The concert opened with the overture from Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, a work commissioned by George II to celebrate the signing of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1748. This was a suitably grand and triumphant rendition. It was followed by JS Bach's Fugue in G minor.
It is always easier to hear the individual parts of a fugue when played by different instruments, as was the case here, with a very good transcription.
The quintet consisted of two trumpets, a French horn, a trombone and a tuba and all the pieces played were transcriptions by Hans Zellner, one of the trumpeters.
The first half finished with a very imaginative transcription of pieces from Bizet's opera Carmen. Throughout the concert, Andreas Binder had been telling us about the pieces. He has a great sense of humour and a spot of acting was also introduced into this selection.
Karl Jenkins is a Welsh composer who started out as a jazz musician and then turned to writing music for advertisements. The first movement of his Palladio Suite, used by the De Beers group to advertise jewellery, opened the second-half of the programme. It is full of off-beat rhythms that hark back to the composer's jazz days.
Bernstein's music for Westside Story provided a good platform for the ensemble to let their hair down. The Sharks and the Jets squared up to each other and circled the stage, projecting aggression as they played the opening number, followed by the haunting Tonight and the lively I want to be in America. Again, the arrangements here were excellent and the 'protagonists' clearly enjoyed themselves.
Both Pusch's Tarantella and Piazzola's Libertango were given a lively treatment, but it was Tico Tico, featuring the dexterous fingering and tonguing of the trumpeter Hans Zellner, that brought the house down.
As if that were not enough, the encore was an example (one of many) of the theme and variations on the well-known children's song My Hat it has Three Corners.
This time it was the turn of the tuba to be the soloist. Manfred Häberlein obliged and produced an amazing performance that left the audience breathless. This was a truly wonderful concert by these fine musicians that fully deserved the standing ovation.
Music lovers at the George Music Society's evening from left: Ina Scholtz, Danie Smuts, Mini du Plessis and Steve Tilbrook.
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