Mixed bag of classics
William Charlton-Perkins reviews the closing
Winter Season concert of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2018 World
Symphony Series which took place on June 28 in the Playhouse Opera
Conductors: Cathrine Winnes, Msizi Mnyandu
Soloists: Nozuko Teto, Siphokazi Maphumulu
(sopranos), Ntokozo Mhlongo (alto), Khulekani Khumalo (tenor), Andile Dlamini
(bass)
Choirs: Clermont Community Choir, Durban
Symphonic Choir, Thokozani Choral Society
(Cathrine Winnes)
The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Winter Season in the
Playhouse Opera ended on Thursday. Perplexingly. With Norwegian Cathrine Winne
on the podium, we had an evening of music making that had the orchestra
sounding as if they were playing on autopilot. Not a player out of sync,
meticulously rehearsed, dispatching the goods like the pros they are. Each
musician on stage with eyes unremittingly trained on the score in front of
them, all the while Ms Winnes a determined presence on the podium, literally
delivering every beat, every cue, with palpable determination, as if
consciously underscoring her agents’ online pronouncement that “Cathrine’s
energetic musical style has seen her transcend classical music’s usual
boundaries.”
Usual boundaries? What we had in the first half were readings of
Beethoven’s Fidelio Overture and Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony
that struck this listener as described above, sparsely nuanced, short on
fantasy and poetry, but yes, big on energy that had a beginning, middle and
end.
(Nozuko Teto)
The second half of the evening offered a mixed bag of vocal and choral
items which, thanks to the evening’s soloists and massed chorus, provided more
aural ‘face’ to the proceedings. Following a full throated account of Handel’s Coronation
Anthem, ‘Zadok the Priest’, soprano Nozuko Teto gave a sensitive rendering of
Merab’s touching aria, ‘Author of Peace’ from Act 2 of Handel’s oratorio
Saul. This was followed by committed accounts of John Knox Bokwe’s ‘Plea
for Africa’, and Mnomiya’s ‘Madiba’ – a timeous centennial nod to
our illustrious former President, Nelson Mandela, with Brian Msizi Mnyandu on
the podium.
Sibisi’s Credo (Ngiyakholwa) from his Zulu Mass in B
flat, suggesting a large-scale Haydn choral ensemble, received a
whole-hearted outing, followed by an appropriately doleful Lacrimosa
from Mozart’s Requiem. If the inclusion of Haydn’s climactic ‘The
heavens are telling the glory of God’ from The Creation less than a
year after it was last performed on the World Symphony Series stage denoted an
unwonted degree of repetitive programming, it nonetheless provided a rousing
close. - William Charlton-Perkins
To link direct to the KZN Philharmonic’s
website click on the orchestra’s banner advert on the top of the page or visit
kznphil.org.za
Posts
