(Florian Uhlig)Florian Uhlig gets foot-stamping ovation from a good-sized audience. (Review by Michael Green)
Familiar and unfamiliar ground was traversed in this second concert of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra’s summer season, in the Durban City Hall.
The Japanese conductor Yasuo Shinozaki, who has become a well-known and admired figure in Durban, took the orchestra through a lengthy programme in which the main work was Schubert’s well-loved Symphony No. 9 in C major, “the Great”. Yasuo Shinozaki is short of inches but not short of vigour or authority. His energetic conducting style has taken him to international success, and in this concert he obtained excellent results from the orchestra.
The concert opened with Schumann’s Manfred overture, a fine work that is not played very often. It was written for Byron’s poetic drama Manfred, which is the story of a lonely recluse haunted by the memory of incestuous love for his dead sister (a reflection of Byron’s own stormy life). Much of the music is an almost literal reference to the dead sister, Astarte, and it was played by the orchestra with great effect.
Two delectable rarities were, I think, the highlights of the evening. These were Schumann’s Opus 1, the Abegg Variations, and Chopin’s Opus 2, the La ci darem la mano Variations, both presented in their original versions for piano and orchestra. The theme of the Schumann is constructed of the notes A B E G G, and the theme of the Chopin is the famous aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Both works are delightful, skilful, brilliant, original. The soloist was Florian Uhlig, the young German pianist who was the first to perform, some years ago, on the City Hall’s then brand new Steinway grand piano. He is a top-class artist, a brilliant technician who never allows his keyboard prowess to overshadow the musical content of the works he is playing. His platform manner is calm and poised, and he obviously enjoys playing, allowing himself a little smile occasionally at particularly appealing points in the music.
At the end he was given a foot-stamping ovation from a good-sized audience, and he responded with a lovely encore, Liszt’s transcription of Schumann’s song Widmung, Devotion. - Michael Green
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