Fantastique!

This summer is a busy one for Horsham’s Symphony Orchestra and its partner second

orchestra (known as H2O). After HSO’s triumph at The Capitol on Saturday, they’ve

another concert coming up on July 5 th in the Parish Church, featuring the Brahms 2nd

Piano Concerto (with James Sherlock as soloist), and then H2O will be on show with

local choir Big Notes on July 8th in the Drill Hall for “Crescendos and Cake”. If you

love good music, check out their website and book tickets!

A highlight of Saturday’s Capitol concert was Toril Azzalini-Machecler’s

performance of the delightful Marimba concerto by Emmanuel Séjourné. As well as

hearing Toril’s sizzling playing, it was a chance for us to enjoy the sound of the HSO

strings: the orchestra part is for strings only. There was incredibly skilful interplay

between soloist and orchestra, with some brilliant ‘pizzicato’ (plucked instead of

bowed strings). Toril further enchanted us all with a short encore – Daino’s

arrangement of Sibelius’ “The Spruce”.

The concert opened with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture – its

sombre beginning conveying the mysterious spiritual yearning of Friar Laurence

before the music expresses the conflict and ‘illicit’ love of this famous story. In the

second half we heard Berlioz’s amazing Symphonie Fantastique: another story-telling

set of musical movements brilliantly narrated by HSO. This time the shout out should

definitely go to the percussionists who revelled in Berlioz’s splendid orchestral

writing. The brass were extraordinary as well, as was the magical dialogue in the third

movement between cor anglais and off-stage oboe.

I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it: we are astonishingly fortunate to have such a

talented group of musicians in our midst!