CLASSICAL MUSIC: Coenraad Visser
IN his long overdue debut season with the National=20 Symphony Orchestra Gerard Korsten has shown that=20 there is more than a grain of truth in the=20 assertion that there are no bad orchestras, only=20 bad conductors. Faltering and often awkward as a=20 result of its encounters with a seemingly endless=20 string of mediocre imported conductors, the NSO was=20 revived and inspired by the young South African.
Korsten’s ability to win over his orchestral forces=20 to give more than their best has been demonstrated=20 time and again. But never has his boundless energy=20 and supreme musicality had such dramatic effect=20 than in the way in which he transformed the NSO=20 strings into a unit that at times recalled the NSO=20 in its heyday.
His repertoire was carefully chosen, with two=20 smaller-scale works challenging the virtuosity of=20 the ensembles. The Richard Strauss piece was=20 perhaps the more successful, sharply etched and=20 almost flawlessly executed. Stravinsky’s Pulcinella=20 was as vividly characterised, although here=20 Korsten’s uncompromising demands did show up the=20 lack of virtuosity on the part of the string=20 principals.
Of the larger-scale works, Schumann’s third=20 symphony glowed with a natural warmth, which,=20 coupled with a pervading sense of noble dignity,=20 marked Korsten as a romanticist of note.
But the most glorious performance came in=20 Beethoven’s fourth symphony. One guesses that=20 Korsten’s close association with Nikolaus=20 Harnoncourt in recording this composer’s works has=20 informed Korsten’s own vision of this work. Strong=20 dramatic contrasts, clear textures, soaring=20 lyricism in the slow movement and a spirited final=20 movements made for the most riveting performance of=20 a symphony in this city for many years.
Of the soloists, Margarita Shevchenko was=20 magisterial and most moving in Chopin’s first piano=20 concerto, and Andrew West nimble in Beethoven’s=20 second.
Sad, then, to reflect that Korsten has been forced=20 to take up a conducting position in Sweden because=20 all similar South African positions have been=20 offered to foreigners.
Pavel Sorokin conducts works by Rachmaninov and=20 Khachaturian at 8pm on Wednesday and Thursday in=20 the Linder Auditorium