Category: Reviews
"Beethoven symphony raises roof"
Herts Advertiser critic John Manning found SASO’s March 7th Beethoven concert “exciting and inspirational” With members of the Hertfordshire Chorus and other local choirs as well as a team of top class soloists, the orchestra and its conductor Bjorn Bantock produced an evening of music which must rate as one of the most outstanding in …
Oh those Russians…
Pianist Alissa Firsova and the St Albans Symphony Orchestra received further critical praise from critic John Manning for their New Year 2015 performance of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: “Although Alissa Firsova has spent most of her life in St Albans the influence and passion of composers from her native Russia is clear …
Russian violinist expands her repertoire with concerto
John Manning, music critic of the Herts Advertiser, was “dazzled” by the Korngold Violin Concerto at SASO’s autumn concert Although only 25, Russian-born violinist Adelia Myslov already has a substantial repertoire. But on Saturday she added one more exciting work.For her appearance with the St Albans Symphony Orchestra at St Saviour’s Church saw her first …
"…it was generally impossible to tell that it wasn’t a fully-professional orchestra…"
Critic Jim Pritchard, writing for the ‘Seen and Heard International’ website, was bowled over by the concert performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Saffron Walden on September 14th – including SASO’s impressive playing. “This was the first – and what a first – in a proposed series of operas in full concert performance in Saffron Walden …
"Rarely can I remember being so excited and…so emotionally drained"
Herts Advertiser critic John Manning was bowled over by Alissa Firsova’s thrilling performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto Rarely can I remember being so excited and at the same time so emotionally drained as I did on Saturday evening after Alissa Firsova’s remarkable performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3. This massive work is considered …
"The whole concert was a delight…"
Geoff Ward, writing in the Herts Advertiser, awarded top marks to SASO’s ‘Orchestral Colours’ concert in May. The dynamic and enterprising conductor of the St Albans Symphony Orchestra, Bjorn Bantock, chose to showcase the various sections of the orchestra in the first half of last Saturday’s concert at St Saviour’s to great effect. As a result …
Grand scheme of things for Symphony Orchestra
Herts Advertiser critic John Manning was “completely dazzled” at SASO’s Mendelssohn and Strauss concert on March 8th. When it comes to doing things on a grand scale German composer Richard Strauss certainly knew how. His tone poem, An Alpine Symphony, demands an orchestra of epic proportions and includes an organ, wind machine. thunder sheet, double horns …
Movie music to see in the New Year
Music critic John Manning praises SASO’s “outstanding” New Year concert of film music Although music from the movies may not be regarded as “classical” by some, it really follows in the long tradition of composers such as Hamlet and Mozart who wrote for the theatre. It is music designed to help entertain people and if anyone doubted this, …
‘A real tour de force’
SASO’s Festival Concert was by turns ‘powerful’ and ‘stunning’, says Herts Advertiser critic, John Manning There was something rather special about St Albans Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Gustav Holst’s popular Planets Suite on Saturday night. It felt as though the work could have been written for St Albans Abbey with its huge reverberation time. I can’t …
Orchestra in Seventh Heaven
Andrew Shepstone reviewed SASO’s ‘Beethoven’s Seventh’ concert for the Herts Advertiser. St Albans Symphony Orchestra continued their progression through the symphonies of Beethoven in their concert last night at St. Saviour’s with an energetic performance of his Seventh, The players responded keenly to the fast tempi given by their conductor Bjorn Bantock, and produced fine …
