Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival fans should hotfoot it to St Mary in the Castle in Hastings on April 14 to see Richard Lester as soloist for the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra. Professor Lester is well known and loved in this part of East Sussex for his tireless work as co-artistic director of the popular annual Peasmarsh festival. He is also a professor of the cello at the Royal College of Music and a virtuoso welcomed at the most famous music venues all over the world as soloist and member of award-winning chamber music ensembles, such as the Florestan Trio, Domus, Hausmusik and the London Haydn Quartet.
The Elgar Cello Concerto was not always as popular as it is today; from the 1960s it became a regular at the proms capturing the imagination of audiences’ imagination through the Jacqueline du Pre/Daniel Barenboim partnership. Later on Julian Lloyd Webber’s performance further enhanced its popularity. However the cello concerto’s premiere in 1920 was a considered a bit of a disaster and a pointer towards a decline in Elgar’s reputation in latter years.
Nevertheless the town of Hastings kept faith with Elgar, who was a prime guest of honour at the inaugural festival for the purpose-built White Rock Pavilion in 1927. The Hastings Municipal Orchestra produced two memorable performances of Elgar’s Cello Concerto at the White Rock Pavilion in the 1930s: in 1937 with Pablo Casals as soloist and in 1931 with his pupil Gaspar Cassado. Hastings loved the cello, judging by the popularity of Paul Tortelier’s visit in 1952 and 1953 when he joined in Hastings music festivals but not this time with Elgar’s music.
The Hastings Philharmonic wishes to play a part in restoring Hastings’ reputation as a centre of excellence for classical music, something that has been reinforced especially by the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition. This concert will be a milestone event in this direction with an anticipated beautiful performance by the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, which is now seen as one of his most loved creations.
The event will take place at St Mary in the Castle, Pelham Crescent, Hastings, 7pm, Saturday April 14, with Richard Lester on the cello and Marcio da Silva as conductor. It will feature Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no.5 . Tickets are available at £22.50/£17.50 online.
Photo: Courtesy Richard Lester