KZN Philharmonic, soloists and guest
orchestra presented an impressive evening of music. (Review by Michael Green)
A widely varied programme was presented by
the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra for the last concert of its winter season in the
Durban City Hall.
For two of the items, the orchestra was
augmented by visitors from the Free State, with 90 players on the stage at one
point, an imposing sight and sound.
With the orchestra’s resident conductor
Lykele Temmingh on the podium, the concert started with a rousing account of
Hector Berlioz’s Le Carnaval Romain,
a vivid and brilliant piece that brought forth an excellent performance.
The main work of the evening was Robert
Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor, with Santiago Valencia as soloist. As he
had done two nights earlier for the Friends of Music, this young man from
Colombia, South America, displayed musical skills and insight quite astonishing
for someone of his age, a mere 18. He was not quite the dominant figure he had
been at the earlier recital, but he was obviously immersed in the warm,
autumnal atmosphere of Schumann’s music.
The audience responded enthusiastically to
his golden tone and immaculate phrasing, and prolonged applause produced an
encore, a difficult, interesting and weird piece by the Argentine composer
Alberto Ginastera.
After the interval, the orchestra was
joined by players from Bloemfontein’s Bochabela String Orchestra. They
contributed to an admirable performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis,
conveying well the antique flavour of a 20th century work based on a 16th
century melody.
Finally, 90 players on the stage gave an
animated and exciting performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, extroverted American music
that was a strong contrast to Schumann’s introspective concerto. There was
something for everyone in this concert, and the listeners showed their
appreciation with an ovation at the end. - Michael Green
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