Packed house not disappointed

Review published in the Banbury Guardian, March 2009

How satisfying for the players of the Banbury Symphony Orchestra to see St Mary's Church so full for their first concert of 2009.

The audience was not disappointed as the orchestra's exuberant playing of Brahms's Academic Festival Overture, the composer's 'thank you' to Breslau University for his honorary doctorate, was a fitting start to a spring concert bursting with life and energy.
From the expansive sounds of Brahms, the orchestra skillfully adjusted to the different demands of accompanying Mozart's Oboe Concerto in C played by principal oboist Estevan Ellul. He gave a wonderfully shaded and articulated performance ranging from lyrical beauty to dynamic fireworks. His superb rapport with the orchestra and the audience, left everyone breathless and wanting more of this talented player.

The finale – Dvorak's Ninth Symphony – was an exciting and fitting climax to a wonderful evening's music making. This symphony can often, with mangled versions from bread advertisements and through sheer repetition, sound dull and mechanical, but the BSO played with skill and panache. In the slow movement, there was paricularly sensitive playing from Lyn Gosney, on cor anglais, and the brass section.

Throughout the work, conductor Paul Willett swept the orchestra along, never letting the tension and dramatic excitement slacken for a second. The players responded with enjoyment, propelling the symphony forward with great energy to its powerful and triumphant conclusion.

Margaret Bulleyment