Vigour and Freshness

Clarinettist Julian Bliss joins
Andrew Gourlay and Sinfonia Viva,
enjoyed by MIKE WHEELER

Sinfonia Viva has recorded concerts for radio broadcast before, but this, I think, was the orchestra's first live transmission, on BBC Radio 3 (Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK, 27 January 2015).

I've commented previously on Viva's collective ability to charge even the most hackneyed repertoire with new vigour and freshness, and with conductor Andrew Gourlay in charge, so it was on this occasion.

Mendelssohn's Ruy Blas Overture may not be hackneyed, exactly (it deserves to be played much more often), but it's easy to take Mendelssohn for granted. Not in this gutsy performance, which had both sonic depth and clarity, and a focused way with instrumental timbres that can otherwise come across as muddy and opaque — the broad tune scored for clarinets, bassoons and cellos, for example, given a splendidly pungent sound here...