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| Khrystyna Mykhailichenko & the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra © Frances Marshall |
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| Joanna MacGregor © Frances Marshall |
Gershwin’s lively Cuban Overture opened proceedings, with its quartet of Cuban percussion instruments at the side of the stage behind the violins, with more percussion at the back. It took the orchestra a little while to settle into the rhythms, but once up and running, they had fun with it. There’s a lot going on, not just the percussion quartet, but frequent cross rhythms for the woodwinds, as well as solo moments for cor anglais, a slinky clarinet, and a duet for oboe and cor anglais. Given the busyness, balance wasn’t always ideal, so some detail was obscured, but all in all, this was a joyful opener, the Tom and Jerry style strings and the brassy buildup back to the opening music bringing it all to a playful conclusion, all steered with a bounce from MacGregor.
Ukrainian-born pianist Khrystyna Mykhailichenko, pupil of MacGregor’s, then gave a confident and exciting rendition of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, all the more impressive as it was her first live performance of the work. She rippled effortlessly through the rapid motion of the faster variations, yet was sensitive and expressive in the big romantic D flat variation. The orchestral support was on the whole sound, although there were moments of less than unanimous tuning amongst the reeds and horns – all in all, woodwind blend could have been better. The strings produced a rich sound, however, and their response to the big romantic tune was suitably warm, and the woodwinds’ pickup after Mykhailichenko’s thundering double octaves was solid. MacGregor was alert to both soloist and orchestra throughout, making for a strong performance here. Given the connection, here’s hoping Mykhailichenko returns to Brighton soon.
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| Emily Trubshaw and the BPO strings © Frances Marshall |
And finally, the Janáček. His Sinfonietta was written for the Sokol Festival in Prague, promoting Czech culture and sport, and it is packed full of fairytale and folk influences, as well as the blazing fanfare that opens and closes the work. The brass reinforcements arrived on stage and stood for their glorious fanfare, no fewer than nine trumpets and two bass trumpets, delivering the striking opening with precision and confidence. We were then given rattling woodwinds, muted trombones and dancing strings in The Castle, followed by rich, sliding strings in The Queen’s Monastery, this movement concluding with virtuosic horn whinnies. The Street Leading to the Castle is dominated by another brassy theme (for those of a certain age forever linked to Crown Court), and this was again delivered with energy, with winding violins, raspy muted horns and bells. The Town Hall, Brno creates a dazzling townscape, and all the dancing and activity built up to the brass standing once again for the return of their fanfare, their majestic confidence bringing this successful season opener to a blazing conclusion.
