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Review of Mahler 3 (WAH
July 2007)
Review of Tippett 'Child of our
Time' and Britten 'Spring Symphony'
(Barbican Centre, January 2007)
The Forest Philharmonic
Orchestra provided the musical performance of the evening,
which is quite an achievement given that they are a community
orchestra. The woodwind section especially is astonishingly
secure.... Whether providing a delicately hued, sensitively
brushed accompaniment in Welcome Maids of Honour, evoking
the dappling of rain in Waters Above or contributing to a
terrifically secure final tutti, this orchestra performed with
great dignity and understanding, while never overpowering the
voice.
(Dave Paxton
www.musicomh.com )
Review of Verdi Requiem
(Barbican Centre, March 2006)
The Forest Philharmonic
Orchestra again covered itself with glory – particularly the
wind and brass, with delicate figuration from the former and
stentorian power from the latter.
(Dr Brian Hick, "The
Organ")
Reviews of Mahler's 8th Symphony (Royal Festival Hall,
January 2003)
The
well-executed pizzicato notes on the basses, further
emphasised by stark sounding flute and clarinet, brilliantly
conjured up this eerie landscape.
In the
closing passages the brass - located in the audience boxes
- gave the ending great lift and weight, engulfing the
audience in a blaze of majestic sound.
This
performance was an outstanding achievement for all
concerned.
Alex Russell (Classical Music Web)
".. .. the
magnificent Forest Phil, a mix of amateur, student and
professional players, conceded very little to their full-time
London counterparts. The impact was such that involuntary
applause erupted at this [first] movement's end."
Stephen Pettitt,
Evening Standard
In Part
2, the individual soloists come into their own. However, before they
enter there is a long quiet orchestral interlude.. .. ..here it is
worth commenting on the excellence of some of the individual
contributions from the Forest Philharmonic, notably a plangent and
sensitive first oboe, some professional-sounding lower woodwind
chording and, later in the movement, the quietly confident playing
of the first horn. .. ..the actual body of sound which
the strings produced at climaxes and also the intensity of their
playing was impressive.
.. ..
these choirs and orchestra are the very lifeblood and future of
music-making in the UK. Without them generations would grow up not
knowing what it is to make live music collectively to the highest
standards. The more ambitious their programming the better, and the
more they deserve our unqualified support.
Classical Source
Others
" ... [Forest Philharmonic]
has created something that London concert-going so badly needs:
a sense of purpose and personal involvement, stemming from a
community spirit and the close integration in performance that
can come only through long, hard-working rehearsals between
chorus and orchestra. I wish our five big orchestras always
played at such a high standard of precision and euphony and
vitality"
The Times
"I have played many of the
great concertos with the Forest Phil; it is a source of
continuing pride to me as a native North East Londoner that I
have a superb orchestra on my doorstep"
John Lill OBE
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