About me
Bookshop

Get new posts by email.

About me

The Northern Sinfonia

101 words posted by Simon on 30 September 2006

The Times recently rated the Northern Sinfonia as the third-best orchestra in the country.  I went to see them perform some Mozart yesterday, at home in The Sage Gateshead, and I reckon they’re better than that.

I’m no authority on classical music performance, but then I’m not an authority on anything and that’s not stopped me writing the last 974 missives.  But my limited knowledge does allow me to say that I thought the Northern Sinfonia was fantastic – an amazing three hours, in an amazing location.

If you’re looking for a bit of a different night out, it’s highly recommended.

This post was filed under: Reviews.

Recently published posts

‘The Reluctant Traveler’ / 19 April 2024

Circled / 18 April 2024

‘Fallen leaves’ / 17 April 2024

A manifestly different outcome / 16 April 2024

Forgotten promises / 15 April 2024

Souter Lighthouse / 14 April 2024




Random posts from the archive

Gordon Brown, MAOIs, and peculiar words / 20 September 2009

Sandhaven / 20 November 2023

What I’ve been reading this month / 26 February 2022

Dishwasher energy / 13 August 2023

An odd tribute / 15 July 2005

I’ve been reading ‘Everyone’ by Philippa Perry / 03 December 2023




Comments and responses

Comment from Anonymous


    14.04, 05/05/2007

You have not got a fucking clue about classical music. The northern sinfonia are by no means the 3rd best orchestra in the country. The gentleman who wrote that article was not thinking before he wrote – he mostly complimented the sinfonia on their hall, saying nothing about their playing and stating that apart from Zehetmair they had nobodys coming in to conduct. Recommend them by all means, but having later admitted you are not an expert, don’t suggest they shoudl be “ranked” even higher than 3rd. HAve you heard any others?! They must be about the 10th best if that!


Comment from sjhoward (author of the post)


    14.15, 05/05/2007

I’m very sorry to have upset you.

I admit fully that I know little about classical music. But if you want to berate me based on the fact that I have little knowledge about the things I comment on, then there are better posts to start with that this. I also, for example, have never owned a Barbie doll.

I have heard many other orchestras, and felt that this was the best I had heard. I’m no expert, and it may well be because of the atmosphere in the building, my general affect, and so forth, but I enjoyed it.

Of course, as you choose not to post your name or any details of your qualifications for commenting, my readers and I have absolutely no idea whether you are more knowledgeable and able to rank this country’s orchestras than the Times’ Chief Music Critic, with whom you clearly disagree.

If you’d like to rectify that, and perhaps post a constructive comment about who your apparent ‘Top 10’ British orchestras are, then please do feel free.


Comment from a musician


    15.00, 15/12/2007

Mr. Anonymous fairly reeks of that ol London bias. Having played with pretty much every major orchestra in this country and some damn fine ones abroad, I can say that the Northern Sinfonia is most definitely one of the best certainly and my favourite chamber orchestra. If less people had his closed attitiude maybe it might attract the quality of visiting conductors/soloists it deserves.




Compose a new comment

I'm not taking comments on my blog any more, so I'm afraid the opportunity to add to this discussion has passed.



The content of this site is copyright protected by a Creative Commons License, with some rights reserved. All trademarks, images and logos remain the property of their respective owners. The accuracy of information on this site is in no way guaranteed. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author. No responsibility can be accepted for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information provided by this site. Information about cookies and the handling of emails submitted for the 'new posts by email' service can be found in the privacy policy. This site uses affiliate links: if you buy something via a link on this site, I might get a small percentage in commission. Here's hoping.