Review

Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra

Huddersfield Town Hall

5 stars

Hot off a nine-date New Year tour of China Slaithwaite Philharmonic didn’t miss a beat in jumping straight into their 2018 programme with aplomb.

The Saturday evening performance began with the UK premiere of Awakening by Alojz Ajdič. Unfamiliar in Britain, Ajdič is a celebrated figure in his native Slovenia, regarded as one of the nation’s foremost living composers.

Ajdič, 78, even made the journey from Slovenia to Huddersfield Town Hall where he and his music received a warm Yorkshire reception.

As the atmospheric, minimalist opening gave way to the exotic and tumultuous finale, conductor Benjamin Ellin kept tight control of the slick ensemble who proved with this modern work to be on grand form.

Wind, brass and percussion then left the stage for Elgar’s notoriously fiddly Introduction and Allegro for strings, for which string section leaders - Michelle Northam, Chris Woodhead, Megan Swinchin and Nareece Forest - formed a solo quartet, accompanied by the remainder of their sections.

The fiendish fugue lacked definition, but the sense of brooding melancholy that has earned the work its popularity shone through.

The first half ended with a truly fine performance of Shostakovich’s 9th Symphony. A showcase for the Soviet composer’s signature woodwind writing, special mention must go to outstanding solos from Jane Meaden on piccolo and basoonist Vicky Chandler, each sending shivers up the spine in this work that oscillates between the playful and the sinister.

In the latest in a series of theatrical collaborations, a semi-staged performance of Checkmate - a little-known ballet by Arthur Bliss - followed. Here the orchestra was joined by dancers Kimberlee Collicut, Natasha Boyle, Rory Cubbin and Nathan Saxon along with students from SLP College, Leeds.

Although space constraints limited the scope for movement, choreographer Tracy Iliffe successfully employed a mixture of contemporary and classical dance to explore the ballet’s key themes of love and death, told through the allegory of a chess game.

The SPO look set to continue their voyage of great music-making and interesting and unusual projects into 2018 and beyond, which I’m sure will continue to delight its members and audiences alike.