BBC Radio 3 plug for King's Lynn Corn Exchange Norfolk Symphony Orchestra A European Romance concert with Johan Löfving

Review: A European Romance by Norfolk Symphony Orchestra

BBC Radio 3 was quite right to recommend listeners attend Norfolk Symphony Orchestra’s concert at Lynn’s Corn Exchange on Sunday. The concert was, as expected, well attended, and the enthusiastic audience treated to romantic works from across Europe.

The orchestra, conducted by experienced maestro Steve Bingham, and led by Alice Ruffle, started proceedings with a lively account of Strauss’s sparkling Die Fledermaus overture, lifting the spirits on a cold winter’s afternoon, and then Swedish guitarist and theorbo-player Johan Lofving, gave a light fingered and sensitive performance as soloist in Rodrigo’s popular Concierto D’Aranjuez.

I was especially moved by Johan’s reading of the atmospheric, and very romantic middle slow movement, written after the miscarriage of his first child, but listeners could also easily imagine the Spanish scenes of beautiful gardens and fountains depicted elsewhere in the score!

In the concert’s second half, one of my favourite romantic symphonies was played, Brahms’ Fourth, a masterpiece packed with passion, tenderness, drama and innovation.

Brahms’ love of the Baroque is reflected in the symphony’s finale, and in the work, as in the other pieces in the programme, the various departments of the orchestra and individual soloists gave of their all!

Johan Lofving’s appearance in the concert was supported by The Classical Music Rocks organisation, a charity bringing professional musicians into schools. Please visit: https:// www.cmrschoolswestnorfolk.com for further details.

The Norfolk Symphony Orchestra should take us on a journey to view the spectacular Northern Lights on the afternoon of Sunday, March 19, again at Lynn’s Corn Exchange.

Andy Tyler