COLOSSUS

Grahamstown: July 2, 2012 – Review by Keith Millar

Colossus was compiled for the National Arts Festival by David Plylar and performed by musicians drawn from the ranks of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra.

It is a programme of large chamber works which offers the concert-goer the opportunity to hear an unusual collection of works which would not normally be performed in one programme.

This is music for the classical connoisseur and at times proved difficult to listen to by the uninitiated. Possibly this was why there was such a small audience in attendance although the lateness of the concert (it only started at 21h30) and the chilly weather must have been contributing factors.

The beautiful red brick Rhodes Chapel is an excellent venue for concerts of this nature and set the atmosphere for the KZNPO Ensemble to deliver an accomplished performance under the baton of Daniel Boico.

The first item on the programme was Moro, lasso. al mio duolo by 16th century composer Carlo Gesualdo. He is rather infamous for a double murder of his wife and her lover, and for getting away with it because of his royal connections. I found this sonorous work to be both intense and disturbing.

Ravel was responsible for the next item entitled Introduction and Allegro. He was commissioned by a rival harp manufacturer to write this work to outshine a composition by Debussy. This music had the opulence of a film score and featured excellent harp playing by Linor Steinhausen.

Luigi Dallapiccola’s Piccola Musica Notturna is a very atmospheric piece which is said to depict the loneliness a traveller would feel entering a sleeping town at night.

Perhaps the highlight of the concert is a work by American composer Frederic Rzewski entitled Coming Together. It is based on a letter written to his brother by Anti-Vietnam activist and bomber Sam Melville who died in a prison riot. The work is for speaker and ensemble and is relentlessly repetitive and driving and builds dramatically to a climactic finish. Nicholas Nicholaidis was very good as the speaker.

The final item on the programme was a new composition by David Plylar called Colossus from which the concert took its title. This was the first public performance of the work and it was very well received by the small audience.

Colossus will have a further performance on July 3 at 15h00 in the Rhodes Chapel. It will be enjoyed by chamber music buffs who appreciate something a little different. – Keith Millar