CLASSICAL MUSIC: Coenraad Visser
AS if to compensate for the All Blacks’ defeat on the rugby field, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa conquered all with an .astounding performance at the Sun City Superbowl. Even with paltry support from the National Symphony Orchestra (in this repertoire, why use a poor radio orchestra while an excellent opera orchestra twiddles its collective thumbs?), this was by far the best operatic recital in this country since Birgit Nilsson’s in the mid-1970s.
In her collection of showstoppers, there was nothing that Dame Kiri could not do to perfection. Whether in Handel or French or Italian arias, her voice was immaculate, the perfect vehicle to realise vividly the composers’ wishes. Charpentier’s Depuis le jour and The Jewel Song from Gounod’s Faust were simply breathtaking, sending shivers down one’s spine.
Unexpectedly, the Broadway numbers fared less well. Apart from an expressive With One Look (from Sunset Boulevard) in which she outdid Glenn Close in imbuing the words with dramatic meaning, the results were either bland or contrived (especially in a disturbingly syncopated reading of Bernstein’s Somewhere). Her rendition of an integrated version of our two national anthems was a moving end to an unforgettable recital.
With the Transvaal Philharmonic Orchestra Gerard Korsten gave a gripping performance of Brahms’ fourth symphony. This reading was characterised by a perfect balance between great bursts of energy and moments of searing lyricism and tenderness, above all in the rapt slow movement. This was easily the best performance of a symphony heard this year in Gauteng.
In the same composer’s Double Concerto, Piet Koornhof (violin) and Human Coetzee (cello) were secure and eminently civilised, but finally too reticent and self- effacing to convince completely.
The highlight of Vladimir Viardo’s Samro benefit recital was his world premiere performance of Stefans Grove’s Nonyana the Ceremonial Dancer. The sharp rhythms and stark tonal picture ideally suited Viardo’s abrasive style.
Earlier Viardo rashly thundered his way through Liszt, Chopin and Debussy. In Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert songs, Viardo belted out the melodic lines, clearly showing his unfamiliarity with the originals. Chopin’s Barcarole and Nocturne Op 48 No 1 showed scant regard for the composer’s distinctive style, while Debussy’s Estampes received a literal performance completely at odds with the subtle nuances and tonal colours of the composer’s writing.
In the end the results were predictable — crashing cords and fistfuls of wrong notes, and an impatience to get through more tender and gentler passages.
In his first encore, a transcription of a Franck organ work, Viardo showed a more sustained sensitive side to his playing. Why did we have to suffer for so long before we were treated to it?
Vladimir Viardo gives public masterclasses in the Old Mutual Auditorium at Unisa on July 1 at 2pm and 8pm