By Isle of Wight Observer
by Nick Finney
Eat your heart out, Hyde Park. The beautiful setting at Robin Hill surely surpassed any concert venue one can think of. The concerts, over two nights, with glorious sunshine and a cooling evening breeze, were hugely popular with the audiences. And what a privilege to hear such fine performances, especially from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and their two conductors, Enyi Okpara and Pete Harrison.
On Saturday, the slightly older audience were treated to all the “Last Night at the Proms” favourites – sea shanties, Land of Hope and Glory and, of course, Rule Britannia, which prompted a wonderfully enthusiastic burst of singing and flag‑waving. But perhaps the longest and warmest applause came for a truly emotional and exquisite violin performance of Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, by internationally acclaimed soloist, Lizzie Ball.
We were also treated to Island-born international pianist, Thomas Luke. Both performing solo and with the orchestra, he played Mozart’s famous slow movement from the 21st piano concerto – made famous in the film, Elvira Madigan. His performance was superb, and the audience felt a real swell of pride in his Island roots.
On Sunday, for A Night at the Movies the theme was famous film scores, and a slightly younger audience – with lots of children – heard favourites such as the Imperial March from Star Wars, music from Harry Potter, and, of course, the theme from Jurassic Park. John Williams shared the composer’s spotlight with Hans Zimmer, so we also heard music from The Da Vinci Code, Interstellar, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Both concerts were enhanced by sparkling performances from Thea Callaghan, Lizzie Ball, Thomas Luke, and James Pearson, who demonstrated their virtuosity to the delight of the audiences.
Classic Isle’s organisation was excellent, and the wonderful charities supported – Mountbatten and WightAid – will have hopefully gained good support from the two concerts.
Reserve the dates for next year – the Classic Isle weekend must now be recognised as one of the Island’s premier annual events.