FRIENDS OF MUSIC: FLORIAN UHLIG & ZOË BEYERS

Florian Uhlig (piano) and Zoë Beyers (violin) provided an evening of rare pleasure for a big audience. (Review by Michael Green)

Mozart and Mendelssohn and two gifted performers provided an evening of rare pleasure for a big audience at this Friends of Music recital at the Durban Jewish Centre.

Florian Uhlig, born in Germany, based in London, is a regular visitor to Durban and has built up an appreciative following here. Zoë Beyers, born in Stellenbosch, has established herself in South Africa and abroad as a violinist of high ability and is at present an advanced student at the Royal College of Music, London.

Their recital was a refreshing departure from the beaten track and started with two Mozart Rondos, K.269 and K.373, which were probably new to most members of the audience. They were originally written for solo violin and orchestra, and Mozart later arranged the orchestral parts for piano. Understandably, the violin tends to be the dominant instrument, and Zoë Beyers showed an accomplished technique and an admirably full tone.

At the keyboard Florian Uhlig was all dexterity and discretion. One of the many attractive things about these two players is their platform demeanour, a maximum of serious application, a minimum of showing off.

Florian came into his own in a group of solo piano works by Mendelssohn, giving a Lisztian brilliance to these well-known pieces. In the course of some witty comments to the audience he said he was adding an extra piece to those on the programme “to compensate for the credit crunch”. The extra turned out to be the Scherzo in E minor, Op. 16, No 2, played at high speed with extreme virtuosity, as indeed was the Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14.

The pianist told the audience that he had first played the latter piece about 20 years ago (he must have been very young at the time), “but the good news is that I have been practising it in the meantime”. Some practising it must have been, to produce such playing. Mendelssohn marked both the scherzo and the rondo “Presto”, and Presto they were, indeed, to thrilling effect.

The solo piano group was completed with Mendelssohn’s best piano work, the 17 Variations Serieuses, Op. 54 - serious variations so named to indicate their difference from the frivolous, lightweight variations of many earlier composers. Mendelssohn excelled himself here, and so did the pianist, bringing virtuosity, light and shade to this fine work.

The audience signified their approval with prolonged applause.

After the interval, pianist and violinist teamed up again in Mozart’s Sonata in B flat major, K. 454, and Mendelssohn’s Sonata in F major, the last and best of his three sonatas for violin and piano. Lovely music and lovely playing, with complete understanding and cohesion between the two players.

The evening’s prelude performer, funded by the National Lottery, was yet another gifted young violinist of eastern origin, 14-year-old Yea Kyung Kim who was born in Korea and now lives in Durban, where she is taught by the well-known violinist Isaac Melamed. Accompanied by David Smith at the piano, she played a concerto movement by the Italian composer Giovanni Viotti (1755-1824) and a short piece by Prokofiev. She demonstrated a sound technique and a big, confident tone. We will all watch her progress with interest. - Michael Green