CYBER SUMMER FESTIVAL CONCERT 1
Recorded at Cape Town City Hall on January 20, 2022
Streamed February 17 – 24, 2022
Conductor Bernhard Gueller
Soloists David Juritz (violin)
Zorada Temmingh (organ)
Elgar Nimrod, from Enigma Variations
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, K. 219, “Turkish”
Saint-Saȅns Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ Symphony”
Review by Dr Martin Goldstein *
There are several layers of meaning and emotion in Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations. Indeed, as the work’s title suggests, there is an element of mystery in each variation.
Each variation was meant to depict a different one of Elgar’s friends. The work began its genesis with Elgar improvising on the piano in a manner that depicted each of these friends. Elgar was known for his love of enigmas and wanted the inspiration for the work to remain a secret. Another enigma is why Elgar should take an interest in writing variations when he did. Whatever his motivation, his “Nimrod” variation in the work is certainly one of his most passionate outpourings. In the orchestra’s performance of the work, there was beautiful vibrato in the upper strings. Each phrase flowed into the next. The crescendi followed a smooth ascent. The music conjured up the image of a vast, sweeping vista. We ascended above the clouds and beheld a glorious, rolling panorama. The orchestra played from the heart knowing that this opening work was chosen to honour the memory of a few close but significant individuals in the music world who had recently passed on during the pandemic. It was a rendition of such beauty.
Mozart wrote his Fifth Violin Concerto no more than twelve weeks after his Violin Concerto in D major, K. 218. Still, it shows his growing sophistication in composing for the solo violin. There is a new spaciousness of design with greater attention paid to the overall architecture of the work. There is also a better balance between the soloist and the orchestra. One of the striking features of this work is the A minor section in the final movement. This consists of a sequence of five melodies of which Mozart took the first, second, fourth and fifth directly from Hungarian (in those times, “Turkish”) folk music. Perhaps most striking of all is the second melody, which he had used three years earlier in his ballet music Le Gelosie del Serraglio. It consists of a series of stark leaps in the melody accentuated with sforzandi and a powerful bassline. In the orchestra’s performance of the work, the soloist was David Juritz. He is a South African violinist who hails originally from Cape Town. He started playing the violin at the age of five. He studied at the South African College of Music and was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London. Having learnt from several acclaimed teachers there, he went on to become the head of the London Mozart Players. During this time, he made many notable international appearances both as a soloist and as an orchestral director. In 2018, he started his trio, the Briggs Trio. In addition to releasing several acclaimed recordings, Juritz has made some important transcriptions for string instruments. He has toured the world, often funding his travels with busking. He remains in demand as a chamber musician and is respected for his continued commitment to helping young musicians from developing countries. In the orchestra’s performance of the Allegro aperto, there was crisp articulation. Juritz’s entrance on the violin was unfazed. An unflustered performer. He displayed light bowing and achieved much with minimal pressure on the bow. He was able to maintain a straight trajectory of the bow across the strings with his limited pressure. His spiccato remained true despite this. In the cadenza, Juritz maintained
the same sentiment as in the opening but it was clear that he had exerted himself. In the Adagio, Juritz was not excessively Romantic. He remained tastefully Classical. He savoured the long, high notes and made the whole thing seem easy displaying notable crispness. There was such pathos and longing in the music. In the cadenza, Juritz executed the double-stopping effectively and displayed good legato on the long phrases. He coped well with the passages in the upper register together with their harmonics. In the Rondeau. Tempo di Menuetto, there was a jolly atmosphere with the same crispness of attack as in the opening movement. Juritz displayed flawless playing throughout the work. The more oriental, “Turkish” style passage was rousing and enjoyed by the audience, particularly the famous passage in A minor with the large leaps in the melody and the col legno accompaniment in the lower strings. The music conveyed great optimism.
Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony employs the thematic transformation he had begun experimenting with in his programmatic overture Spartacus (1863) and later with his four symphonic poems Le rouet d’Omphale (1871), Phaéton (1873), Danse macabre (1874) and La jeunesse d’Hercule (1877). He would continue this practice of thematic transformation in his later works such as his Fourth Piano Concerto (1875) and ultimately with his “Organ” Symphony (1886). Before the orchestra’s performance of the work, acclaimed Principal Guest Conductor Bernhard Gueller gave an introduction. He discussed Saint-Saëns’ many talents and his varied and worldly knowledge. Gueller gave some background to the work’s commission and the honour that it did Saint-Saëns coming from the Philharmonic Society of London. Gueller noted that the composer was a great pianist and organist and that his work represented the high point of his career. In the orchestra’s performance of the Adagio, a suitably pensive atmosphere was created. In the Allegro moderato, there was mounting excitement and the music reached a plateau. The rising arpeggios in the brass were majestic. The music sounded characteristically French with its chromatically inflected tune. In the Poco adagio, there was a misty feel which conveyed the feel of the French countryside. There was a feeling of melancholy in the strings. Guest Concertmaster Suzanne Martens provided a beautiful melody that soared above the strings. The organist, Zorada Temmingh, coped well with the rapid changes in registration. Gueller saw beauty in the finer things, particularly the final D-flat major chord in the strings and organ. In the Allegro moderato, the woodwinds and strings intoned the famous “war” theme. In the Presto, the piano made an entrance with its whimsical rapid scale passages. The atmosphere was fairy-like with the effects in the triangle. The orchestra appreciated Saint-Saëns’ forays into species counterpoint towards the end of the movement with his exploitation of the Gregorian chant “Lucis creator” – the same theme utilized by Mozart in the finale of his “Jupiter” Symphony and generations of other composers. In the Maestoso Allegro, there was a
grand entrance on the organ. The music displayed such a rich combination of timbres. The organist relished the majesty of the music and the addition of cymbals and brass took it to ethereal heights.
Dr Martin Goldstein holds a PhD in Music from Bar Ilan University in Israel, a Masters of Music from King’s College London and a Bachelors of Music from the University of KwaZulu Natal. He lectures at the University of Fort Hare. His area of research is stretto in Bach’s instrumental fugues; he plays the piano, violin and pipe organ and also writes reviews on KZNPO concerts.
