Guelph Spring Festival Opening
The opening concert of the ninth season of the renowned Guelph Spring
Festival, which was played before a packed house, can only be described as a
triumph. Between the world premiere of Oskar Morawetz's Harp Concerto and the
appearance of John Carpenter, the 1976 first prize winner of the Metropolitan
Opera National Council Regional Auditions, we were treated not only to a very
fine evening of genuine music making, but also with an evening which will not
easily slip from memory.
[...]
Of the following work, however, there were no reservations. This was Oskar
Morawetz's Harp Concerto, in its première performance, featuring the fine
harpist, Erica Goodman. From the first measure we are made aware that this is
music not for the mind alone: it is music truly for the heart and soul. It is a
stunning piece, highly original in its use of the harp but, perhaps more
significantly, the innovations are entirely an outgrowth of the musical flow.
This is truly one of the hallmarks of Dr. Morawetz's style: he is imaginative
but capable of sustaining a musical thought over an extended period, thus
leaving us an organic whole, not merely a series of disconnected morsels of
ingenuity.
As for the performance itself, the Hamilton orchestra, though somewhat
cramped on the War Memorial Hall's stage, transcended these difficulties with
ease. But the spotlight was clearly on Erica Goodman who had not only a chance
to show her technical skill but her artistry as well. Both of these she carried
out admirably. In the dazzling second cadenza of the first movement there was
not a sound in the hall save for Ms. Goodman's playing. And this mood in the
audience remained throughout, a tribute surely not only to Dr. Morawetz's moving
and exciting composition, but to the performers and Ms. Goodman in particular.
There is not a massive repertoire of concerti for harp and orchestra; as the
Guelph performance showed, this newest addition more than justifies its
immediate assimilation into the standard repertoire. It is to be hoped that this
concerto will be given hearings in many centres in the next few years; there are
already plans afoot for a Winnipeg performance this fall. Ms. Goodman is
fortunate to have this strong work in her repertoire and would be an ideal
candidate to perform and spread such a thoroughly likeable concerto
internationally.
