(Giuliano
Sommerhalder)
A modern composer’s skills with an ancient
instrument provided the novelty in the programme of the latest concert of the
KZN Philharmonic Orchestra in the Durban City Hall. (Review by Michael Green)
The music of the French composer Henri
Tomasi (1901-1971) is not, I think, widely known, but his Trumpet Concerto in B
flat has become an international success. The trumpet is one of the oldest of
instruments, dating back to about 1500 BC (remember Joshua’s trumpets that
brought down the walls of Jericho), but the classical repertory for it is
somewhat limited.
Tamasi’s concerto is an important
contribution. Written in 1948, it is lively, lyrical at times, and not
aggressively modern in style. The composer makes expert use of the bright,
metallic tone of the trumpet, and his music was given a brilliant performance
here by the 29-year-old Italian trumpeter Giuliano Sommerhalder. This was his
African debut. He is a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of
Amsterdam, which visited Durban not long ago.
The orchestra was under the direction of
another visitor, the German conductor Frank Cramer, who has built up wide
experience and a big reputation in Europe.
This three-movement concerto is a concise
work. It runs for about 20 minutes and is a showpiece for the trumpet. It
sounds at times as if the composer wants to display every capability of the
instrument. Perhaps the most remarkable
passage is a long cadenza in which the trumpeter has a soft drum
accompaniment.
Soloist, conductor and orchestra gave a
compelling account of this sophisticated and attractive music (and very French
it is, too), and they were rewarded with a prolonged storm of applause at the
end.
The concert opened with a symphony by
Joseph Haydn. He is one of the half-dozen
supreme figures in the history of music, but his works (including 106
symphonies and a fine trumpet concerto) are not often played by our orchestra. This
time we heard No. 92, the Oxford Symphony, so named because Haydn conducted it
at the university when he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1791. It is
exceptional music, especially the slow movement, and it was greatly enjoyed by the
City Hall audience and, it seemed, by conductor and orchestra.
Finally, we were given a big, emotional
performance of the Symphony in D minor by the Belgian/French composer Cesar
Franck. Written in 1888, this is a
serious, deeply felt work, and it has achieved great popularity over the past
hundred years.
Frank Cramer and the orchestra gave a
committed, resonant and grand account of this symphony, the only one composed
by Cesar Franck. - Michael Green
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