Haslemere Musical Society began its 101st season with an orchestral concert at St Christopher’s Church in Haslemere on October 12, which was very well attended in spite of a chilly evening which did not deter avid music lovers.

The acoustics of this church seem to suit the orchestra somewhat better than that of their usual venue, Haslemere Hall. The 40-strong amateur orchestra of mostly local musicians had gathered to entertain its audience with a fine programme of classical music, both familiar and off the beaten track. The orchestra was conducted as usual by Dr James Ross.

The evening began with a fine performance of the very popular Mendelssohn overture, The Hebrides, often known as Fingal’s Cave, which the composer wrote in the summer of 1829 to describe his visit to the Scottish island of Staffa, with its impressive basalt rock columns.

It is symphonic in nature and the orchestra played it with great enthusiasm, depicting the rough seas and stormy weather so often a feature of this region of Scotland.

This was followed by a real treat, a work by the little known French composer Edouard Lalo (1823-92) entitled Deux Aubades for small orchestra, arranged from his opera Fiesques.

This was unknown music to most of the audience but was very much appreciated. In two short movements, which acted as operatic interludes, this melodic work allowed the flute and horn players to express the delicacy and lightness of the score.

The final work of the first half of the concert introduced us to a brilliant young Italian violinist, Maria Serena (Molly) Salvemini.

Appearing in a long silver tasselled evening dress with a leather jacket over her shoulders to ward off the chilly temperature in the church, she provided the audience with a spectacular rendition of Saint-Saëns wonderful work for solo violin and orchestra, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

This virtuoso work allows the violinist to display the complete range of skills while playing the two wonderful melodies of the piece. The rich sound of Molly’s violin, accompanied excellently by the Haslemere orchestra, provided a breathtaking close to the opening of the concert.

But this was not all; Molly gave the audience a real treat with an encore by the virtuoso Italian violinist/composer Niccolo Paganini, Caprice No. 24, again displaying the fluent expertise of this fine young violinist.

After the interval the orchestra provided us with the main work of the evening, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Second Symphony. Not as well known as the Eroica, No. 5, the Pastoral or the mighty Ninth Symphony, it was a real pleasure to hear this work that Beethoven composed in 1801-02, and the orchestra gave us a very fine performance.

In the usual four movements, Adagio-allegro; Larghetto; Scherzo (allegro); Finale – allegro molto, the symphony is both bold and brazen in its musical language for the time, moving on from the melodic charm of Haydn and Mozart - the opening with its frequent changes of mood and tempo; the expressive Romantically-inspired Larghetto; the faster pace of the scherzo and the unexpected twists and turns of the finale, a precursor to the magic of the Eroica Symphony which Beethoven composed afterwards.

This was a very successful beginning to the society’s 2024-25 season of concerts. An excellent evening!

Roger Saunders