Vivid Performances

Derby Concert Orchestra's Christmas concert,
reviewed by MIKE WHEELER

Unlike in previous years, there was no theme to Derby Concert Orchestra's Christmas concert, just a selection of orchestral showpieces, seasonal and otherwise, and some carols for the audience to join in with (Derby Cathedral, Derby, UK, 12 December 2015).

The overture to Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila was taken at a steady tempo but with no loss of excitement. It was a canny move to include two pieces that featured in the BBC's recent Ten Pieces education project for primary schools. 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' from Grieg's Peer Gynt music and Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain (in the usual Rimsky-Korsakov version) both received vivid performances, though the stopped horns at the start of the Grieg could have snarled a bit more nastily and .....