A mixed bag of French classics. (Review by
William Charlton-Perkins)
William
Charlton-Perkins reviews the second Summer Season concert of the KwaZulu-Natal
Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2018 Word Symphony Series in the Playhouse Opera.
Canadian-Caribbean conductor Kwamé Ryan
returned to the KZPO’S podium with a programme of French classics, some of
fleeting appeal, others more substantial. Exuding an air of joie de vivre, the
evening opened on a sprightly note with the Overture to Gabriel Fauré’s charming
Masques et Bergamasques Suite, an early 20th century tribute to the world of the
18th century fêtes galantes.
The playful mood was sustained in the next
item, with a performance of the Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in D Major
by Cecile Chaminade (1857 – 1944). Whether the inclusion of this rarely heard
piece was a timeous token of solidarity with the current spirit of activism
promoting the stakes of women in global society is a moot point. Certainly the
engaging one-movement work, with its quick-silver orchestral writing and its
filigree solo passages, deserved the warm reception it got, as dispatched by
flautist Liesl Stoltz and her KZNPO colleagues.
Claude Debussy’s mesmerizing Prelude a L’apres-midi d’un faune,
likewise, received an idiomatic performance under maestro Ryan’s baton as a
fitting nod to the composer’s centenary this year. The shimmering haze of the
faun’s fantasy was palpably dreamlike in this groundbreaking composition,
inspired by the poem of the same title by Stéphane Mallarmé.
Liesl Stoltz is rightfully regarded as one
of South Africa’s finest soloists. Sadly, while Bizet’s Carmen has spawned several successful orchestral evocations of its
hardcore passions, François Borne’s Fantaisie brillante, based on themes from
the world’s most famous opera, isn’t one of them. If the piece has a certain
allure for a solo flautist, it didn’t work for this listener (although, in
fairness, it must be said those around me were wowed by Miss Stoltz’s dizzying
flights). The inherent qualities of the flute’s pure tones and wispy
bedazzlements work against the attempt to essay the steamy passions of the
gypsy girl’s sultry Habanera - and other extracts from Bizet’s masterpiece. An
improbable match if ever there was.
César Franck’s Symphony in D minor that
followed after intermission was another matter entirely. Maestro Ryan and his
players delivered an idiosyncratic performance of this challenging work. The
performance came close to tonal overload in the opening movement’s first
climax, then pulled back seamlessly into a lovely pizzicato interlude, before
the oboe took up its serene melody, sharing it among the winds and propelling
the strings into billowing motion. The dreamlike quality of the gently flowing
Second Movement Allegretto was almost filmic in Ryan’s adept execution,
creating an effective platform for the high voltage finale to make its full
impact. A memorable close to the
evening. – William Charlton-Perkins
(To
link direct to the KZN Philharmonic’s website click on the orchestra’s banner
advert on the top right hand of the page above the National Arts Festival
banner)
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