The verve and vivacity of the players captivated the
listeners. (Review by Michael Green)
The Friends of Music began their year of concerts at the
Durban Jewish Centre with a most unusual presentation, a programme of gypsy
music performed by five members of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
This group call themselves Gypsy Strings. They are led by
Ralitza Matcheva, a Bulgaria-born violinist, and the other players are Roberto
Palma, violin, from Italy; Annamaria D’Andrea, viola, also from Italy; Ralitza Todorova,
cello, from Bulgaria; and Stephane Pechoux, percussion, from France.
A very large audience attended this concert, and they
obviously greatly enjoyed it. The programme was a selection of traditional
Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian and Greek music in gypsy style, and the composers represented
included Georges Bizet, Bela Bartok, Pablo Sarasate and Johannes Brahms.
Most of this music was probably unknown territory to most of
the audience, but the verve and vivacity of the players captivated the
listeners.
Ralitza Matcheva introduced the items on the programme, and
it was a pity that she did not have a microphone; her comments were largely
inaudible. But this did not really affect the general enjoyment of the evening
as the players delivered the music with high skills and enthusiasm.
The prelude performer of the evening, supported by the
National Lotteries Commission, was Nontobeko Bhengu, a 17-year-old soprano from
Ndwedwe. Accompanied at the piano by Nina Watson, she sang arias from Handel’s Orlando, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Gershwin’s Porgy
and Bess. - Michael Green
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