The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra presents a concert of 'Romantic Masters', starting with Berlioz' 'Roman Carnival Overture', then Saint-Saëns' Nile-inspired 'Piano Concerto No 5', and Dvořák's patriotic 'Symphony No 7'.
Pianist Somi Kim with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra Photo: RNZ
The 'Roman Carnival Overture' by Hector Berlioz was originally intended as a prelude to the second act of his opera Benvenuto Cellini, a largely fictional story about the Florentine sculptor. Unfortunately for Berlioz, the work was savaged by audiences at the premiere, and it sank into obscurity. But he did extract this music which stitches together themes from the opera, including the famous cors anglais melody we hear at the beginning, and the wild saltarello folk dance that accompanies the carnival scene set in Rome’s Piazza Colonna.
Somi Kim, pianist Photo: Jen Raoult
The French composer liked to escape Paris in the dreary winter months, and was known for his love of travel. In 1896, he journeyed to the temple town of Luxor in Egypt where he completed this work. Full of exotic melodies, in the second movement we hear a theme based on a Nubian love song that he heard boatmen sing while sailing the Nile, and even the croaking of frogs. The final movement opens with music that hints at the low rumbles of a ships’ propellers.
South Korean born New Zealand pianist, Somi Kim has established herself as one the nation's most sought after young pianists. Fans of the NZTrio will be familiar with her stylish and colourful playing after she joined them in 2019. She studied in London at the Royal Academy of Music where she has been named an associate artist. In 2021, she performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in Gershwin’s Piano Concerto. She’s sought after as a chamber musician, song accompanist and répétiteur.
After the concerto, Kim played SATIE's 'Gymnopédie No 1' as an encore.
Prague in winter Photo: Julius Silver, Pixabay
On the surface, Dvořák's seventh symphony is a work of pure music inspired by Brahms’ monumental Third Symphony. Dvořák and Brahms admired each other greatly, and not long after hearing the German’s new symphony, a theme came to Dvořák while watching a train filled with festive Czech nationalists arrive in Prague.
In fact, they were there for a musical evening supporting the political struggles of the Czech nation, and within days of that event, the first movement was sketched out, and Dvořák wrote to a friend: “I am now busy with the symphony for London, and wherever I go I can think of nothing else. God grant this Czech music will move the world!”
While this symphony is overshadowed by Dvořák’s New World Symphony and the Eighth, critics and musicians are often big fans. The famous musicologist Donald Tovey said that “along with the...Brahms symphonies, and Schubert’s ninth, it is among the greatest and purest examples in this art-form since Beethoven.”
Recorded 2 July 2022, Douglas Lilburn Auditorium, Christchurch Town Hall.
Producer & Engineer: David Houston, Assistant Engineer: Alex Harmer.
