(Wolfram Christ. Photo Reiner Pfisterer)
Resounding success of Mozart work from two soloists. (Review
by Michael Green)
Music by Mozart and Schubert drew a good-sized audience to
the Durban City Hall for the latest concert of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
There were two soloists, one doubling as conductor. This was
in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, a masterwork written in 1779
when the composer was 23.
It is scored for solo violin and viola and an orchestra
consisting of strings, two horns and two oboes. Wolfram Christ, a veteran
German musician, made his name first as a violist in the Berlin Philharmonic
and later as a conductor, and he fulfilled both roles in this Durban
performance.
His conducting was restricted to waving his bow arm
intermittently at the orchestra but his viola playing was outstandingly good,
with immaculate technique and a rich warm tone.
The solo violinist was Petya Koleva, a Bulgarian who has
been a member of the orchestra for 25 years and is leader of the second
violins. She is an excellent player and she looked remarkably attractive and
youthful in a striking blue evening gown. She has a flamboyant stage manner,
and this was a trifle disconcerting until she settled into the business of
performing Mozart’s beautiful music, which she did with skill and good
judgment.
Coordination between the two soloists and the orchestra was
very good, and the performance as a whole was a resounding success.
Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C major is called The Great to
distinguish it from an earlier, lesser symphony in the same key. Written in
1828, the last of the composer’s 31 years of life, it is by any reckoning a
major and imposing work, running for about 55 minutes.
Conducting this time with baton in hand, Wolfram Christ took
the orchestra at a brisk tempo throughout this long work and drew from the
players an impressive, full-blooded performance. This was the authentic big
sound that can only be produced by an orchestra in a concert hall, and the
audience greatly appreciated it. - Michael Green
Posts
