Review: Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Sunday 25 February, Corn Exchange, 7.30: The Soldier’s Tale

The programme was modern, the orchestra pared down to just seventeen players, with harp, guitar, grand piano and a range of brass and wind. Lead violin Ruth Rogers, with Fiona Cross on clarinet. Three works by 20th century composers whose ideas of tunefulness lean towards Parisian jazz rhythms.. Stravinsky - who we see agin in The Solider’s Tale; Darius Milhaud and Kurt Weill.

The lights go down.

Sian Edwards conducts the opening piece: Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto. It begins with a growling brass fanfare, joined in turn by double base, harp, guitar, piano, trumpets and clarinet. More brass with tunes that come out in individual bursts and motifs, ending in a surprise brass glissando. Not a tuneful piece, but somehow lovely.

Darius Milhaud’s La Création du Monde is in five movements, spanning a wide range of Jazz themes and textures. Music Director Joanna MacGregor announces that a saxophone replaces the viola, and Joanna took to the piano for this one.

No harp for this piece. Russian born Stravinsky and Milhaud from France, were both contemporaries, with us till the 1970s, Both influenced by the emerging jazz cultures that defined the mid-1950s onwards. Milhaud was also a member of Les Six, a group of musicians in France that included Arthur Honegger and Francis Poulenc. Like Stravinsky, Milhaud was taken with Baroque techniques combined with jazz rhythms.

Kurt Weill completed the jazz-influenced first half, with the Threepenny Opera - eight movements that included Mack the Knife’s “The Futility of Human Endeavour”, Polly’s Song and a Threepenny Finale. “Feel free to sing along,” said Sian, “to the familiar melodies.”

The acoustics were great and somehow there was a more intimate relationship between musicians and audience.

After the 20-minute interval, with ice creams and drinks from the bar, we settled in for The Soldier’s Tale: Max Keeble as the Soldier, Alistair McGowan the Devil; and narrator Jo Castleton.

My impression was that it was part play, part opera. The seven-piece orchestra is on the right. Jo Castleton, narrator, is in the rear centre. She links the story with expression and colour in her voice. Now and then she leaves her perch to speak with the actors personally.

Max Keeble, in army uniform, prances onto the stage, rucksack on his back, feeling pleased with life. He’s got 10 days’ leave and is looking forward to his break. He unloads his violin, plays a tune and a shady looking man approaches him. He’s the Devil (Alistair McGowan). “I’ll trade this book for your violin,” he says. “It’s more than a book,” he adds, “it’s wealth untold and promises to fulfil your every wish.” The soldier, dubious at first, falls for it, thus ensuring his own downfall. “He took up the book,” narrates Jo, “and he began to read - and the words meant money.”

Alistair McGowan was the devil, who takes over Joseph’s life; adopts different guises to trick Joseph into believing in him.

I spoke to Alistair afterwards: “Knowing its context is so important,” he said. “Knowing Stravinsky wrote it in 1918, towards the end of the war. He knew what it was like for a soldier to come back and see how things have changed; and that whole thing of what is important in life. Is it material possessions, or is it taking pleasure in the simple things of life - money, family, friends? None of us knew the piece beforehand,” he added. “It was difficult but, with the aid of scripts, we threw ourselves at it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We became as familiar with the work beforehand, as we could. It’s important to keep eye contact with an audience.”

And what a success it all was.

Joseph discovers that the King’s lovely daughter is ill. Whoever can make her better will be given her hand in marriage. There is a tender scene when the Princess (beautiful ballet dancer Claire Guntrip), in a flowing white dress, dances for Joseph, approaching him with alluring gestures that make him fall in love with her.

There was a kind of magic about the way the Philharmonic musicians melded the music with the actions, as the devil plays his devious guises with Joseph and, while Joseph does get his violin back, the devil has the final word..

I could include many superlatives to describe this dramatic event. It was a fine production and an example of how the Brighton Philharmonic presents new concepts and provides unending surprises.

We now look forward to Mighty River: Celebrating Women. Friday 8 March, 7.30pm at the Brighton Dome. Tickets 01273 709709.