<<  -- 5 --  Tess Crebbin    TREADING NEW GROUND

'I think it was a very good cross-section of all things classical, ranging from ballet to large orchestra pieces to a rare a capella performance of Flight of the Bumblebee', said Dr Andrea Wolowiec, an Austrian who is in charge of public relations for the orchestra, following the immense success of the event.

'It was a very rounded performance that showed the artistic unity of the orchestra and the solo performers. There were a lot of young people in the audience and I think they enjoyed this glimpse of a cross-section of classical music through the times, ranging from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. We were able to also show different cultures, performing such popular classical pieces like Mozart's and Rimsky-Korsakov's while also introducing the public to lesser known composers, such as Zoltan Kodály (1882-1967) and his Doubledance from Kallo.'

The Hungarian composer, who used to walk through small Hungarian villages with his friend Bartók in order to find folk songs he could use for his classical music, is best known as a chorus composer. He wrote his doctoral dissertation about folk songs and was a worldwide authority on musical training for young people, having been one of the first to prove that young students who regularly sing classical music tend to perform better in all school subjects than their non-singing counterparts. His music at the concert was extremely well received, with several audience members asking to find out further details about the composer.

The orchestra's general manager, Dr Thomas Schmitt-Ott, believes that Zoltan Kodály (1882-1967) is almost tailor made for his orchestra's chorus. 'We have one of the best choruses in Germany,' he said, 'and the Kodály pieces, which are immensely moving but very difficult to perform, also because they are all in Hungarian, are a challenge that our chorus enjoys enormously. Kodály, who together with Bartók is one of the most important Hungarian composers of the last century, is not being performed as often as people would like to see him, precisely because there are not too many choruses capable of mastering the inherent difficulties of his music. So, one thing we would be really interested in, now that the concert has been such a success, is to perhaps consider a tour with chorus, performing Kodály.'

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