Music by Mozart and Schubert drew a good-sized audience to the Durban City Hall for the latest concert of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
There were two soloists, one doubling as conductor. This was in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, a masterwork written in 1779 when the composer was 23.
It is scored for solo violin and viola and an orchestra consisting of strings, two horns and two oboes. Wolfram Christ (pictured), a veteran German musician, made his name first as a violist in the Berlin Philharmonic and later as a conductor, and he fulfilled both roles in this performance.
His conducting was restricted to waving his bow arm intermittently at the orchestra, but his viola playing was outstandingly good, with immaculate technique and a rich warm tone.
The solo violinist was Petya Koleva, a Bulgarian who has been a member of the orchestra for 25 years and is leader of the second violins.
She is an excellent player and looked remarkably attractive and youthful in a striking blue evening gown. She has a flamboyant stage manner, and this was a trifle disconcerting until she settled into the business of performing Mozart’s beautiful music, which she did with skill and good judgment.
Co-ordination between the two soloists and the orchestra was very good, and the performance as a whole was a resounding success.
Schubert’s Symphony No 9 in C major is called The Great to distinguish it from an earlier, lesser symphony in the same key. Written in 1828, the last of the composer’s 31 years of life, it is by any reckoning a major and imposing work, running for about 55 minutes.
Conducting this time with baton in hand, Christ took the orchestra at a brisk tempo throughout this long work and drew from the players an impressive, full-blooded performance. This was the authentic big sound that can only be produced by an orchestra in a concert hall, and the audience greatly appreciated it. – Artsmart.co.za