Conductor: Paul Holland
Newbury Spring Festival
Corn Exchange
Newbury
Sunday 19th May
The 45th Newbury Spring Festival welcomed the West of England Regional Champion for what was a high-quality showcase of brass band entertainment.
The festival provides two weeks of outstanding cultural and artistic attractions – from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra to authors Daniel Finkelstein and Robert Harris in conversation.
Flowers added richly to the line-up by providing the audience with a diverse programme (following a short outdoor ‘taster’ appearance) of equally wide-ranging inspiration; from their 2023 ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Brass in Concert set to Thierry Deleruyelle’s ‘Sand and Stars’ test-piece.
Polished and professional
It was polished and professional – right from the opening ‘Home of Legends’ by Paul Lovatt-Cooper that led into that quirky BiC set packed with technical virtuosity and joyfully stylish musicality.
The literary as well as musical contrast with ‘Sand and Stars’ by Thierry Deleruyelle was of course marked, as Paul Holland drew a compelling account of colour, atmosphere and eventual salvation to bear.
The soloists were excellent (Emily Evans on horn in particular), with the mix of visual props, choreography and clever compositions (from Lucy Pankhurst, Dan Price and Kelly-Marie Murphy) bringing the absurdist children’s tale to fun-packed life.
The literary as well as musical contrast with ‘Sand and Stars’ by Thierry Deleruyelle was of course marked, as Paul Holland drew a compelling account of colour, atmosphere and eventual salvation to bear.
Contrasts
Contrasts too in the second half with Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Walton balanced against Paul Mealor and a fizz-bomb rendition of ‘Carnival of Venice’ by Daniel Thomas thrown into the mix as an extra sweetener.
Flowers continue to show that they are a hugely impressive band – the gifted individual elements moulded expertly together by an MD who wrung every bit of confident musicality from them.
As thrilling as the ‘Finale’ from the ‘Fourth Symphony’ was, the flashy technical virtuosity perhaps lost the essence of Tchaikovsky’s original – at times frenetic rather than ‘Allegro con fuoco’, whilst Walton’s ‘Crown Imperial’ suffered a little in its regal pacing in a dated arrangement in need of an overhaul.
That said, the glorious colouring and textures of Debussy’s ‘La Cathedrale Engloutie’, and the sumptuous tonality of ‘Heart of Hidden Flame’ more than compensated.
Flowers continue to show that they are a hugely impressive band – the gifted individual elements moulded expertly together by an MD who wrung every bit of confident musicality from them.
Fiona Bennett
