A beautiful, engaging performance with the musicians introducing each work to the audience provides a wonderful opportunity for everyone to get out to the orchestra.
Chamber Players’ performances tend to be little bites of music, light and welcoming for any music lovers, including beginners. 'The Trumpeter’s Trapeze' was the first chamber Players’ outing for 2019, and they started the season off with a bang. True to the name, the players had chosen works which highlighted the trumpet, with up to eight trumpet players joining in for different pieces. The smaller, higher piccolo trumpet even got an outing, which was unusual and delightful to hear. The works chosen very much spanned the musical mood: from more military pieces, to music that would fit the ball dancing in 'Pride And Prejudice'.
The only piece that didn’t feature trumpets was Prokofiev’s 'Obo Quintet' in G minor. Originally written for a roaming circus/ballet, it was an utter failure in its time because there is “nothing loveable about it”. The somewhat discordant piece was played by young, up and coming musicians who clearly enjoyed the opportunity to play such a divisive work.
This was one of the highlights: that younger players, including participants in the internship programme, were interspersed with more experienced players. It was also a very relaxed session, with musicians joking with the audience, and chatting about why they loved particular pieces of music. It made orchestra – typically viewed as formal and stuffy – as really accessible and lovely. Check out the rest of the season’s programme, and come along!
