SYMPHONY CONCERT REVIEW: MOZART FOR TWO. On Thursday, 19 June 2025. At the Cape Town City Hall. Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted by Thomas Sanderling. Piano soloists: Tinus Botha and Megan-Geoffrey Prins. Mozart Overture to Entführung aus dem Serail. Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365. Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92. ALBERT COMBRINK reviews.
A light and entertaining programme to combat the winter cold, brought a full house to the City Hall for a programme, user-friendly as one could hope for – Beethoven and Mozart is as central to the performed symphonic canon as can get. Add to that the chance to see a conductor who has already had a 50 year career on the podium, and two pianists drawn from our local talent – both lecturers at SA Universities – there is much to celebrate.
Born in Novosibirsk, Russia, Sanderling’s CV is an international “Who’s Who” and “Where’s Where”, including becoming artistic director of the Halle Opera House at age 24, presenting the German premieres of Shostakovich’s 13th and 14th Symphonies, world premieres by Weinberg and Gubaidulina, a Grammy nomination and an ECHO Klassik Prize.
Not an ounce of unpredictability
Sanderling brought strict discipline to the concert: Stick-technique in the “old-fashioned” style (in a good way), made for a programme with virtually no continuity glitches and not an ounce of unpredictability. Balances were meticulously controlled and favoured the strings consistently – occasionally one forgot that there were also brass instruments on the stage. The question is – should one?
The light and cheerful overture to Mozart’s comic Singspiel “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” dives straight into the hustle and bustle of an exotic fairy-tale: a Viennese lady and her servant have been abducted to Turkey by the bad-guy Pasha Selim (and his servant), and a Viennese nobleman (and his servant) is en route to save her before her purity is compromised either by force or the seduction.
The story of the opera is actually based on true events happening in Mozart’s day: North African Barbary and Ottoman naval pirates (corsairs), operated primarily in the western Mediterranean, hijacking ships belonging to Christian states. The ship and cargo were usually sold or returned only after a ransom was paid. The purpose of the endeavour, however, was to kidnap the crew and passengers, in order to extort ransom money – and in some cases, to sell them into slavery. Protection money and tribute-payments was the order of the day. The Corsairs acted on behalf of, or with the acquiescence of, the local rulers in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This type of state-backed piracy finally ended after the French conquest of Algiers (1830).
But half a century before, Mozart was given the instruction by Emperor Joseph II to create a German-language comic opera, to push back against the Italian cultural spread, and Mozart chose to incorporate aspects of Vienna’s encounter with the Middle East: drums, bells, triangles and piccolos – all elements of the Ottoman Marching Bands that had struck such fear into the Viennese hearts mere decades before – open a joyful comedy where true love conquers all.
Sanderling’s Harem sounded a lot more Viennese than Turkish, with the exotic elements and quirky percussion effects being underplayed. Some might have preferred a bit more kick in their kebab. The slow section – which quotes the tenor’s lovesick aria – gave woodwinds a chance to show off long-breathed, delicate playing. The conductor was in no hurry, and presented a tempo that would have been hard for even a large-bellowed tenor to sustain. Fun as the overture is, some of Mozart’s overtures are not great stand-alone concert-works, as they are brilliant scene-setting menu-taster of what’s to come. That is the case here. Short and sweet, Very short.
Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos in E Flat Major, KV.365, was the result of a failed job-hunt, disguised as a concert-tour. He was desperate to get out of Salzburg and had hoped to secure employment virtually anywhere else. He came back with fresh musical ideas, and the creative leap in his writing was significant. The E Flat Major Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra KV.365 and the Two-Piano Concerto are the great duo concertos of this era. The work exists in two orchestrations, the first being slightly smaller and then a “Vienna Version” which added clarinets, tympani and trumpets. The smaller orchestration was used in this concert.
Mozart deliberately keeps the orchestral activity down, so that the dialogue between the two soloists can remain the focus. Sanderling kept out of the way – volume-wise especially, and the balance throughout was exemplary. Textbook, in fact. The two pianists, Prins and Botha, played with clarity and focus with nary a dropped stitch. E Flat Major was always a rather “grand-affaire” for Mozart, who wrote some of his most exuberant, celebratory music in this key.
I was waiting for that Mozartian moment, which is present in all great Mozart performances: a glimpse of Mozart the spiritual, with his deep awe at the greatness of the universe, and the naughty sense of humour where you get a glimpse of the 8-year old Wolfi running around Versailles, climbing under the table to give Marie-Antoinette a stolen kiss. Nope, no children running around the castle in this version, rather a serious conversation about a serious topic, most eloquently expressed.
Much of the concerto felt like chamber-music, expertly played, but by the third movement one was starting to predict the next “your-turn-my-turn” of the material being passed back and forth, and one wonders how that could be avoided. The work was conceived as a duo for Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl. I think their conversation would have been quite lively and filled with insider-jokes and humour.
Impressive credentials
Both pianists here, have impressive credentials. Prins pursued postgraduate studies with Antonio Pompa-Baldi at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the USA and currently teaches at the University of Pretoria. Botha studied with Jerome Lowenthal in Santa Barbara and later at Texas University. Botha and Prins have often performed together – once as “the orchestra” at the Aardklop Festival and then with four hands and two pianos in works by Tchaikovsky, Kapustin, Arnold van Wyk, and Grant McLachlin.
Botha says: “My mother’s cassette tape collection included a recording [of the Two-Piano Concerto], and I found it absolutely magical to listen to, even as a young child. The concerto exudes joy, and I remember being very impressed by the glittery passagework. It was only much later that I realised that Mozart is hard to play! The transparent textures don’t provide any hiding places, and expose wobbles and glitches mercilessly. Nonetheless, playing Mozart is always a special experience.”
And so is listening to it, when played by this polished team.
More Mozart: The exquisite encore, was an arrangement of a trio from the opera Così fan tutte, K. 588, “Soave sia il vento” (Arranged for Piano by the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo.) A breathtakingly beautiful take, on a very serious moment in another comic opera. The running strings of double thirds paint the winds on which the lovers pray their good wishes will be carried. It felt very slow, but beautiful.
Beethoven, Napoleon and French Horns have gone together since the explosive opening of the “Eroica” Symphony, first dedicated to Napoleon in celebration of the French Revolution, but then tearing up the dedication page, after Napoleon declared himself emperor. When I think of the Symphony No. 7 in A Major Op.92, my first memory would be the absolute glory of the two French Horns and the heroic funeral-march of the second movement. The heroic ecstasy was quite underplayed in this performance, and the funeral march was rather fast. I mention these arbitrary details, because there was much to enjoy in this concert, and yet I was not transported. Excellent playing, excellent conducting. Excellent ensembles.
The balance was excellent
But I felt like I was watching a dressage competition, where the rider is keeping the horse on a tight rein, giving absolute orders that are expected to be executed to the letter. But I wanted to see what would happen if you let go of the tight rein. I want a little bit more of the horse letting rip and running wild. Clearly, Sanderling has a very specific understanding of how the work should go, and like a good commander, kept the troops under control. Balance was so excellent that three pianissimo Double Bass Pizzicatos could create a counterpoint with a flute solo. The Brass was never allowed to dominate. In fact, one often forgot they were there. The fiercely demanding hornsalvos were thrilling, but the whole horse needed a bit more of a “Giddy-Up!”
Beethoven himself conducted the premiere at a concert to benefit Austrian and Bavarian soldiers wounded at the battle of Hanau in the tail-end of the Napoleonic Wars. Beethoven was overjoyed that Napoleon’s reign was finally coming to an end. In this enjoyable performance, we were not “overjoyed” but somehow, only “joyed”
The next concert: Winter Symphonies At The City Hall on 26 June 2025 at 19:30. Verdi: II Trovatore (Opera in Concert Version). Jeremy Silver will conduct. Afri-Arts Choir and Opera UCT with soloists Nontobeko Bhengu, Mkhanyiseli Dyantyi, Bongiwe Nakani, Theo Magongoma and Monde Masimini. Book here.
What: Symphony Concert Review Mozart for Two
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