Scottish Fiddle Orchestra to Perth

Mar 25 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

MUSIC-lovers can enjoy four seasons in one evening next Sunday (April 3) when Perth Choral Society present their Spring Concert in Perth Concert Hall.

Franz Joseph Haydn wrote only two ‘big’ oratorios – the first was The Creation, first performed in 1798. The words of this had been written by Baron Gottfried van Swieten, who wanted Haydn to write a second oratorio, so he wrote the libretto (words) for The Seasons.

He used a long English poem with the same title by James Thomson (1700-1748) but made it much shorter and altered it so that it could be set to music. The oratorio is divided into four parts, one for each of the seasons; there are three soloists who represent simple country people – a soprano (Hanne), a tenor (Lucas) and a bass (Simon), although there is no real storyline in the usual sense – the work is a series of poems and thoughts about nature during the year.

Perth Choral will sing The Seasons in English with soloists Natalie Montakhab, who was soloist with Perth Symphony Orchestra last November; Ben Kerslake, tenor, who was born and educated in Australia and moved to the UK in 2004; and Ronald Nairne, bass, who studied at the RSAMD and the Royal College of Music. He was the Choral’s soloist in March 2010 in Dvorák’s Requiem.

The Angus Chamber Orchestra will accompany Perth Choral Society and soloists next Sunday, and the society’s director of music Peter Rutterford conducts.

Tickets £12 (concessions £10) accompanied children under 16 free. Tickets on, 01738 621031 or www.horsecross.co.uk