News, Reviews & Previous Concerts

Previous Reviews

"Having heard the orchestra many times in Bath Abbey and looking forward to their summer concerts there... this is an orchestra of some quality."

"Dragons, yes: but we have no record of St George's musical interest. He would, surely, though, have enjoyed this feast of English music, spanning 400 years.

Elgar's Introduction and Allegro opened proceedings with its warm passionate lyricism which belies such a shy man. This was string playing of very high quality, the ensemble crisply energised, forceful and simpatico in turn.

Then forward to the 20th century, Britten's Lachrymae for viola and strings, based on a theme of Dowland, but in a totally different idiom. This was a remarkable performance from soloist Emma Sheppard which found the essence of the piece, in all its bleak despair, alternating the turbulence and the legato passages in a way which moved us by its sheer intensity.

Finally R V W's Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, singers and players combining in an outstanding rendering of this popular work, the theme echoed and re-echoed by voices and strings, with, this time, the antiphonal effect showing at its best as players and singers separated - and the acoustic behaved impeccably. This was string playing and choral singing under Jason Thornton and Gavin Carr at its best, and a big audience stood to acknowledge a great evening's music in celebration of St George's day."

"Conductor Jason Thornton has met very successfully with the massive soundscape of Mahler. Now he is enjoying an exploration of the magic of Mozart, 100 years earlier - and it shows.

The two symphonies, 31, Paris and 38, Prague, conducted without a score, were given an outing which was full of lively good humour - music with a smile. The Paris, a less substantial work, showed us some fine string playing and the final Allegro whirled along, taking no prisoners. The Prague allowed the brass and woodwind to show us their craft, and the piece had real urgency and rhythmic vitality, with a measured yet crisp Andante. The whole feel was extrovert, taken con brio, through to a breathless presto finale: great playing.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti looked and sounded delicious in her opening Dvorak Romance, dreamy and mystical with a lyrical grace which more than compensated for its free structure.

The Ravel Tzigane, with its pulsating gypsy rhythms, was full of passionate and percussive potency, the pizzicato and double-stopping played with real technical accomplishment. It was a complete contrast to the exciting Dvorak. What a fine young player she is. And we had the Meditation from Thais as an encore, soothing and serene.

The audience was ecstatic."

"Thornton drew a standing ovation as conductor of Bath Philharmonia's Façade evening, with soprano Isabel Buchanan reading Edith Sitwell's comic prose, at Longleat House's Great Hall on Thursday 10 July."

"All through The Armed Man, the music was uplifting and rousing, the choir sang with gusto, the soloists, sweetly and clearly, and the Bath Philharmonia carried you along with their passion."

"Led by Sophie Langdon, the players really came into their own with an exhilarating performance of one of the greatest pieces written for string sextet: Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence. This was a fine way to end a season, enthusiastically applauded by a very appreciative audience."