Exhilarating performance by Warwickshire youth

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony merits the big orchestra output - and strong entries featured prominently at the starts of the andante and finale. But the performance was at its best in the delightful valse. Quite rightly, conductor Colin Touchen picked out clarinettist Alex Abbott Parker and oboist Jonny Lyon for special mention. The horns were also picked out – surprisingly, as they had had an off day. Perhaps one more rehearsal would have paid off.

But if I have one major criticism of the afternoon, it is the latest craze for using mobile phones, tablets, iPads and the like to record large chunks of the action during the performance. People jumping up and down with these latest gizmos is hugely distracting and should be banned. By all means, use the distractions during rehearsal, but that should be the limit.

Colin Touchen refused to allow the pace to drop during Mussorgsky’s Night on the Bare Mountain, despite its falling apart at times. The overall performance was exhilaratingly played, with harpist Aoife Miralles and tuba player Emma Haggett excelling. So, too, did joint orchestra leader, Lucinda Bourne, when she stepped up to play Beethoven’s Romance for Violin No 2. She is a confident young lady in a one-to-one interview situation; this was hardly translated into her solo performance, most enjoyable though it was. That stage confidence will no doubt emerge.

Clive Peacock