Sinfonia Christkoenig: Pèter Somodari from Vienna and a new composition by Thomas Doss ensured highlights.
The popularity of the concert series Sinfonia Christkoenig in the Friedenskirche can hardly be topped. Last Sunday the seventh anniversary of the patronage of the Vienna Philharmonic was celebrated whose continuation has been guaranteed for the next three years.
Credit belongs to Eduard Matscheko, founder of this project, who – thanks to his well-known congenial gesticulation – always manages to present an impressive performance. This is also the result of many years of intensive work with his symphonic orchestra. Last Sunday a remarkably great number of young musicians played with a lot of commitment und enthusiasm, which sometimes was even a bit overdone. Mozart’s Es-Major-Symphony, KV 543, limited itself to rather stark contrasts and could have done with more differentiated dynamics. Scoring with show effects is not Matscheko’s cup of tea.
The preceding pieces of the programme were even more gratifying. First of all, there was a new piece from Thomas Doss‘ remarkable oeuvre, that was written to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Johannes-Kepler-University of Linz: „Somnium“ – music for a symphony orchestra, inspired by Johannes Kepler’s tale of a trip to the moon. An orgy of celestial sounds, which draws our attention to the different techniques of instrumentation and also clearly shows mathematical and astronomical associations in some parts. Thomas Doss has succeeded in creating fascinating music based on a bizarre topic, especially by focusing on the phenomenon of overtone series.
It was to be expected that Schumann’s Concerto for Violoncello in a-Minor, op. 129 was to be the centre of whole concert. This concerto is not easy to approach and to perform. This was no problem for the Philharmonic soloist Péter Somodari, who presented the three interlaced movements with his organ-like sound flawlessly. He reached a complete identification as the resonances of his musical instrument mirrored the resonances of his musical soul. Instead of encores – especially long applause.