The Planets – Huddersfield Town Hall

Conductor: Andrew Grams

The huge and ever-growing success of the Orchestra of Opera North’s series in Kirklees is founded on the canniness of the programming (a brief foray into jazz-inspired pieces a couple of months ago clearly had no effect on audience size) and inspired bookings of conductors and soloists – oh! and the consistent excellence of the orchestra. Take this concert: a short, but beautifully poised, piece by Omri Kochavi (a world premiere), Bernstein’s gloriousChichester Psalmsand Gustav Holst’s perennially popularThe Planets. Considering its popularity, it’s not too often heard in the concert hall, no doubt because of the mighty forces involved.

The soloists this time were home-grown, but Andrew Grams, an American conductor, proved an ideal choice for all the pieces, notably balancing the violent energy and delicate tracery of the Holst and never losing disciplined precision even in the wilder excursions. Opera North was especially proud at having sold out Huddersfield Town Hall for the first time and the audience responded by (untypically) bursting into applause at each movement of the Bernstein and every planet of the Holst.

moon on mint is Omri Kochavi’s second commission for Opera North, a delightful evocation of the moon lined up above his mint plant, beginning with the chiming of the harp, a sound that spreads through the orchestra, before a briefly dramatic tutti, then fading away with a reminiscence of bells.

Bernstein’sChichester Psalms, for strings, brass, two harps and a full percussion section of seven, is a setting of all or part of six psalms in Hebrew for choir and treble soloist. The opening blazed with joyous attack from chorus and orchestra, but all subsided gradually, shedding accompanying instrumentsen route. Ultimately the final movement, initially for strings, is pared down until a solitary muted trumpet accompanies the final bars. However, for many the highspot came in the second section when Finlay Jones, a member of the Opera North Children’s Chorus, delivered a poignant reading of Psalm 23 accompanied by two harps.

The Planets underwent a similar progress, from the violence ofMarsthrough to the wordless unseen female chorus fading away inNeptune.Probably your reviewer was not the only one astonished by Holst’s “large orchestra” – 10 brass, 16 woodwinds, seven horns and eight percussionist/timpanists – and at its wildest the music gained an unexpected dramatic fervour in the concert hall: Jupiter, for instance, seemed more violent and (in places) raucous than one expected.

The contrasts between movements provided opportunities for different sections to excel: after the brass and percussion ofMars you slip into the peaceful flutes of Venus. In fact all the sections seized their moments to shine, even such unlikely instruments as the celeste or the tuba and timpani shining in Uranus: The Magician.The initial theme of this movement, appropriately enough, had hints of Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprenticeand prompted consideration of wikipedia (Dukas – by 20 years!). After an outstanding performance Grams’ singling out of all principals and their sections for applause emphasised the orchestra’s virtuosity and discipline.

Reviewed on 30th November 2023