Page 514 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

its momentum perfectly judged. String playing was of the highest calibre, so too
woodwind cameos, while the perilously exposed piccolo rounded off the

movement to bring an icy calm. The mechanistic fervour of the ‘Allegro’ unlocked

the orchestra’s full power, generating swagger and venom. Trumpets scorched
the air, the whole producing enough energy to power Snape for a month. A more

personal quality inhabits the ‘Allegretto’ with personal references to both the

composer and Elmira Nazirova (his muse and confidante) whose melodic shapes
are poignantly entwined in its closing bars. Solo horn and assorted woodwind

contributions (especially bassoon) brought this movement to life with spine-
chilling effects also from tam-tam, strings and cor anglais. The troublesome

finale, with its abrupt emotional gear change, brought fresh vigour from the

players who seemingly evoked tortured souls and gyrating extroverts. Whatever
your feel about this movement’s volte-face, its triumphant end was delivered

with undeniable jubilation; the BBC NOW playing as if their lives depended on it.

BBC National Orchestra of Wales Aldeburgh Festival 2022 Britten Pears Arts

Friday’s concert brought the eagerly anticipated premiere of Gavin Higgins’s The
Faerie Bride with a libretto by Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon. Higgins is

currently the composer-in-association with the BBC National Orchestra of
Wales and has already won acclaim for his debut opera The Monstrous Child at

the Royal Opera House. Called by the composer a cantata, The Faerie Bride is a

Britten Pears Arts commission for the 73rd Aldeburgh Festival and is written for