'Tails' of pigs 'squealing' the show in Perth – check out this review!
The young audience for the
Children’s Classic Concert on
Saturday strained to see who
– or rather what – was heading
for the stage … writes Melanie
Bonn (Perthshire Advertiser, 27th May 2016)
For this celebration of Roald Dahl’s
100th birthday the orchestra bounced
into view, dressed in costumes ranging
from a crocodile to an Oompa Loompa.
A cello was in the hands of a grinning
ladybird and we even had a portly tuba
player dressed as Miss Trunchball
from Matilda.
The concert’s presenter Olly Cox
came as Willie Wonka and his partner
in music, Owen Gunnell sported a comic beard, announcing he’d come as
one of The Twits. Clearly this was going
to be a bit of fun.
Tiny people don’t generally behave
if you try to take them anywhere
near a classical performance, but
the enthusiastic team had bashful
dads on their feet doing disco moves
to Shostakovich and toddlers riding
in their seats cowboy-style to the
terrifically lively William Tell Overture.
A big chunk for the show focused on the drama of the Three Little Pigs taken
from Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes.
The brass section of the mini
orchestra gamely donned animal
heads and raced among the delighted
audience while the tale was given a
suitable backdrop with music by Paul
Patterson.
The Concert Hall had the
atmosphere of the Christmas Panto
with plenty of boos for the cunning fox.
Sandwiched around the piggy action were some well-chosen snippets
designed to keep the wee ones from
scribbling on their programmes.
The Musiques des Automates from
Coppélia, the Dance of the Sugar Plum
Fairy from the Nutcracker, Mozart’s
Horn Concerto No 4 and Dance
Macabre by Saint-Saëns were all a hit.
Professional musicians Olly and
Owen have just the right touch
for sharing classical music with
children, providing simple, amusing
explanations for each piece. The pair of
madcap percussionists have appeared
in Perthshire several times before and
they clearly loved seeing the response
the concert got at this year’s PerthFestival of the Arts.