Orchestra North East Gala Theatre, Durham (From Durham Times)

Orchestra North East Gala Theatre, Durham

2:37pm Friday 5th February 2010

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WITH mighty forces at its disposal, Orchestra North East set about demonstrating yet again its credentials as the region’s only full-scale orchestra, welcoming back the Swiss conductor Philippe Bach, along with Andrew Watkinson, who fronted Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

There is always a danger of a soloist being overwhelmed by the orchestra, but the playing was evenly-balanced and warmly sensitive throughout.

Watkinson’s reading was one of seering intensity. With concentration etched into his face, he took the work to the edge with unfaltering bowing and keenly articulated lines, eliciting the warmest of tones in the slow movement.

In Mahler’s 1st Symphony, Bach drew the most sublime opening, glistening double bass line followed by a magical evocation of nature awaking.

Bird songs, hunting horns, distant fanfares were all delivered as intended.

This was a cogent reading with an inexorable sense of direction.

The grotesque funeral march of the third movement was introduced by a wonderful delivery from a lone bass, sounding like the creaking door of doom, a theme taken up with superlative skill by bassoons, cellos, tubas and other instrumental groups.

The violent outburst heralding the finale was magnificently timed, leading to a ferocious conclusion.

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