Reviews

Soloist Rachel Roberts joined the performers for the premiere of Edward Gregson’s Viola Concerto Three Goddesses a festival commission. This substantial concertante piece was in three movements, each named after a different mythical Goddess. The first, Morrigan began pensively with a slow introduction that presented the concerto’s principal material: a jagged figure first heard on the viola and three answering, richly sonorous string chords. This opening movement’s main section was fast and tautly rhythmic, with a sense of foreboding. Following without a break, the central movement, Aphrodite’was veiled and sultry, with intense contributions from the soloist, while the finale, Diana bristled with pent-up energy. Rachel Roberts conveyed the shifting moods intuitively, negotiating the score’s more challenging aspects with aplomb and expertly delineating each movement’s individual character. George Vass and the Festival Orchestra provided ideal support and special mention must be made of the leader, Sophie Mather, whose sparkling interplay with the soloist in the closing movement showed a chamber-like rapport. Edward Gregson’s latest concerto is a major contribution to the repertoire, affording idiomatic, effective string writing and heartening the listener with the fluency and concision of its ideas.

Paul Conway, Musical Opinion (Autumn 2023)