Oboeist Francois Leleux sparkles in Sheffield English Chamber Orchestra concert

The chamber orchestra is often the Cinderella of the music world - small forces and small resources, which means the conductor often has to double up as the soloist.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Mar 2020, 08:30 BST
Updated 9th Mar 2020, 13:30 BST
Francois LeleuxFrancois Leleux
Francois Leleux

That is difficult enough when you have to conduct from the piano, but if your instrument is something that requires the dexterity of the oboe, it is even more impressive.

Francois Leleux was certainly that as he made light of the technical difficulties of Mozart's Oboe Concerto with astonishing virtuosity, brandishing the instrument in a flamboyant style of which a jazz musician would have been proud.

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Concert orchestras also need to programme popular pieces to attract audiences and the other highlight here certainly was that - Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, perhaps the most popular of his works.

If there were fewer bums on Sheffield City Hall’s seats than expected for this English Chamber Orchestra performance, it was probably because coronavirus had kept some regulars away. They missed a sunny, lively performance.

Less successful was the other Mozart piece with which the concert began, his Haffner Symphony, in which the band took a while to get into their stride and find the sparkle we expect from Mozart.

The programme's popular appeal was leavened by a second oboe piece by the living Polish composer Krzyzstof Penderecki, written in his modernist phase.

By Philip Andrews

Related topics:Cinderella