A MUSICAL RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Take 55 classical musicians hand-picked from various orchestras in the
North West. Add to it one professional conductor and 45 soloists – these
are of mixed varieties including pianists, violinists, opera singers etc.
Include a selection of some of the most exciting, thrilling and luscious
music ever written and mix all of these ingredients together. Spread the
mix liberally over more than 220 concerts and events and ensure that
some 30,000 people get to attend over a period of ten years.
The result is the musical phenomenon that is the Orchestra dell’Arte.
The origins of this remarkable ensemble go back to the first tentative
beginnings of the Heswall Festival. It started when two old friends,
conductor Edward Peak and professional engineer and keen musician Dr
Valerie Warr met for coffee one day.
"I remember it as if it were yesterday..." says Edward Peak, "...we went into
Valerie’s kitchen and there on the table was a gigantic piece of paper with a
circle in the middle with the words Arts Festival written inside it. Knowing
Valerie for many years and knowing what a persuasive and indefatigable
organiser she is, I should have turned tail and run, but I am now very glad
that I didn’t!"
Edward was invited to write onto the paper events that could be included in
an arts festival. Before too long, such subjects as music, poetry, sculpture,
embroidery, theatre, flower-arranging and pottery covered the paper. With
further applications of coffee, the entire paper was soon filled to bursting.
The short version of the story is that this was the birth of the Heswall
Festival – within the amazingly short time of six months the first Festival
went ahead, featuring 52 events in a two-week period. The following year
had 104 events in a fortnight! The first Heswall Festival (which has since
grown and developed into the Wirral Arts Festival) featured a final concert.
By virtue of many years playing in orchestras in the region, Valerie had
built up a huge list of players with whom she had worked and this was
the perfect time to call together the best of these musicians to form an
ensemble for the festival finale. The concert was conducted by Edward
– his many years as performer and conductor with the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra and as an arts presenter for the BBC being perfect
credentials for being a steady hand on the musical tiller. The combination
of conductor and orchestra have ever since brought each year’s festival to
a rousing finish. The event was a dazzling success and the performers were
all keen to keep the ensemble together. It was obvious that something very
special had happened and that here was a unique mix of conductor, players
and great music.
A suitably special title was needed and, very soon after, the new ensemble
first appeared in public bearing the splendid new title of L’Orchestra
dell’Arte. In their position as orchestra-in-residence, the Orchestra dell’Arte
are delighted to have been given the title of St George’s Hall Orchestra in
recognition of their ongoing association with the magnificent neo-classical
concert venue in Liverpool city centre. Since taking up the position,
Edward and the orchestra have performed 24 concerts at St George’s
featuring world-class soloists such as pianist Stephen Hough, violinists
Wolfgang David and Ofer Falk and opera star Kathryn Rudge. The dell’Arte
organisation isn’t content merely to perform orchestral concerts – they also
promote two long-running series of chamber music concerts, in Heswall
and at the Atkinson Centre in Southport. In addition, the full orchestra
appears regularly at the Parkgate Proms. In conjunction with Culture
Liverpool, the orchestra inaugurated the UK’s first classical music exchange
scheme for UNESCO Creative Cities of Music. Exchanges have already
taken place with the cities of Bologna and Hannover – a further exchange is
already fixed for the 2019/20 season.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Orchestra dell’Arte, a very special
programme of concerts has been arranged. Continuing with the practice
of featuring top soloists, the orchestra will be welcoming the renowned
British cellist Raphael Wallfisch who will join the orchestra at St George’s
on Sunday 22nd September to play the cello concerto by Dvorak. The
recording of the Dvorak concerto by Wallfisch has been described as the
best recording of the work in 25 years – this concert is set to be a landmark
in the North West music scene.
Even though Dvorak’s concerto is perhaps the greatest work composed
for the cello, it had a less than auspicious beginning, the work being much
revised and edited before it reached its final version. The great composer
Johannes Brahms corrected the proofs for the concerto and professed
himself a great admirer of the work – praise indeed. The concert starts
with the thrilling Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare by Richard Strauss. The
orchestra started their first ever concert at St George’s with this work and
they felt it fitting to begin the anniversary year in the same way. Strauss’s
musical post-card work Aus Italien (From Italy) completes the programme.
Future concerts in the anniversary season will feature violinist Jack Liebeck
who will play the violin concerto by Brahms and the tenth year is rounded
off with a fully-staged performance of Puccini’s magical opera Madama
Butterfly – don’t forget to bring the Kleenex!
To find out more about the concert on 22nd September and all other
dell’Arte events, visit dellarte.co.uk.
wirrallife.com 27