Orchestra of Opera North’s Viennese Whirl – Huddersfield Town Hall

Conductor: Antony Hermus

The New Year’s Concert of the Orchestra of Opera North has always followed the traditional model while adding a few tweaks; this year went further than usual. After a sparkling performance of Strauss Junior’s Die FledermausOverture we followed an approximate course through the year to come, picking out the joys of each month or season. Johann Strauss II still predominated and the final encore still had the audience clapping away to his father’s Radetsky March, but there was a greater variety than usual and the beautiful Blue Danube failed to put in an appearance.

The orchestra’s Chief Guest Conductor, Antony Hermus, was his usual exuberant self with both baton and microphone, occasionally adding a message of love and peace to his spoken commentary. Along with more familiar pieces the Strauss brothers were represented by Josef’s explosive Eislauf (rather more frantic than Waldteufel’s famous take on the same subject) and Johann II’s galumphing, totally charming Bauern Polka, complete with rustic vocals from parts of the orchestra.

Soloist Anna Devin revealed her stratospheric soprano in Gounod’s Je veux vivre, but was at her best in Dvorak’s Song to the Moon from Rusalka, one of the more serious items introduced, which she sang expressively, with perfect dynamic control. Her finely judged, just over the top “drunken” frolics in her encore, ending up slumped on the conductor’s podium, brought the house down.

Another venture into the serious was Mascagni’s memorable Intermezzo fromCavalleria Rusticana, the subdued intensity of the string playing breaking out into Mascagni’s heartfelt theme. Two items later came a total contrast: Manuel de Falla’s Final Dance fromThe Three Cornered Hat, a wild recollection of early 19th century Andalusia, colourfully scored with constant changes of rhythm, building to a dramatic climax.

After some eccentric percussion denoting the chiming of the clock in Prokofiev’sCinderellathe main programme finished with Hans Christian Lumbye’s entertaining Champagne Galop, percussion to the fore once again and champagne corks popping. At the end of this Principal Percussionist Christopher Bradley drank a glass of the fizzy stuff with the conductor – and why not? Bradley is retiring after an incredible 45 years in post!

Reviewed on 29th December 2024