(French violinist Philippe Graffin)
Two composers, two anniversaries and two
different musical worlds. (Review by Michael Green)
Two composers, two anniversaries and two
different musical worlds were presented by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra in
their latest concert in the Durban City Hall.
The composers were Benjamin Britten and
Beethoven. The anniversaries: Britten was born almost a hundred years ago, in
November 1913, in the English seaside town of Lowestoft; Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 8, the main work of the evening, was given its first performance almost exactly 199 years ago¸ on February
27, 1814, in Vienna.
As for the
musical worlds, Britten was very much a gifted 20th century English composer.
Beethoven was chronologically 18th and 19th century, but he was not of an age
but for all time, to quote Ben Jonson’s words about Shakespeare.
The KZNPO,
under the baton of Bernhard Gueller, German-born and now living in Canada,
opened the concert with the Four Sea
Interludes from Peter Grimes, Britten’s opera about the tragic life of a
fisherman. These atmospheric and vividly orchestrated pieces were very well
played, as was the following item on the programme, Britten’s Violin Concerto
No. 1.
The soloist
here was the French violinist Philippe Graffin, who has built an imposing
reputation in Europe. The Britten concerto, written in 1939 while the composer
was living in North America, is an impressive work with an eloquent and
difficult part for the soloist, and it is reasonably accessible for the
listener.
Britten,
however, is obviously not box office in Durban. This concerto was played in the
City Hall four years by Zanta Hofmeyr of Pretoria, and the audience on that
occasion was notably sparse. It was a similar story this time. Even the
inclusion of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in the second half did not attract
enough customers to make the hall look anything other than rather empty.
The
symphony, a polished, powerful, urbane and high-spirited work from the greatest
composer, was given a resounding performance, to the great enjoyment of the
audience and, it seemed, the conductor and the orchestra. - Michael Green
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