REVIEW: Look out for the name William Dutton

Look out for the name of William Dutton. Ther multi-talented teenager looks set for true musical stardom judging by the way he wowed the Dome audience on Sunday in his debut concert performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.

The 18-year-old from Leeds took up the violin at the age of four and his natural talent was soon recognised by Kazakh virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev. For the past six years William has been honing his skills at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

But his talents are not confined to the violin. In 2006 he enjoyed international success as a singer after winning the BBC2 Young Chorister of the Year award and was also a member of the treble boy band, The Choirboys. And just for good measure, he has also led the viola section of the Menuhin School orchestra.

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Just where his talents will finally lead him, only time will tell but on the immediate horizon is an appearance in the string final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014 in Cardiff early next month. And in September William plans to continue his violin studies at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne under professor Pavel Vernikov.

The gifted youngster showed, naturally enough, a few nerves with the tugging of his trousers and alike when he first walked on stage but once starting the virtuosic work, there was no hint of that as he gave a breathtaking performance, helped in no small way by the Brighton Philharmonic Ortchestra under the sensitive baton of Barry Wordsworth.

It provided the highlight of another inspired choice of programme by Wordsworth in what has been a key 89th season for the BPO. The memorable rendition was sandwiched between two equally enjoyable works of the 18th and 20th centuries.

Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony paid homage to Haydn, Mozart and the rest but with a modern slant, while the second half of the programme was dedicated to Haydn’s Symphony No 104 (London).

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The eclectic musical mix continues with the penultimate concert of the season on Sunday March 2 when Andrea de Flammineis joins the BPO for a performance of Vivaldi’s Bassoon Concerto in A Minor. Also on the programme are two of Wordsworth’s favourite works, Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin and Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and as if that was not enough, there is also Symphony No 29 by the master himself, Mozart.

Chris Francis

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