Horn of plenty blew through
A basset-horn like a basset-hound, is a curious beast at first sight.
This elongated sibling of the clarinet is not actually a horn at all but a wind instrument.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn appearance reminiscent of an elongated saxophone (or tall seahorse), played seated the bell descends to rest on a slender metal leg somewhere around achilles level.
Invented somewhere in the mid-1770s, the instrument – with its soft, sweet, bobbing tone – was championed intially by Mozart, and it was on this maestro’s work that Manchester Camerata brought a pair to bear at the town’s King George Hall Sunday last. The programme began with Beethoven’s rarely performed Rondino, a short charming piece boasting prominent effervescent horn parts.
Dvorák’s popular Serenade for Wind followed, bringing the award-winning chamber orchestra’s fifth principal conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy to the stage.
An energetic performance injected new life into this familiar piece, and the modest but appreciative crowd gave a fine ovation into the interval.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe main event, Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 in B-flat major (Gran Partita) was a joy from start to end.
A piece in seven movements, this is widely regarded as among the most inventive and uplifting music ever written for wind instruments.
Soaring, lyrical, underpinned throughout by the soft tumbling basset-horn runs, the audience were captivated from first note to last.
Another triumph on the road for the North West’s leading chamber orchestra and a rare privilege to be in attendance.
Barry Freeman