais and oboe, brittle col legno strings (hitting with the wood of the bow), trombone slides and glassy celesta combined with high flutes, they delivered much of the atmospheric detail of Bartók’s score with enthusiasm. MacGregor’s direction was also more confident throughout here, and the slowing up into the final finish was well judged, making for a thrilling conclusion to their assured performance of this exciting work. Once again, MacGregor and the BPO showed that taking risks with more adventurous programming choices pays dividends, as evidenced by another almost full and highly appreciative Brighton Dome audience.

The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra scale new heights with Colin Currie at the helm in a celebration of Steve Reich

Steve Reich

Colin Currie (conductor, percussion)

Joanna MacGregor (piano)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Ruth Rogers (leader)

7.30pm, Sunday 23 March 2025

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★★

Steve Reich (b.1936): Music for Pieces of Wood

Lou Harrison (1917-2003) & John Cage (1912-1992): Double Music

Terry Riley (b.1935): Half Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight, from Salome Dances for Peace

Yoko Ono (b.1933): Pieces for Orchestra

Reich: Runner

Reich/Gerhard Richter (b.1932): Moving Picture (936-3)

(Director: Corinna Belz (b.1955))

I’ve been following most of Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s 100^th season, enjoying their ever more adventurous and interesting programming, and their latest offering, a concert centring on the music of Steve Reich (b.1936) saw them reach new heights of excellence. With conductor and percussionist Colin Currie at the helm, chamber-sized BPO forces tackled some highly challenging repertoire, and the percussion section in particular, who have already shown themselves to be a key part of the BPO’s development over the last few years, rose to the occasion. 

 

So to begin with, Currie joined the four percussionists for Reich’s popular and mesmerising Music for Pieces of Wood, and this 9 minute piece, consisting of five players with tuned claves (pairs of wooden sticks), knocking out constantly crossing and phasing rhythms. There’s a pattern that began with just two players (Donna-Maria Landowksi & Meadow Brooks) setting the base rhythms – and they need particular commendation for the stamina of maintaining this throughout the whole piece. They were joined by Currie, then Cameron Gorman, and finally Chris Brannick, building up the complex, hypnotic rhythms. The pattern is repeated three times, so going back to two players, and building up again, before the whole thing comes to an abrupt stop. The almost full Dome audience was completely drawn into their tight and intense performance, making for a great start to the evening.

 

From centre stage, attention then shifted to the far right, and an array of bells, brake drums, sistra, gongs, tam-tams and even a thunder sheet, to which the four BPO percussionists moved to perform Double Music by Lou Harrison (1917-2003) and John Cage (1912-1992). With the brake drums laid out in an array on the floor, and other instruments circling them, the four players crouched down and drew us into the gamelan-inspired soundworld, beginning with a ringing from a Tibetan bowl, and building to a resonant mix of sounds, the metallic tuned brake drums against the rattling sistra and rumbling tam-tams and gongs. One couldn’t always tell exactly what was producing which sounds – there was some use of the sides of the gongs or tam-tams to produce yet more different timbres. Harrison & Cage composed two of the four sections each independently, but the result creates a unified soundworld, ending with the instruments’ long final resonance hanging in the air. 

 

Colin Currie

Next it was the turn of strings, and a quartet led by BPO leader, Ruth Rogers, with Nikki Gleed, Caroline Harrison & Peter Adams. They were conducted here by Joanna MacGregor – once the piece was underway, it was clear that this was a necessity. Terry Riley’s Half Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight from his Salome Dances for Peace is a frenetic mash-up of rhythmic energy, with the players often at odds with each other. There are moments of more congruent movement, but they are brief, and MacGregor’s ongoing beat was essential for keeping the players on track. They performed with commitment and confidence, and whilst there were moments that felt on the very edge of control, they stayed together and united for the more stable conclusion, with drones underpinning eastern-infused melodic lines and confident use of harmonics, slides and glassy tones as they died away to nothing.

 

The percussionists returned for Yoko Ono’s (b.1933) Pieces for Orchestra, joined by MacGregor on the piano. Her playing involved lots of plucking and scraping inside the piano, with some watery work on the keyboard later on. The percussionists began unwinding rolls of tape, then moved from instruments to tapping and beating the floor, the speakers, seemingly anything on the stage. There was bowing and scraping on the sides of glockenspiels or vibraphones and elsewhere, and the players moved around their area of the stage slowly. The overall soundscape was surprisingly effective, although once the percussionists had then slowly exited, with Joanna MacGregor left shuffling a deck of cards, it wasn’t entirely clear what it amounted to in the end.  

 

There was a little stage resetting before the final piece of the first half – Steve Reich’s Runner. The musical forces were set out symmetrically, with a string quartet, a wind trio, a piano and a vibraphone all doubled, all joined by a single double bass. Currie was back to conduct, and from the start, rich, rhythmic textures quickly built up, with rocking pianos joined by strings then woodwind and the percussion, the antiphonal effect of the two ‘choirs’ being used to great effect. The rhythmic energy swirled as the rhythms phased, coming together and pulling apart in waves. Currie kept a tight rein on proceedings, and ensemble was tight for the sudden big tutti accented chords. Only once did it feel the rhythms were in danger of falling out of line, but more big chords reestablished the sense of control, and Currie kept the energy at a high level throughout, bringing the evening’s first half to a strong conclusion.  

 

Colin Currie and members of the
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

And then to the most substantial work of the evening, Reich’s collaboration with artist Gerhard Richter and director Corinna Belz, Moving Picture (936-3). Reich’s music accompanies Richter’s abstract film, which starts with rippling parallel coloured lines filling the screen. Gradually, bands emerge and then open and expand, creating increasingly complex images in a kaleidoscope fashion, and by the central section, the effect is rather like a Rorschach test, as one can start to see faces, dancers, pagodas, dragons, angels, etc – perhaps best not to overanalyse here in case I reveal too much about myself… The process is then reversed, ultimately returning to the single rippling lines which opened proceedings. Reich’s music takes a similar trajectory, starting out by doubling the rhythmic patterns as the lines on the screen increase in complexity. Over the work’s forty minutes, however, the structure of the music is somewhat overshadowed by the hypnotic nature of the visuals, relegating the music to more of an accompaniment role, perhaps, but Currie shaped the progress of the score, with variation in dynamics and emphasis of strident clashes and suspensions as the piece reached its climax. Whilst musically not as exciting as Runner, the overall effect of the music and film was nonetheless highly effective, and the whole performance brought the evening to a suitably impressive end. 

 

Once again, Joanna MacGregor and all involved deserve to be congratulated for pushing expectations of what Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra has to offer to a new level. With just Messaien’s mighty Turangilîla Symphony to go to conclude their 100^th season (details here), it will be exciting to see where MacGregor takes them into their next century. 

Intense and gripping MacMillan from Glennie, with Paterson and the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra delighting a full house

Dame Evelyn Glennie

Evelyn Glennie (percussion)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Geoffrey Paterson (conductor)

Ruth Rogers (leader/solo violin)

Robert Jordan (bagpipes)

2.45pm, Sunday 1 December 2024

Dome Concert Hall, Brighton

★★★★

Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016): An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise

James MacMillan (b.1959): Veni, Veni, Emmanuel

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908): Scheherazade, Op. 35

It was great to see the Brighton Dome all but sold out for the latest concert in the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s already successful season. The two-pronged attractions of the superstar percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, and the ever-popular crowd-pleaser, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade proved a winning combination. And they even threw in a bagpipe soloist for good measure. It was particularly gratifying to see a good number of children in the audience too – one young lad near me, only maybe four or five, was jigging along and enjoying the rhythms of both pieces in the first half, clearly excited by the dazzling array of percussion instruments on stage. 

 

Geoffrey Paterson
with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Music Director Joanna MacGregor took to the stage briefly to introduce the programme, but then handed over the reins to the afternoon’s conductor, Geoffrey Paterson, returning after a great Wagner programme in last year’s BPO season.  They opened with Peter Maxwell Davies’ An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise. Following an opening storm, the wedding party arrives, and following somewhat drunken tuning up, dancing commences, getting wilder and more chaotic, before the party depart into the night.  The sun then rises over Caithness, and blazing brass announce the entrance of the bagpiper, in full Highland regalia. It’s a fun piece, but it’s a challenge for an orchestra to emulate drunken, somewhat dodgy playing, without just sounding wrong! The BPO pretty much managed to pull this off, from the tipsy tuning onwards, the dancing rhythms growing ever more random and unhinged. Leader Ruth Rogers’ drunken slides in the string quartet section were great fun, and bagpiper Robert Jordan’s entrance at the end provided a suitably striking climax to this joyful opener. 

 

James MacMillan’s Veni, Veni, Emmanuel was premiered by Evelyn Glennie at the Proms back in 1992. It is a substantial, single movement work, and as soon as you see the array of percussion instruments spread across the whole of the front of the stage, you know you are in for a virtuosic and visually exciting display. Right from the opening thundering crash on the tam-tam, Glennie never held back, after a brief spell on the vibraphone, marching purposefully across to the other side for drums, followed by an extensive woodblock and gong solo. With marimba to come, and tubular bells to end, the piece certainly provided Glennie with the opportunity to demonstrate her absolute command and authority on such a diverse range of instruments. The work itself draws on the plainsong advent tune (O Come, O Come Emmanuel), and moves from Advent at the opening through to Easter at the conclusion. Having said that, you might be hard placed to spot the underlying plainsong melody, as it is broken into fragments, only really appearing towards the very end of the work. With Glennie charging about from instrument to instrument, Paterson steered the orchestra through their contribution with clarity and command, with particularly tight rhythms in the hocketing dance section, also maintaining the orchestral lilt when Glennie’s marimba stabbed at rhythmic cross-purposes. The final section, when the orchestral musicians put their instruments down and take up delicately tinkling bells and chimes whilst Glennie headed up to the tubular bells at the back of the stage was highly effective, and rather magical, as the intensity built to the final bells. The final ringing was then held for what seemed like an age, before Glennie damped the bells slowly one by one, and Paterson finally lowered his outstretched arms, the audience remaining silent in reverence.

 

After all that high drama and busy action in the first half, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherezade provided a somewhat soothing sense of calm. Despite having its own dramatic story to tell, with tales of Sinbad’s voyages and love between a young prince and princess, all told by Scheherezade to distract her husband for a thousand and one nights, we too become beguiled by Rimsky-Korsakov’s sumptuous orchestration. Perhaps it’s those familiar melodies, oft repeated throughout its four movements, and its lyrical solos, not least the major violin solo part, that create a more settled soundworld than the more stridently assertive Maxwell Davies & MacMillan works we heard in the first half. Paterson shaped the sea surges in the strings in the opening movement, and the BPO players produced a rich tutti sound. The work gives prominent multiple solos to the prinicipals of most orchestral sections, and these were delivered with warmth and accuracy, with only the occasional imperfections. But of course the major solo part falls to the violinist, and again, Ruth Rogers excelled here. Her lyrical tone, as well as her virtuosic multiple string stopping were exemplary, and her control of the harmonics at the close of the final movement was highly impressive. Peace and calm were duly restored at the end of the tale, bringing to a close yet another varied and imaginative programme from the BPO. 

Robert Jordan with Geoffrey Paterson
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Evelyn Glennie with Geoffrey Paterson
& the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Nick Boston