The Messiah By The Guildford Phil Was A Poignant Christmas Cracker

Published on: 18 Dec, 2012
Updated on: 18 Dec, 2012

From Valery Thompson

Anyone who missed the performance of The Messiah, presented and performed by members of The Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, instrumentalists of ‘Music For A While’ and the singers of the Guildford Camerata, on Saturday at Holy Trinity Church missed a real Christmas Cracker.

Laurence Cummings set a brisk pace for many of the joyous choruses but conducted the more poignant sections with a spiritual intensity, rarely witnessed. The orchestra played brilliantly and sympathetically, while truly outstanding was the player of the natural trumpet, a difficult instrument to master, during the aria “The Trumpet Shall Sound”, thrillingly sung by the bass, James Platt.

What makes the evening a real tragedy is the forthcoming demise of the first-class Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, all because the Guildford Council, who seem to have miscalculated the actual costs of running the orchestra, are not willing to make cuts elsewhere to keep Guildford’s excellent musical tradition alive.

At a recent public meeting the Council refused to state how much it was costing to bring in London Orchestras and conductors, such as Valery Gergiev, who are among the most expensive in the world, while simultaneously claiming that The Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra is uneconomic to retain.

Editor’s comment. Whether deemed acceptable or not, what was said by the manager of G Live, at the relevant council meeting, was that the costs of other orchestras performing at G Live were regarded as commercially confidential and could not be shared with the council.

Responses to The Messiah By The Guildford Phil Was A Poignant Christmas Cracker

Roger Marjoribanks Reply

December 18, 2012 at 6:44 pm

It was a truly superb musical and spiritual experience; it is indeed a tragedy that such performances sre coming to an end. We shall, I hope, continue to “keep Guildford’s excellent musical tradition alive” through such first-class amateur organisations as the G.S.O.and the Choral Society, but they cannot make up for the loss of the G.P.O.
Bernard Parke Reply

December 18, 2012 at 9:54 pm

I understand that £328,000 of so of council tax payers money is being made available to G Live which made a lost of some £89,000 last year on a borough investment of £26,000,000.