![]() Nor could a celebration of Julian’s career omit his brother Andrew’s influence, hence The Phantom of the Opera cunningly strolled into the musical fare. Here soprano Danielle de Niese wove her magic, shortly followed by violinist Tasmin Little and organist Jane Watts in a charming Benedictus by Julian’s father William Lloyd Webber, which glistened with post-Elgarian harmonies. The cello’s role in education was celebrated with the ‘In Harmony’ children’s project playing Frank Biddulph’s Hot Gold, while cellists from the Royal College of Music performed Klengel’s Hymnus and the Aria from the fifth Bachianas brasileiras by Villa-Lobos. As a cellist he has always been equally at home in traditional repertoire and popular music – he was famously featured in the South Bank Show TV signature tune – and here he was at ease with Cleo Laine, whose performance of ‘He was Beautiful’ with Lloyd Webber accompanying wooed the audience. Julian Lloyd Webber attracted an A-list cast of musical friends to celebrate his 60th birthday with him. ![]() Strad Magazine July edition 2011 60th Birthday Concert Mysterious and uncontrollably compelling, the BBC NOW were, in a word, sublime. A petrifying roar from assertive conducting and responsive performing startled any hint of dormant complacency. Leading to dark passages, Vaughan Williams’ Second (London) Symphony ventured into depths unknown, at once evoking unanimous terror and intrigue. At the finish, silent astonishment and awe was shattered by insuperable, foot-stomping acclaim. Seamless bowing and technical prowess produced droplets of liquid notes with a honeyed tone, seducing an already-entranced audience. With the undulating orchestra behind him, Webber respectfully alluded to Beatrice Harrison, Jacqueline du Pre and Mstislav Rostropovich in both phrasing and dynamics, unifying a previously disparate relationship between the three interpretations. This ‘real large work’ was indeed ‘good and alive’, as Elgar himself quipped. 1690) took centre stage to begin Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op 85 with great familiarity. Julian Lloyd Webber and his Barjansky Stradivarius (c. Crisp and experimental, attentive to both Jones’ finesse and canny recycling, the convoluted and introverted theme was lustrously played by the BBC NOW. A waif-like flute solo played ethereally by Matthew Featherstone offered a moment of pure serenity to a self-consciously de-constructivist oeuvre. ![]() ![]() The BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes, began the celebrations with typically Jonesian jagged swathes of complex sentimentality, performing his Eleventh Symphony with exactitude and emotion. The Siren 8th October 2012 Swansea Festival, BBC National Orchestra of Wales ![]()
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