Ipswich Orchestral Society Summer Concert, Corn Exchange, Ipswich, June 26

“A HOT start to a hot evening” is how conductor Adam Gatehouse described Aaron Copland’s El Sal�n M�xico, a sturdy, bright opener paying tribute to that country’s dance rhythms and folk tunes.

But the heat increased when internationally-renowned Noriko Ogawa came out to play George Gershwin’s much-loved Rhapsody in Blue.

She conveyed the exuberant energy of this all-American piece with its jazz, blues and ragtime forms. Conductor, pianist and orchestra alike showed an infectious enjoyment.

In Respighi’s Fountains of Rome the sounds of the city are heard from dawn to dusk through different instruments, sometimes dramatic, often fragile.

Finally there was a lingering quietness in both orchestra and audience at the peaceful end of the day.

But it wasn’t the end and Maurice Ravel’s La Valse woke us all up!

The sound seemed to split into hundreds of parts as the lush Viennese Waltz form was expressed then subverted. Both delicacy and massive, powerful sound created a brilliant finale that left us in our seats, wondering. A hot evening, indeed.

JOY BOUNDS