The concert at Liverpool couldn’t have been better timed. With Lord’s most recent release of his earlier composition ‘Boom Of The Tingling Strings’ the week before, witnessing the live performance of the Durham Concerto for the second time, I couldn’t help but feel that it was an honour to hear and see the composer performing his own piece with the orchestra and other soloists.
I am in no doubt that Lord can now be recognised as one of England’s finest living composers. His style, and in particular the Durham Concerto masterpiece are quintessentially as English as cricket on the village green but twice as picturesque.
This performance benefited particularly from the hall’s acoustics and even during some of the moments where both orchestra and soloist played together the soloists parts were still highly distinguishable, most notably Kathryn Tickell’s Northumbrian pipes and Lord’s own Hammond organ playing.
The first half of the concert had consisted of interesting works by Michael Nyman and James MacMillan that were well received, but evidence that Lord’s Concerto outshone them was born out by the standing ovation the performance received.
I am in no doubt that the popularity of this work will continue to grow with each performance, and every accolade bestowed upon the composer is thoroughly deserved.
(JB)
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Jon Lord & the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra
Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
5th
April 2008
The Durham Concerto
Part one
1. The Cathedral At Dawn
2. Durham Awakes
Part two
3. The Road From Lindisfarne
4. From Prebends Bridge
Part three
5. Rags And Galas
6. Nocturne
plus works by
Michael Nyman & James MacMillan
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Jon Lord &
the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Durham Cathedral
20th October 2007
The Durham Concerto
Part one
1. The Cathedral At Dawn
2. Durham Awakes
Part two
3. The Road From Lindisfarne
4. From Prebends Bridge
Part three
5. Rags And Galas
6. Nocturne
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It’s a mark of how much Jon has accomplished within the classical world that he was commissioned by Durham University to compose this new concerto to mark the University’s 175th anniversary.
Listening to a premiere recording of such a detailed work doesn’t make it easy to review, as music such as this requires several listens before it can be fully appreciated. That said, initial impressions are that this could well be Jon’s finest orchestral composition to date.
He certainly seemed relaxed during the afternoon rehearsal and I also managed a brief chat. Jon told me how much he was looking forward to it, with no apprehension whatsoever. Although its fair to say that the average Deep Purple fan doesn’t look the same as he did twenty-five years ago, from my observation the vast majority of the audience were classical buffs, and undoubtedly sterner critics than those for whom Smoke On The Water makes more sense.
As explained in the program notes the Concerto was composed to express Jon’s feelings towards Durham, and in particular the mighty cathedral that was the major inspiration behind the work. Divided into three parts, which are in turn divided into two parts. Although Jon was one of the soloists, the Hammond organ was very much blended into the music and far less prominent than the other soloists on violin, cello and Northumbrian pipes.
Further evidence that this was a classical audience came at the end of each piece, as I am sure if there had been a large army of Purple fans, applause would have broken out as each piece finished. Instead silence reigned until the final notes of Nocturne concluded the hour plus performance and the audience burst into a prolonged standing ovation.
The performance was recorded and should be broadcast by Classic
FM, around December / January time. Jon also told me that a studio version has been recorded and will be released in the new year.
(JB)
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