Uncommonly good-looking young solo
violinist shows complete technical command. (Review by Michael Green)
Valentine’s Day and a programme that
included two popular concertos produced a full house in the Durban City Hall,
with an audience of about 1,500 attending a concert by the KZN Philharmonic
Orchestra.
There was a distinctly festive
atmosphere: free sparkling wine and
chocolates for the excited audience, red bow ties for the men in the orchestra
and brightly coloured dresses for the ladies. All this plus an uncommonly
good-looking young solo violinist who wore a dress that was low slung at the
front and even lower slung at the back.
The violinist was a 26-year-old Italian,
Anna Tifu. She played Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor, one of the great
romantic gems of the 19th century. She performed this work at La Scala in Milan
at the age of 14, and she delighted her Durban audience with her artistry and her
appearance. She played with a sweet, accurate tone - this concerto is a work of
surpassing sweetness - and showed a complete technical command.
The conductor was Daniel Boico, who was
born in Israel and now lives in New York. He has visited Durban several times
and is a favourite here. Under his vigorous but sympathetic direction the
soloist and the orchestra gave a memorable performance that earned an ovation
at the end.
The other concerto was the Concierto de
Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra by Joaquin Rodrigo, a Spaniard who died in
1999 at the age of 97 and who was virtually blind all his life from the age of
three, following an attack of diphtheria.
The concerto was inspired by the gardens of
a Spanish royal palace at Aranjuez, hence its name. It is a lovely work,
probably the best known composition ever written for the guitar, and at our Durban
concert it was given a beautiful performance by a Spanish guitarist, Pablo
Sainz Villegas.
The concert opened with Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture and ended
with Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite from
his Swan Lake ballet. This familiar
music was given a bright and brilliant presentation under Daniel Boico’s sure
hand, and after an unusually long concert the audience went home a little late
but very happy. - Michael Green
.
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