MiV Home
Dave Dunnet Community Theatre, Oak Bay High School
October 9, 2022
"The saxophone is the embodied spirit of beer."
Presumably Arnold Bennett, to whom that sentiment is attributed, would have been slightly disappointed at the overall level of sobriety exhibited by all concerned during Sunday's Palm Court Light Orchestra concert, the opening salvo of their thirty-fifth season.
By contrast, surely the author of the Saturday Review of Literature cartoon whose caption was "Posterity will never forgive you, Adolphe Sax!" would, were he still alive, be somewhat embarrassed by just how wide of the mark he was.
Erik Abbink, playing (if I am not mistaken) soprano, alto and tenor saxes (although not all at the same time — even Rahsaan Roland Kirk could only manage two) added a touch of mellow power to the proceedings.
But let us take matters in their order of presentation. The opening item reminded me that I am almost completely unfamiliar with The Gondoliers. one of the Savoy Operas I have somehow never managed to see. The sprightly opening immediately demonstrated that the Palm Courtiers and their ever-affable Generalissimo, Charles Job, have lost none of their touch since last I heard them. The selection also included a charming oboe solo from Janine Webster and the exceptionally jolly bassoon of Laurie Stubbs.
Something else I have never seen is the movie The Mission; some of Ennio Morricone's incidental music provided Abbink's first appearance, producing an exquisite lyrical tone on his soprano instrument, with the strings providing a rich accompaniment.
Astor Piazzolla's Oblivion found Abbink moving down a notch to the alto sax for an atmospheric evocation of the less salubrious parts of Buenos Aires.
Whether or not one could have guessed the title of Peter Yorke's The Playful Pelican I am not sure, but it was a very jovial piece, with a charmingly lyrical central section.
Abbink returned, again on the alto, for a surprising rendition of The Golliwog's Cakewalk from Debussy's Children's Corner suite. Both the cakewalk as a dance and — thankfully — the golliwog have been consigned to history, but Debussy's delightfully syncopated piece lives on, although I am unsure who arranged it for saxophone and orchestra. Whoever it was can pat themselves on the back, for it worked well.
People of "a certain age" who grew up in Britain will probably remember Dr. Finlay's Casebook, the BBC's 1960s adaptation of A.J. Cronin and particularly its jaunty theme tune, which was the March from Trevor Duncan's Little Suite. (Parenthetically, I once asked Ernest Tomlinson, the doyen of British Light Music, why the rest of the suite was rarely, if ever, heard; he assured me that Duncan had never actually got around to writing it. Tomlinson also told me that he himself had once written a concerto for no fewer than four saxophones. But I digress.)
For me, the March was a wonderful exercise in nostalgia, enlivened by the excellent flute of Emily Nagelbach.
I cannot claim familiarity with Eric Coates's Children's Dance, although it was typical of its composer: well-crafted and most attractive.
Haydn Wood's Prelude was dedicated to the late Trudi Conrad (Prelypchan) — of whom an appreciation will, eventually, be appearing in this site's In Memoriam page — who was for some time the Palm Court's concertmaster. The opening featured excellent strings (she would surely have been delighted at the tone) and the orchestra produced a commendably full, rich tone in the tutti.
Leroy Anderson's Promenade provided more opportunities for individual members of the orchestra to shine, with another fine oboe contribution and excellent solos from trumpeter Marianne Ing and concertmaster Pablo Diemecke.
The programme ended with an almost contemporary work, Roberto Molinelli's Four Pictures from New York, written in 2001, which makes it a babe in arms in Palm Court terms.
Once again Abbink demonstrated that there is more to the saxophone than many had previously imagined. I particularly enjoyed the lush yet bouncy Tango Club, the smoky, sultry tenor tone Abbink brought to Sentimental Evening, with its brief, yet (in his hands) mesmerising coda, and the big "Hollywood" tones of Broadway Night, with its energetic syncopation and deftly-handled changes of metre.
Another exceptionally enjoyable afternoon from Job and his Merrie Bande. He even managed to come up with a joke I'd not heard before.
What, as the young folk say, is not to like?
MiV Home