Nicola Lisle talks to the Corona ensemble’s conductor Janet Lincé

A trio of English composers are on the bill next weekend when local ensemble Corona Strings takes to the SJE stage for its opening concert of 2016.

The highlight, arguably, is Britten’s extraordinary Les Illuminations, a setting of poems by Arthur Rimbaud, written in 1939 when the composer was in his mid-twenties.

“He’s one of my all-time favourite composers,” enthuses Janet. “I’ve known this piece for years, and I’ve accompanied various singers in the past who wanted to learn it and practise it, and it’s an amazing score, with incredible colours. The text is wonderful, and something I got to know a bit when I was doing French song at college.

“The poems have a very impressionistic flavour to them. Britten’s always very good at selecting text, and he’s managed to form this wonderful shape of pieces.

“He can see all sorts of things in the text and bring them to life for us in a way that I think nobody else really does. It’s got everything you could possibly give to a string group to play. Every kind of technique is involved. It’s an absolutely glorious piece.”

The soloist for this performance is the acclaimed young soprano Erica Eloff, who has worked with Janet many times in the past.

“She’s got the most wonderful range of colours in her voice, and she’s got the drama, the poise, everything you need, really. So it’s a great opportunity to do this piece again with a fantastic singer.”

Neatly tying in with Les Illuminations is the Concertino Pastorale, written in the same year by Britten’s teacher, John Ireland, for the Deal Festival in Kent.

For Ireland, writing music just as war was breaking out in Europe was a struggle, as he commented at the time: “I do not see how anyone with any sensibility can compose music in the present world atmosphere.”

Yet his lyrical and virtuosic Concertino Pastorale was well received.

“He brings a lot of joy into it,” Janet says. “I have known about this piece for quite a while, but never had the opportunity to play it. Then I discovered that it was written in the same year as the Britten, and I thought I’ve just got to put those two together.”

Completing the programme is Elgar’s popular Serenade and Introduction and Allegro. The latter fulfils an ambition for Janet.

“I’ve never done it, and it’s just such a wonderful, dramatic piece. And we’re including the Serenade because it’s a lovely programme filler and it fits very well.”

Corona Strings holds a special place in Janet’s heart as she formed the ensemble in 2012 in memory of her partner, who had died two years earlier. “I had a legacy, and I wanted to put it towards an orchestra,” she says. “I always wanted to learn more about orchestral conducting, and the way to learn about it is to do it.

“My concerts so far haven’t been well attended, partly because it’s a slightly esoteric genre – not many people are interested in just string music.

“But everybody who comes to the concerts gives great feedback, saying what a fantastic programme and the playing of the orchestra is wonderful.

“So we just keep going, fingers crossed!”

Where and when
Corona Strings: Britten, Elgar & Ireland
St John the Evangelist
Church, Iffley Road
February 6, 7.30pm
Tickets: 01865 613507 sje-oxford.org