Cuore Orchestra in Harrogate, with conductor William Dutton, 8th May
Review by Fiona Hook
It could be argued that anyone who launches a new professional orchestra, especially away from a major urban centre, in the current climate needs their head examining, but William Dutton, conductor of the Harrogate-based Cuore, is confident he knows what he’s doing. “There’s no professional chamber orchestra in any city in Yorkshire,” he says. “Harrogate’s affluent. There are lots of cultural associations but no professional orchestra.” He’s stepping into the gap.
Certainly, the orchestra’s inaugural concert took place in an atmosphere of good will that rose from the audience like the scent of warm bread. After a beguiling introduction from the orchestra’s Ambassador, actor Freddie Fox, its 31 string players launched into an all-English first half. Dutton is a sensitive and thoughtful conductor, alert to every nuance, and the orchestra, on the edge of their seats hung on his every gesture. It was immediately apparent that they could switch from featherlight pianissimi, to a great weight and body of sound. Individual sections shone in turn. Holst’s St Paul’s Suite had a bouncy youthful enthusiasm, with delicate pizzicati and singing violas in the wistful Intermezzo, ending with a light and pacy Dargason in which the two tunes rollicked along in perfect balance.
These days we tend to take technique for granted, but the neat chattering semiquavers and long chromatic runs of Lennox Berkeley’s insufficiently performed 1939 Serenade for Strings showed the quality of the individual players, while the Elmore Quartet’s poised and elegant playing enhanced the melancholy nostalgic sheen of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro. Many different fleeting moods, too, for Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings with a smokier, vibrato-rich Romantic sound, especially from the singing cellos. If Cuore can continue with this blend of feeling and precision they have a bright future ahead of them.
Their next three concerts are already planned. 27th September sees the full symphony orchestra with two symphonies, Beethoven’s First and Mendelssohn’s Italian, bookending Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Oxana Shevchenko as soloist.
Dutton, 30, has an impressive musical CV. A former young Chorister Of The Year, he was the winner of the BBC Young Musician String Final in 2014, and studied at the Italian Conducting Academy in Milan under Gilberto Serembe. He rounded up the musicians from his address book. “After six years at the Menuhin School, I do know a lot of top string players,” he says.
Why Cuore? “‘Cuore’ with its triple meaning in Italian of core, heart and soul, reflects our aim of ‘putting music at the core of the community, be part of the soul of the culture, and speak directly to people’s hearts.”
Fiona Hook