Programme of the very familiar and the totally unfamiliar. (Review by Michael Green)
The very familiar and the totally unfamiliar made up the
programme for the fourth concert of the summer season of the KZN Philharmonic
Orchestra, in the Durban City Hall.
The first category was represented by Mendelssohn’s Violin
Concerto in E minor, a great favourite for nearly 200 years. In the second
category was the Symphony No. 2 by the American composer Charles Ives. It seems
likely that nobody in the audience had ever heard a live performance of this
composition.
The soloist in the Mendelssohn was Farida Bacharova, a
Russian violinist who has lived in Cape Town for the past 21 years and is well-known
there as a player and as a professor of music.
She displayed a full, sweet tone and high technical skills
in Mendelssohn’s challenging score, and there was obviously a strong rapport
between herself and the conductor, James Ross, a visiting American who has
appeared in Durban before. The high point, as ever, was the surpassingly sweet
slow movement of the concerto.
The compositions of Charles Ives (1974-1954) range from the traditional
to the avant-garde. His second symphony is an entirely accessible work, rather
romantic in mood, skilfully orchestrated, with many references to American folk
music.
The orchestra players were in fine form, James Ross guiding
them with insight and enthusiasm.
The audience responded with prolonged applause.
Nevertheless, the fact is that there were many more empty seats than usual in
the hall. There is no doubt that the choice of programme affects the size of
the audience.
The concert opened with a resounding performance of
Beethoven’s Fidelio Overture. The programme note said three times that
Beethoven “struggled” with various forms of composition, and added that he “was
constantly reinventing the wheel”. An odd assessment of the greatest
composer of them all. - Michael Green
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