|
The
Corpo Filarmonico Giovanni Rinaldi di Reggiolo from the Emilia-Romagna region of
Northern Italy was in Nottingham in the UK at the end of April on the first leg
of its "Finding Robin Hood" tour, The group is led by conductor and
professional bass clarinettist Paolo De Gaspari. After the rehearsal and a
night’s stay in Nottingham, the 30 musicians sampled the delights of Sherwood
Forest visitor centre before travelling to play with bands in Manchester,
Beaumaris, Bangor and Liverpool.
The
Nottingham Concert Band's conductor, Robert Parker, told The Concert Band
Portal, "We were
delighted to welcome Paolo and his players to Nottingham. Both bands have
Holst"s 2nd Suite in F in their libraries, so we were able to
rehearse it together, and the collective sound – and sight - of about 100
woodwind, brass and percussion players was hugely impressive." Parker also
led the assembled musicians through Allan Street’s Nott’num Town Suite,
whilst Paolo De Gaspari took them through Green Hills Fantasy by Thomas Doss and
an arrangement of folk ballad Shenandoah by Frank Ticheli.
"Once
we started playing, our linguistic differences disappeared and the international
language of music took over," said Robert Parker. "The evening proved
both great fun and musically rewarding – so much so that we’re now pondering
on the feasibility of making a return trip to Italy!".
|