Chamber music à la carte

The musical chefs at the 2019 Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival prepared the perfect feast at last night’s final Faculty Concert. The four-movement menu was carefully selected and balanced to satisfy the palates of the musicians and the audience alike.The evening began with a “toast” by Festival Director Peter Martens in anticipation of the supreme Russian artistry that would be exhibited later in the evening, as he welcomed the vice-consul from the Russian Consulate in Cape Town.

All four items on the programme were showpieces for string instruments. Hence, it was appropriate to begin with a work that was a crucial ancestor in the evolution of the concerto as we know it today – Vivaldi’s Concertofor four violins in B minor, Op. 3, No. 10, RV 580. This piece is taken from “The Harmonic Inspiration”, a collection of string works by Vivaldi that has been described as the most important contribution to orchestral music from the 18th century. 

The outer movements of this fast-slow-fast work are both in ritornelloform, unfolding as series of alternating orchestral and solo episodes. The opening Allegrofeatured expressive conversations amongst the four soloists – Marc Bouchkov, Andrej Bielow, Madeline Adkins and Suzanne Martens – while the central Larghettoforeshadowed the famous shivering scene that would appear some years later in “Winter” from The Four Seasons. Scintillating playing from each soloist was observed in the final movement, with support from…

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