Always nymphs

They really are coming thick and fast now. National Capital Orchestra performed at the Albert Hall under Lizzy Collier and it was a wonderful concert. I was particularly interested. The main work of the day was Dvorak New world symphony and I'd played it only a month or so before with Maruki. I felt this was more restrained, but maybe that was only my impression. Bars always seem to fly by when you are reading them! The concert started with Grieg's Peer Gynt suite, the moody morning and gentle movements and the boisterous and very loud Hall of the mountain king. From the first, this was played with lustrous, clear, relaxed, intoned harmony, for a feeling of immense luxury. Then a similar piece, Rachmaninoff Prince Rostislav, tonally spelling out a story of a chain mailed soldier drowning while pining for wife and companions and a storm that arouses him and a final fall into death with caressing water nymphs (not all bad!). Several trumpets and a drum performed a fanfare by Riedl to draw the audience back to their seats. It was in the program, but presented unexpected but invitingly. Then the New world. All lovely and something that I enjoyed with the experience of having played it before. Nicely done, supremely confident, perhaps slower than our take. In all, a wonderfully capable concert from a very capable orchestra. They claim the mantle of Canberra's other orchestra (after the CSO, of course) and I dare say it's deserved. A great pleasure.

National Capital Orchestra performed at the Albert Hall under Lizzy Collier (conductor).