(Pic by Val Adamson: Bronwen Forbay)Final concert of the year of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra made for a most enjoyable occasion. (Review by Michael Green)
Widely different types of music, including some compositions by an indigenous composer, made this, the final concert of the year of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, a most enjoyable occasion. We had a distinguished pianist, a fine guest conductor, three excellent local singers, a big choir, and a big audience, thanks in part to friends and relations of the choristers.
The most familiar music for most members of the audience was no doubt the Schumann piano concerto in A minor, which opened the programme. This wonderful work, written in 1846, is the quintessence of romanticism, and its lyrical beauties were admirably expounded by Melvyn Tan, an internationally known pianist who comes from Singapore and now lives in Britain.
Melvyn Tan is a slight figure, and he sits so far from the keyboard that I wondered at the outset whether he could reach the notes. He could reach them all right, in all senses of the term. His playing was technically commanding, and he played with a delicacy and sensibility entirely suited to this music. It was a real pleasure to hear the piano being caressed, figuratively speaking, instead of being thumped, as it is by some virtuosi.
The orchestra, under the direction of the visiting Dutch conductor Vincent de Kort, playing admirably and contributed greatly to the success of the performance.
In response to a foot-stamping ovation, Melvyn Tan gave an encore, a very unusual encore: the slow movement of Mozart’s well-known sonata in C major, K.545. He played this beautiful Andante with exquisite judgment, producing a gentle, soft, singing tone that carried to the far reaches of the City Hall.
The concert opened with the symphonic poem Fatse la Heso (My Country) by Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1909-1981), who was probably the first indigenous South African composer of any real note. This composition turned out to be most attractive, atmospheric and rather poetic and gentle.
The rest of the programme was devoted to choral music, plus vocal soloists. The joint choirs, about 90-strong in all, were the African Chorus, choirmaster Mongi Mzobe, and the Durban Symphonic Choir, choirmaster Ros Conrad. The soloists were Bronwen Forbay (soprano), now returned to Durban after living in the United States, Lionel Mkhwanazi (tenor) and Selby Hlangu (baritone). All were impressive, especially Bronwen, who has a beautiful voice and the experience to make the most of it.
The choir sang two delightful choruses by Moerane, and then choir, soloists and orchestra turned their attention to one of the great masterworks, Haydn’s oratorio The Creation. In full this runs for about an hour and 45 minutes. We were given 13 excerpts which provided a very good picture of the whole, from the extraordinary Representation of Chaos, with its rough dissonances, to the final brisk Amen, Amen.
As I mentioned in a pre-concert lecture, the work was a huge success in Haydn’s time (he died in 1809 at the age of 77), and on one occasion near the end of his life he was carried on-stage in an armchair to acknowledge the applause, indicating his source of inspiration by pointing upward, rather like a modern-day rugby player who has scored a try.
Singers and orchestra gave a splendid account of this magnificent music. In particular, the blazing burst of sound on Let there be light was as stunningly effective here as it has been in many other parts of the world over the past 200 years.
Those members of the audience who remained in their seats during the interval witnessed a most unusual sight: on stage the conductor, jacket off, in shirt sleeves, gave the choir some last-minute informal coaching about his directions and intentions. Judging by the expressions on their faces, they enjoyed the experience. It was really refreshing to see a conductor, an important person, get right down to the work face to help get the best results from a large group of amateur singers. - Michael Green
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