Review: Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra Childrens Concert

It was given by the Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra, who designed it thoughtfully for children, and utterly captivated me (an adult) from start to finish with music evoking images from the stuff of fairy stories.

I was caught up in the fun as soon as the concert began; Keith Slade, the conductor, encouraged audience involvement with his conspiratorial facial expressions and playful asides to us, and later we were instructed to make witch-like cackling sounds to add to the flavour of the music.

This concert included the world premiere of The Magic Bojabi Tree by Peter Davis.

It was commissioned by the orchestra and is based on the children’s book written by Dianne Hofmeyr and illustrated by Piet Grobler. The composer, who worked closely alongside Dianne and Piet, was himself playing in the orchestra.

We were treated to a wealth of different sounds and sights; the resonant voice of narrator Paul Thompson building to a crescendo along with the music as the lion in the story became angry, verbal contributions from the orchestral players, and images from the book projected onto a large screen.

As the piece reached its climax, a small choir of children appeared like little fairies and transported us to a tender and quietly triumphant moment moving me almost to tears. I also felt relieved that the animals in the story, eventually, had a happy outcome.

The orchestral playing was impressive, particularly in those passages that require virtuostic playing, such as in the Harry Potter film music, where the fast tempos seemed to pose little problem to the musicians. I was impressed with the contrasting dynamics and the subtlety of the quieter passages.

Before the Grieg piece, In The Hall of the Mountain King, the conductor seemed to be sharing a secret with a small child in the audience, and towards the end of the piece he beckoned to her. The girl clambered onto the podium and was given an ad hoc conducting while the music continued seamlessly. The conductor, then looking as though he’d been made redundant, sat down and let her bring the piece to a resounding finish. She became an instant star!

As for Mussorgskys A Night on the Bare Mountain, a piece fraught with terrors and things that go bump in the night, I was trembling in my seat, and Saint Saens’ Danse Macabre was macabre indeed.

The concert was a feast for the senses; I was gripped from start to finish.

With all three artists present who wrote, drew and composed The Magic Bonjabi Tree, we were able to buy the book afterwards, and queue up to have them signed. I didn’t miss out on that and the chance to express my pleasure to all three.

The choice of pieces included two from those being promoted nationally by the BBC to inspire primary school children with ‘classical’ music and they fitted in nicely with the ghoulish tone of the first half of this concert. The orchestra had involved children from four local schools in a variety of ways, such as the competition to design the publicity poster, the choir, and two open rehearsals running up to the concert.

Programme Suite from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by John Williams, Dance Macabre by Saint-Seans, In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg, A Night on the Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky, The Magical Bojabi Tree by Peter Davis.

Review by Jane Charles