PROLONGED APPLAUSE: Maria du Toit, of Cape Town, is one of the country's most accomplished clarinettists. PROLONGED APPLAUSE: Maria du Toit, of Cape Town, is one of the country's most accomplished clarinettists.
A world premiere is a distinctly unusual event on the Durban musical scene, and the latest concert of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra in the Durban City Hall was therefore a special occasion.
And indeed it turned out to be a triumph for the orchestra, the soloist and the composer, who was in the audience.
The composition, given its first performance, was a clarinet concerto by David Earl, who was born and schooled in South Africa but has lived in England for the past 40 years. Born in Stellenbosch in 1951 and educated at Rondebosch Boys’ High, he made his first appearance with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra as a pianist at the age of 17.
He began composing in England in the 1970s and his works include three piano concertos, a trumpet concerto, a violin concerto, a choral symphony, ballet music, film music, piano pieces and an opera, Hamlet.
He teaches music at Cambridge University. The clarinet concerto was played in Durban by Maria du Toit of Cape Town, one of South Africa’s most accomplished clarinettists. It is an interesting and attractive work.
Earl is a traditional type of composer, quite modern in style, but not aggressively and abrasively so. He describes this three-movement, 25-minute concerto as “neoclassical in structure”. There are many long, flowing melodies for the clarinet, and the solo instrument is expertly balanced against rich orchestral textures.
The slow movement displays the clarinet’s limpid tone at its best, and the virtuoso final movement is a set of variations on a 14th century French song. All this was much appreciated by the audience, who gave prolonged and deserved applause to the soloist, the orchestra, the conductor, Arjan Tien, and of course the composer, who took a bow at the end.
In conversation with me Earl said he was much impressed by our orchestra, a real compliment coming from such a prominent figure.
English music was the theme of the concert, with the orchestra responding well toTien’s baton. Tien comes from the Netherlands and has been a guest conductor here for the past 15 years.
The programme opened with The Wasps Overture by Ralph Vaughan Williams, an adornment to a comedy by the classical Greek writer Aristophanes, and later we had two works by Edward Elgar, his Serenade for Strings and the Enigma Variations.
The high point of the latter was a splendid and resounding performance of the famous Nimrod variation – noble and inspiring music. – Artsmart.co.za