Cantata Singers of Ottawa
HomeNews & Reviews > Great Composers Festival - Southam Hall, NAC (9 July 2002) Content updated 14 November 2002

NAC musicians shine in spotlight

By Steven Mazey
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, July 11, 2002 ©2002

Joanna G'froerer
Joanna G'froerer showed her flute virtuosity in a Bach partita.
Anyone who attends National Arts Centre Orchestra concerts regularly doesn't need to be told of the exceptional talents of flutist Joanna G'froerer, oboist Charles Hamann or trumpeter Karen Donnelly, but there was a refreshing reminder Tuesday night when the three orchestra musicians each took turns in the soloist spotlight.

The third program in the orchestra's Great Composers Festival was an all-baroque evening, and the concert's first half was turned over to the three musicians. In Bach's Partita in A minor for solo flute, G'froerer's playing was at its usual high level, and she made the difficult, breathless first two movements sound effortless and lyrical, no easy feat in passages where there are precious few obvious places to take a breath. There was even more pleasure in her warm and sensitively phrased playing in the Sarabande.

Pinchas Zukerman picked up his fiddle to team with Hamann in Bach's Concerto for oboe and violin in C minor. Hamann and Zukerman blended together beautifully, both in the bright, lively outer movements and in the radiant slow movement. Hamann's singing tone was particularly tender and subtle here, with a real bloom to the sound. There was also an exuberance and elegance in the orchestral playing that marked the entire evening.

In Fasch's popular Concerto for Trumpet, Two Oboes and Strings in D major, Donnelly maintained the high standards set by her colleagues. She tossed off the virtuosic fast passages with a ringing brilliance but also managed to give the brief adagio a lilting quality that showed the subtleties of which the trumpet is capable. Zukerman and the orchestra offered sensitive accompaniment, with sparkling contributions from oboists Hamann and Francine Schutzman.

A highlight of the evening was a piece that hadn't been announced in the advance publicity: the Chaconne from Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin. It was performed by the young German violinist Viviane Hagner, a former student of Zukerman's who gave a memorable performance of Bartok's Sonata for Solo Violin at last summer's festival.

Hagner's performance of the hugely demanding Chaconne was on an equally high level. The piece is full of fiendish technical challenges and its emotions span a wide range, and Hagner's masterful and mature performance was hair-raising. She showed a sense of line and structure that was impressive, and she drew listeners into every note. Hagner is a talent to watch.

The program was rounded out by two pieces featuring the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, Bach's motet Der Gerechte kömmt um and Vivaldi's Kyrie in G minor.

Choir director Laurence Ewashko prepared the choir with his usual care, and the singers were in fine form, offering warm, full-bodied sound, both in the sombre motet and the wider-ranging Kyrie.

Before the orchestral concert, Ottawa's Thomas Annand presented a brief harpsichord recital. The instrument is often swamped when it's used with orchestra, so it was refreshing to hear Annand on his own. His playing is always musical and thoughtful, and he was particularly memorable in the demanding Scarlatti sonata that closed the program.

The Great Composers Festival continues tonight with an all-Mozart program. At 6:15 p.m., clarinetist Kimball Sykes, another of the orchestra's star players, will be heard in the Clarinet Quintet in A major, joined by Zukerman, violist Jane Logan, cellist Amanda Forsyth and violinist Donnie Deacon. Zukerman will conduct the orchestral program at 7:30 p.m., featuring the Symphony No. 25 in G minor, the Serenade No.6 in D major and the Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, with Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear as soloist. Tickets, $14 to $34, include both programs.

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