FOM: MARC UYS & LAURA PAUNA

Recital by South African musicians who have won big reputations abroad. (Review by Michael Green)

Two South African musicians who have won big reputations abroad were the performers at the latest Friends of Music concert at the Durban Jewish Centre. They were the violinist Marc Uys, who comes from Pietermaritzburg and now lives in New York, and the pianist Laura Pauna, who comes from Romania, has spent much time in South Africa, and is now studying further at Hannover, Germany.

They gave a programme that ranged from Mozart (one of the master’s early sonatas) to the late 20th century (music written by the American John Williams for the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick).

The Mozart Sonata in G major, K. 301, was predictably graceful, elegant and melodious. It brought forth a well-balanced, accomplished performance from both players, with the pianist’s assertive personality contrasting with the calm poise of the violinist.

Richard Strauss’s Sonata in E flat is not, I think, very well known. It dates from 1888. It is a virtuoso work and is a fine example of Strauss’s rich harmonies and romantic ardour, especially in the improvisatory middle movement.

The pianist was dominant throughout this performance. Laura Pauna has a demonstrative, forceful keyboard demeanour and a big tone, and she revelled in Strauss’s virtuoso flourishes, so much so that the violinist sometimes seemed consigned to a secondary role.

Marc Uys came to deserved prominence in the Romance by the American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944), in which he produced from his violin a lovely, sweet, fluent melodic line. Then came a sonata written in 1994 by the Cape Town composer Peter Klatzow. This was a challenging work in the modern idiom, difficult for listeners at a first hearing, with a lilting and tuneful Allegretto the most accessible of its three movements. The playing was first-rate throughout.

The performance of an attractively piquant arrangement by the Czech violinist Vasa Prihoda of Strauss’s Rosenkavalier music was interrupted when the violinist had the misfortune to snap a string, a mishap caused by Durban’s humidity, he said.

The audience was small, about 50 people, and it shrank perceptibly at the interval. I think some people were probably deterred by the programme. Presenting the unfamiliar is an unrewarding exercise, if so few people turn up.

The Prelude Performer of the evening, funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, was a very small and very good pianist, 10-year-old Rachel Wedderburn-Maxwell of Durban. In short pieces by Diabelli, Piazolla, the Japanese composer Yoshinao Nakada and the South African Hans Roosenschoon, she showed a technical skill that was remarkable in one so young, and an equally impressive musicality. She should go far. - Michael Green