Alf McCreary: Ulster Orchestra’s 'Towards Harmony' concert - a privilege to hear such a charming and spiritual concert

The concert theme was “Towards Harmony” – though one cannot think of anything less harmonious than Stalin’s Russia and Luther’s Reformation and its aftermath.

The Russian dimension focused on the work of Dmitri Shoskatovich, and the orchestra - under the impressive direction of conductor Valentina Peleggi – featured his Chamber Symphony in which the composer’s voice was masked in a format to be approved by the repressive Stalinist authorities.

It is as an utterly charming work, with beautiful lyrical passages overshadowed by the sharpness and drama of Shostakovich at his best.

Incidentally, this symphony was arranged by the composer’s close associate Rudolf Barshai, who conducted the Ulster Orchestra several times in Belfast as an elderly man, prior to his death in 2010.

The Flute Concerto No 1 was composed by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, who was considered an outstanding composer by Shostakovich himself. The soloist Adam Walker gave an impressive interpretation of this remarkable work, especially in the deeply moving Largo. His performance received a deservedly enthusiastic reception from the audience, followed by a Debussy encore.

It was a privilege to hear live the music of Shostakovich and Weinberg, written under great Soviet repression, and ironically on an evening when so many people were killed and injured by a terrorist attack in a Moscow concert hall.

The second half was devoted to Mendelssohn’s monumental Fifth Symphony, written to mark the Reformation in 15th century Europe.

The Ulster Orchestra was particularly engaging in the well-known second movement, and in the finale which the composer crafted around Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, and which brought the concert to a spiritual, spirited and magnificent ending.

Meantime, mention should be made of an earlier BBC invitation concert featuring Stanford’s Irish Rhapsody in his centenary year, with its superb setting of the Londonderry Air, and also Brahm’s stirring Fourth Symphony.

A few days later there was another memorable Ulster Hall concert by the gifted Irish Doctors’ Orchestra and the senior choirs of St Dominic’s and St Malachy’s schools. All of which shows that classical music in Northern Ireland, professional and amateur, is still of the highest standard.