Fairey Band
7-Sep-2008Conductor: Philip Chalk
2008 Great Northern Brass Arts Festival
Bridgwater Hall
Manchester
Saturday 6th September
With the British Open less than a week away, a concert in the Isle of Wight the next morning, and a tortuous bus journey down the M1 to get there in time to catch a waiting ferry across the Solent in a few hours, you couldn’t blame Fairey’s for having at least one eye on the clock at Bridgewater Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Uneven
As a result a fairly uneven hour long performance didn’t do the band justice or any favours for that matter.
With the band already having to reshuffle the ranks through the loss of regular principal cornet Mike Eccles and solo trombone Lisa Sarasini, and with preparation time for the British Open at a premium, although enjoyable and high profile, this weekend will in fact be time lost for a band that has been rebuilding solidly under MD, Phil Chalk.
Conservative dip
A fairly conservative dip into the band library cupboard had produced a familiar concert set.
The opening march ‘Simoraine’ highlighted the uneven quality from the start, with excellent ensemble balance and warmth offset by annoying little clips and unforced errors.
The overture to ‘Ruslan and Ludmilla’ meanwhile was a bit of a hotch potch too – as silky smooth as a piece of corrugated roofing. For every bit of classy individual playing (and there were many) there were also a clutch of cracks, clips and castigating calamities that made the duo seem as comfortable together as a Georgian penpal looking for love on the Russia version of Friends reunited.
Fine account
Matthew White, the talented young euphonium player of Chetham’s School and Leyland Band was the featured soloist, and the engaging performer produced a fine account of himself despite the obvious difficulties imposed by the choice of repertoire.
Pete Meechan’s ‘Devil’s Duel’ does perhaps require a performer to be more intimately acquainted with the less homely delights of Beelzebub’s darker treats (it is hard to believe that such a fresh faced 17 year old has yet to taste all his forbidden fruit just yet) as well as a band that has duelling performers who can match the soloists intentions.
The admirable technique and precision of Matthew’s playing just lacked that sense of menace and almost rabid excitement that a more worldly performer such as David Thornton brings to the role, whilst the solo protagonists within the band didn’t really respond to the challenge laid down either.
Express lift
The Devil may have the best tunes, but Matthew ensured that his musical soul was still heading in the right direction with a very classy whip through ‘A Joy Untold’ – an express lift of semi quavers to Heaven if ever there was one.
Fairey’s best playing came with the next two items. Chris Pannell was a confident and lyrically melancholic voice in Snell’s sumptuous ‘Pavanne for a Dead Princess’, whilst the peerless Brian Tyalor produced a little gem of lazy New Orleans funeral jazz in the swaggeringly bluesy ‘Just a Closer Walk with Thee’. All that was missing was a few characters from the scene in the James Bond ‘Live and Let Die’ film.
Hubble, bubble, trouble
To close a bit of hubble, bubble and trouble with Andy Duncan’s arrangement of the Berlioz ‘Witches Sabbath’ that had the old crones racing about crackling in what seemed to be a heady brew of newt’s tongue and bats wing soup and a few pints of extra strong lager. Thankfully it never quite got out of hand, but there were the odd occasions when it did come close.
With the Fairey’s driver tapping his fingers on the steering wheel of the band bus there was a hectic scrabble through ‘Trish, Trash Polka’ that wasn’t needed, and in all honesty should have been left alone - it was a mess.
It rounded off 60 minutes of Fairey not at their best, but still offering enough to enjoy as well as contemplate on for the coming week or so. The next time they appear under the contesting spotlight you feel they will have a bit more time on their side to really showcase their talents to better effect.
Iwan Fox
