STUDENT MUSIC REVIEW: The RNCM Wind Orchestra with Christian Lindberg - The RNCM, Manchester.

The students at the Royal Northern College of Music who make up the institution’s Wind Orchestra were given the opportunity to perform under the direction of, and on two of the evening’s five pieces, alongside the accompaniment of the Swedish trombonist, composer, and conductor, Christian Lindberg.

As Lindberg himself remarked during his opening gambit, the five compositions which were presented in the concert all had some link to Scandinavia - either through direct composition or through the arrangement of an established work, as was the case with the opening performance: Verdi’s ‘La Forza Del Destino Overture’ which featured an arrangement by the Scandinavian composer Anders Hogstedt. The overture is a popular opening piece for concerts and it was readily apparent why - the piece opens with a big blast of trumpets and progresses through exciting runs of flutes, oboes, and clarinets, with percussion from the timpani thundering along. The overture’s most famous excerpt (familiar to those who have seen the television adverts for the Stella Artois lager), showcasing the flutes and oboes, offered a moment of tranquillity before the overture headed towards its thrilling climax. Throughout the piece, Lindberg’s incredibly idiosyncratic and enthusiastic conducting style was on display, with him directing and gesticulating wildly and passionately throughout (looking, as one audience member remarked during the interval, “like a benign Emperor Palpatine” from the Star Wars film, except that instead of shooting out lightning, he was shooting out musical direction).

The second performance of the evening was ‘Seamounts’ by Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi, composed in 2019. Opening with a crashing wave of timpani and a very large drum - clearly representing the crashing of waves in the sea - the work proceeded to present a very ‘cinematic’ style journey in music into the depths of a sea, with trombones creating ‘waves’ of sound over the crashing sound of the percussionists as the piece built up. Indeed, throughout the work, the percussionists provided solid rhythm as the rest of the orchestra swept up and over their work with their contributions. Tarrodi’s work did feel very much like it could have been a film score (certain sections certainly brought to the mind the epic orchestral works of John Williams in many of the blockbuster films from the 1970s onwards). As the work moved onwards, there came a very tricky section for the trumpets as they were used to generate a low, bass heavy humming sound which must have presented a challenge for the players, but one which they successfully handled. As ‘Seamounts’ came to its conclusion, a gong, several drums, and the timpani brought things full circle, by returning us to the crashing waves of the opening. All in all, Tarrodi’s piece was a hugely thrilling, exciting work, and an excellent choice to include in the programme.

The third piece was a composition by Lindberg himself, “Mandrake In The Corner”. This performance featured Lindberg taking the lead on the trombone, alongside a student from the RNCM, Oliver Bartlett. As a result, this piece was conducted by a student from the RNCM, Yi Wei. Wei did an excellent job of conducting, although his style was certainly more ‘conventional’ than that of Lindberg’s! The piece was inspired by the comic strip character Mandrake the Magician (often cited as one of the first ‘super heroes’ to appear in comics) and this inspiration seeped through into the music, feeling at times as though it was lifted from the soundtrack of a blockbuster film about the character, full of sweeping trills from the two trombonists. As a trombonist, Lindberg was as energetic as he was when conducting and his piece allowed him to demonstrate why he has the reputation as being one of the world’s leading trombone players.

Following an interval, the orchestra resumed the evening’s programme with a piece by Brahms, “Academic Festival Overture” (again, arranged by Hogstedt) - for this, Lindberg was back on the conductor’s podium. Brahms’ work, commissioned for an academic ceremony in which the composer was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Breslau and which rather cheekily on Brahms’ part, took inspiration from the drinking songs of students he had heard in the taverns in Germany, was a very playful, light and joyous work and the orchestra certainly embraced this aspect within their performances (although, one suspects that’s Lindberg’s energetic conducting stye also played a part in this). The climax of the piece featured a charming intervention from, of all things, the triangle, alongside a blast of cymbal work.

The final performance of the evening was Hogstedt’s composition, “A Tribute To Jussi Bjorling”, a work which paid tribute to the Swedish tenor opera singer. For this piece, Lindberg once again took up lead trombone spot alongside another RNCM student, Andrew Challinor. Both trombonists really gave it their all in this piece, indeed, Lindberg’s performance on this work surpassed his already skillful playing on his own work earlier in the evening. RNCM conducting student Leon Frantzen guided the orchestra through the work and did a highly competent job. From the work’s big percussion-loaded opening onwards, the performance of the orchestra was highly impressive, although this performance in particular did highlight the one minor flaw in the concert: the power of the percussion and wind instruments meant that the harpist could barely be heard and that none of the pieces gave the harp much of a spotlight to shine, no matter how briefly. That aside, the performance from the orchestra was of as high a quality as the rest of the evening’s had been, and credit must go to both Lindberg and Challinor on trombone as both gave hugely impressive performances at the climax of the piece.

The concert was a hugely enjoyable success story for all involved, but perhaps obviously, it was really Lindberg’s night - with his skill as trombonist, conductor, and composer were all given a chance to shine. Should Lindberg ever return to the UK to conduct or perform, then the opportunity should be given to see him in action - he truly was a powerhouse, whether as conductor or performer.

Reviewer - Andrew Marsden

on - 24.6.22