End of an era?

Apologies for the lengthy break between my last post and this one. I've been busy slotting in orchestras for next season and am pleased (and slightly relieved) that all of them are now in place. And the repertoire? Well, that's a different matter. I reckon half of it is decided but there's still quite a away to go before I can say for definite what you'll be hearing in 2009-10. which, in itself, feels slightly odd since we haven't even got a quarter of the way into next season yet. And I'm even discussing a few dates for 2010-11 now, which feels like a very long way off indeed. I guess I'll get used to it.

Anyway, the season so far has been going really well. We've had big audiences for all three concerts and sinfonia VIVA's concert with Ruth Palmer (what a talent!) was ViVA's biggest Nottingham Classics audience for at least a decade. And its performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony was a revelation - taut, urgent and fiery...everything that a good No.5 ought to be.

Perhaps the biggest event so far this season was the CBSO's performance of Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony with the Nottingham Harmonic Society Choir. The idea had come from the Harmonic Society's former Chairman, John Parry, and it is was a significant development for us because it's been many years since the Harmonic Society sang as part of Nottingham Classics and it meant that the concert had to be booked in a different way from how we'd normally do things. Peter Bolton, our former programmer, had contracted the orchestra, choir, soloists and conductor separately, which made the concert a more complex equation than normal. And, as it turned out, the choice of conductor turned out to be a big issue. John and Peter had originally chosen Richard Hickox (more on him in a minute), who was unavailable due to commitments in Australia. They then decided on Vernon Handley, who would, it was anticipated, bring some of his Vaughan Williams magic to this very challenging symphony.

As you may know, Vernon Handley died in september, leaving us with some big shoes to fill. As it turned out we found someone who was totally capable of filling them. Rising star conductor, John Wilson was suggested by Vernon Handley's agents as someone whose experience of conducting English music would make him an excellent replacement. Recommended by the CBSO, too, we booked him without hesitation and we're very glad that we did. Watching him take the choir rehearsal in Nottingham it was obvious that he'd immediately got the choir with him and his attention to detail was really impressive. Bear in mind, too, that John had never conducted the Sea Symphony before so this was a significant challenge given the time available. However, when I heard the first bars of the final rehearsal I knew we were in for something special and we duly got it. The performance itself was a triumph. John held this sometimes unwieldy work together expertly and the choir sang heroically. It was one of those performances that will last a long time in my memory.

So, to the title of this week's blog. As you may now also know, Richard Hickox - our original choice for conductor of the Sea Symphony - has now also died at just sixty. Two of the great Vaughan Williams conductors of the age are now no longer with us and it's tempting to talk of the end of an era. There are obviously others who can take on their mantle - Paul Daniel and Martyn Brabbins being two of them - but maybe we can add another name. John Wilson is still in his thirties and seems made for this repertoire. John told me after the concert that he'd like eventually to conduct all the Vaughan Williams symphonies and I hope that Nottingham Classics can play a part in helping him achieve this ambition. It'll definitely be worth hearing.