REVIEW
ALLINGTON STRINGS
Spring Concert
St John's Church, West Bay

THE Allington Strings, led by Janet Lane, certainly seem to have a following: their spring concert at St John's West Bay, was literally packed out.

Conductor Wendy Staal welcomed the audience and introduced each piece at last Saturday's evening occasion.

The concert opened with a Handel Concerto Grosso and was noted for the manner in which the players watched their conductor and attacked the music in true baroque fashion. Unfortunately, the solo wide vibratos are not to everyone's taste and did detract from the music in the first two movements, after which the pace picked up as did the playing.

This was followed by a rare outing - The English Sutie by Hubert Parry, well known for his choral music. Parry's Suite was a delight, given a warm and committed performance, particularly for the violas. Mention must be made of the final Frolic' (what a lovely title) with its plucked bass accompaniment and folk dance rhythms - it almost turned the concert into a barn dance.

After an interval the programme moved to the sultry nights of Spain in the company of Telemann and his Don Quixote Suite - who, apart from Tilting at Windmills (a mad dash), was given much to admire in the delicate and poised playing in the love music, followed by some very effective percussive effects from within the orchestra particularly from the double bass. The speed of the final galop proved that both conductor and orchestra are prepared to take risks.

Viola soloist Rebecca Ware joined the orchestra to play the beautiful Apres Un Reve by Faure. The soft grained sounds of the lower strings of her viola, gradually rising to a serene and gentle accompaniment, was most moving, as was the fact that she played from memory.

The concert ended with Holst's splendid St Paul's Suite, where the second violins were noted for their contributions throughout.

There was much to enjoy, not least the charm, grace, wit and rapport between conductor and players. The Allington Strings are not afraid to play quietly, but where needed can produce musical fireworks as well.

St John's is considered a splendid venue, particularly for chamber music and how nice to read that their next concert in December will be there on a Sunday afternoon - my advice is to get there early.

CB