British stamp on the castle

PalmaFourth and final concert of the Bellver Festival with the Orquestra Simfònica Illes Balears as the protagonist of this now consolidated event. Like an encore of the season, even though it is a different audience, this circumstance arises depending on where the activities take place. In any case, the four concerts by the ensemble at the emblematic castle are already a tradition and the venue is filled day after day. The last one was no exception and, while soloists had been the protagonists until now, for this occasion it was the British conductor Michael Francis who was in charge of putting his stamp on the concert. A British stamp, as was that of the program, made up of three composers of the same nationality and almost the same generation, such as Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The chosen pieces were performed in chronological order, so that one could discern a small evolution of classical music in the former empire in a short period of time.

The evening opened with the Serenade for Strings in E minor Op. 20, by Edward Elgar, undoubtedly the best-known composition of the three that made up the program. A youthful piece that sounded a little imprecise, with contrasts not very perceptible, considering it is a chamber structure. The second offering of the performance corresponded to the Simple Symphony Op. 4, by Benjamin Britten, with very similar characteristics to the previous one, that is, an early, incipient work, made up of previous compositions and basic. So much so that Britten rejected the third movement, the Sentimental Saraband, right after the stylized and humorous second movement, Playful Pizzicato. Presto possible-pizzicato always. The concert began to gain momentum with the fourth movement, Frolicsome Finale: Prestissimo con fuoco, with a vigorous ending that undoubtedly increased the interest of the performance.

The third protagonist, Ralph Vaughan Williams, dedicated his Symphony No. 5 in D major to Jean Sibelius, from whom he draws not very abundantly, only small details and no more than most contemporary Britons. The intensity of the evening continued to increase, through this kind of incidental music in the first movement, already with the full orchestra. Michael Francis placed the necessary emphasis on it and the ensemble responded accordingly. Williams's music was unoriginal in its time, but time has erased this circumstance and has made it a basically very pleasant piece, with very pleasing textures, rounding off a very British evening and perhaps for that reason interesting for being so unusual.