NACO concert offers marvellous conjunction of happy stars
There are too few concerts these days that provide unalloyed pleasure as they
both startle and excite. The program being offered by the National Arts Centre
Orchestra in the NAC Opera this week is one of those occasions.The concert is
a marvellous conjunction of happy stars. It begins with a 75th birthday tribute
to one of Canada's most distinguished composers, Oscar [sic] Morawetz, and
continues with [...]
[...]
The Morawetz piece that opens the evening is his Sinfonietta for Strings
written almost three decades ago yet filled with a timelessness that is the
hallmark of so much of this composer's work.
There are three contrasting movements and I suspect that the composer was
both surprised and pleased by what Decker chose to see in his score.
The outer movements seemed to flow by effortlessly but the slow sections of
the second movement were made to resonate with a warmth and inner pain that was
most affecting.
At the close, the ovation from the audience was genuine and it was good to
see the members of the orchestra rise to greet the composer on stage with a
rendition of Happy Birthday. It was a graceful tribute to a great
gentleman.
[...]
