Page 134 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book
P. 134
the arts desk
9 January 2020
Suzman, London Schools Symphony
Orchestra, Edwards, Barbican review - a
cabaret from hell
****
Great speeches and fine conducting hold a cornucopia of devilish tales together
by David Nice
The LSSO and Chorus with (left to right) Tom Mole, Collin Shay, Janet Suzman, Sian Edwards, Brenton Spiteri and Fiona
KimmAll images by Black Swan Film and Video
The devil wore all manner of outlandish attire in last night's chameleonic programme devised by
Peter Ash, the London Schools Symphony Orchestra's challenging artistic director. There was
searing verse from Marlowe, Milton and Goethe; music from Berlioz, Mendelssohn and Liszt to
Penderecki and Schnittke featuring waltzes, marches, a galop and a Hammer-horror tango; and
performers aged from 13 to 80.
Holding it all magnificently together were the encouraging, unfussy guidance of master orchestral and
conducting trainer Sian Edwards and the supreme authority of Janet Suzman, viscerally exciting as well as
