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 News from Around Banderas Bay | May 2008 
The Oldest Private Chamber Orchestra in the World - from Stuttgart to Vallarta!
 Cecile Scriban - PVNN
| | Michael Hofstetter has been head director of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (Orquesta de Cámara de Stuttgart) since September 2006. | | |
An unparalleled treat, the Stuttgart chamber orchestra in its 60th year, the world's oldest international professional chamber orchestra, just inaugurated Jalisco's 11th Festival de Mayo on May 9 at Guadalajara's Degollado Theater, then headed down to Puerto Vallarta with the same ambitious musical fare on May 15 at the Krystal Hotel. This Opening Concert is one of the eleven other performances ably organised by the Jalisco Secretariat for Culture with this year's invited country, Germany.
Most interesting, though a deceptively short program with only three works, the packed hall was initiated with Mozart's well known 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' played in its entire 4 movements. Instantly with each bow the 16-member string players, violins to double bass played as a unity, the familiar themes flowed flawless, expressive and pure as fine spun gold-threads, and floated, delicate and feathery light transporting the hushed audience back to the Classical era of refined Viennese elegance...
With the next 22-minutes, the program moved to the Romantic period and as a contrast, to a much lesser known work - that of young Felix Mendelssohn's early Concerto for violin and string orchestra in D minor Op 40. It has three movements and, though greatly influenced by luminaries like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart his early compositional maturity was evident through his intuitive grasp of form, harmony/counterpoint, and colour, displaying emotional intensity not always found in his larger works. Needless to say, the phenomenal technique and moving lyricism rendered by the solo-violinist Benjamin Clay Hudson's was most convincing... certainly a violin concerto gem to be remembered for a long time.
As the magic of the musical soirée unfolded under the expert conducting of Michael Hofstetter, the enchanted audience was treated to another even less heard romantic work in the same key of D minor - that of Franz Schubert's 40 minutes 'Death and the Maiden' Quartet, thus named after the 2nd movement's macabre theme, the very tune from a previous composition, "Der Tod und das Maedchen" lied (song), at a period of Schubert's own impending death. In four movements, the music restlessly shifts from D minor to G minor in 2/2 time, and back to D minor in 3/4, to finish with a driving 6/8 tarantella tempo in a triumphant key of D major.
Finally by 10:30 pm, after enthusiastic 'bravos' and unending applauses, our throng of elated starry-eyed music lovers made their way out of Jalisco Salon into the balmy May evening.
Truly a unique and unmatched classical music experience for us Vallartans! |
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