Page 482 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

They had an easy time of it: the crowd was as docile as you could wish. More than half seemed to
be passing tourists. Strolling among the crowds, I found visitors from America, South Africa and
Jamaica. One Englishwoman named Jane had brought her young daughter Elizabeth for a
birthday treat. “I’m not really a classical fan but I love any kind of music,” she said. “When I was
little, my parents played every kind of music in the car, and we do the same for our kids.” Were
they looking forward to any piece in particular? “Well, I do love a bit of Gershwin,” she said,
referring to the irresistibly sassy, swaying pieces by George Gershwin that book-ended the
programme: the Cuban Overture and An American in Paris.

Asking around, that was a sentiment I often heard. Also on the programme were two pieces
featuring young star cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and a brand-new piece by composer/cellist
Ayanna Witter-Johnson that involved young players from the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama, as well as the LSO’s On Track scheme, which brings the orchestra’s expertise into 10
educational “Music Hubs” in east London. The audience seemed blissfully unaware of any of this,
content to trust the LSO to give them a good time, which they certainly did.

And fortunately, the gods smiled on Trafalgar Square as well. Clouds sometimes threatened but
they soon dispersed, and though the wind freshened, the LSO’s players had come armed with
clothes-pegs to stop their music blowing away. Later the setting sun came out in full force so the
second violins were effectively blinded, as was the conductor Sir Simon Rattle when he turned in
their direction. But the players are real troopers, and carried on regardless.

The problem with outdoor classical events is that the sound projection is rarely up to the job of
capturing the music in all its subtlety. Here, by contrast, the system came as close to that as is
humanly possible. We could savour the massed string pizzicatos in Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, as
well as James Fountain’s gorgeously nostalgic rendition of the immortal trumpet tune in the
middle.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s intimate and subtle performance of Bruch’s melancholy Kol Nidrei and
Bloch’s even more melancholy Prayer from From Jewish Life wasn’t obvious outdoor fare, but it
certainly held the crowd rapt. Witter-Johnson’s new piece, FAIYA!, in which most of the LSO
disappeared to make way for the players from the Guildhall School and On Track, hummed and
thrummed with irresistible dancing energy.

Guiding all this with his inimitable mix of relaxed charm and fierce energy was Sir Simon. After
Gershwin’s American in Paris, he told us, “We just have to give you one thing more” – before
plunging into a Star Wars medley, which the crowd clearly loved best of all. If we’d been indoors, I
suspect that it would have brought the house down. Ivan Hewett
Available for 30 days via the LSO’s YouTube channel. Info: lso.co.uk