Sinfonia of Birmingham

Great Witley Church

GREAT Witley Church is a venue in the middle of nowhere.

Off the A443 on the way to Tenbury, you have to go into a track that leads up a small hill with many surrounding trees and countryside. None of this stopped a full crowd however from coming out on Saturday night to hear Sinfonia of Birmingham under director Simon Chalk making it well worth the treck.

The grace and clarity that comes from these musicians would make one feel surprised that some of these were amateur players (I felt this asset came over during Alessandro Marcello's Concerto for Oboe in D minor where Louise Braithwaite was the expressive soloist).

Questions and answers between solo violin (Simon Chalk) and flute (Emma Syska) communicated elegance in Telemann's Concerto for Flute and Violin in A major, the violin often looking as though it is part of Simon Chalk's body.

The Cello soloist's efforts were virtuosic as well. When the soloists and orchestral players were homophonic, robust sound seemed to be the order of the day.

Robust sound became majestic in Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, the timpani, trumpets and horns making it sound like a celebration (the work was written for Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, so I suppose you might expect this).

The next concert at Great Witley Church will be the Oriel Singers conducted by Martin Perkins in another all-Baroque programme on Saturday, June 18, at 7.30pm. Just be prepared to make the journey to the venue if you are going to it.