(Daniel
Boico)
Conductor Daniel Boico in splendid form in
first concert of 2014.
The KZN Philharmonic’s first concert of
2014 presented, to great acclaim from a
large audience, music by three Russian composers from the 19th and 20th
centuries.
The Durban City Hall programme ranged from
the unfamiliar to the very familiar, from Shostakovich to Tchaikovsky. The
standard of performance was uniformly good, and the players were rewarded with
enthusiastic applause throughout the concert.
The Israeli-born American conductor Daniel
Boico, who is well known here, was in splendid form. He is a vigorous and
dynamic figure on the podium, and the orchestra responded admirably to his
forceful style. And the soloist of the evening, the German cellist Peter Bruns,
added greatly to the success of the concert.
The orchestra opened with Mikhail Glinka’s
exuberant Russlan and Ludmilla Overture,
written in 1842 by a pioneer of Russian orchestral music.
This was followed by a very different kind
of music, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2, written in 1966. This is
an uncompromisingly modern work, much of it rather grim and bleak, and part of
it lightened by the use of a jaunty street song from he Black Sea port of Odessa.
Peter Bruns¸ on his third visit to Durban,
was outstanding as the cello soloist. His technical skill and emotional
commitment were compelling and carried the audience though a rather difficult
work. One person said to me afterwards “I didn’t care much for the music, but
the soloist really got through to me”.
After the interval came a brilliant
performance of Tchaikovsky’s celebrated Symphony No.6, the Pathetique. Tchaikovsky himself conducted the first performance of
this work nine days before his death, from cholera, in 1893, a death that may
have been accidental or may have been suicidal.
Daniel Boico was totally absorbed as he
conveyed to the audience the passion and tragedy of this music, and the
orchestra played with great power and commitment.
Conductor and players were given a
prolonged ovation at the end of a concert that showed once again that with
music like this there is really no substitute for a live performance. - Michael
Green
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