'Memorial to Martin Luther King' Highlight of the evening
If it is true, as William Schumann suggested in his introductory remarks to
the playing of his Concerto in old English Rounds, that much of the joy
of music is derived from familiarity; most orchestras do an excellent job of
giving their audiences a good time.
To its credit, the program of the Gala Concert given by the Canadian Chamber
Orchestra under Victor Feldbrill on Saturday evening in the Eric Harvie Theatre
at the Banff Centre was not one of these. None of the three compositions
performed was either old or familiar and all demanded a great deal from the
audience which was, for the most part, willing to co-operate.
[...]
The second work on the program was Oskar Morawetz's Memorial to Martin
Luther King for Solo 'Cello, Winds, Percussion and Piano. This composition
turned out to be the highlight of the evening. Morawetz has written a very
effective and moving piece of music which was, it must be admitted, considerably
aided and abetted by the detailed notes supplied in the printed program. Still,
it is one of the best Canadian works I have heard and, in time, it should rank
with the Berg Violin Concerto, with which it has much in common, as one
of the monuments of 20th century music of its kind.
While the composition itself is very fine, much of the impact of this
performance stemmed from the very sensitive playing of the solo 'celloist,
Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Once again he gave a performance of consistently high
quality. In place of the instrumentalists supporting him rose to the occasion,
but in others their inexperience showed through and their playing was somewhat
tentative.
[...]
