The Deutsche Philharmonie Merck performed to a full house at the Shilpakala Vedika, on Gandhi Jayanti, 2nd October 2011, in a programme brought to the city of Hyderabad to celebrate “Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities”. Goethe Zentrum’s Amita Desai was the gracious host of the evening. Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary,
To Tourism, Archeology and Museums, Government of A.P. and Lawrence Ganti, Director Pharmaceuticals, Head, Merck Serono India
The Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, is a philharmonic orchestra of 60 professional musicians of 40 nationalities made up of groups of instrumental sections: String section - violins, viola’s, cello’s, double bass. Woodwind section – clarinets, oboes, a bassoon, flute, piccolo. Brass section - trumpets and trombones, french horns and, Percussion section – a timpani. The Deutsche Philharmonie Merck is conducted by the distinguished Wolfgang Heinzel and offers its audiences a wonderful palette of musical textures and tones.
The orchestra began the evening with a beautifully rendered National Anthem of
The first piece of music in the programme was the Leonore Overture No 3 by Ludwig Von Beethoven. An overture is a fairly short instrumental composition used to introduce an opera; and what a fitting composition this was to start the evening’s programme, ‘a symphonic poem’. Beethoven composed Leonore Overture No 3 as an overture to his only opera, Fidelio, of which Leonore was the heroine. The Deutsche Philharmonie Merck interpreted this overture as a comprehensive story, a complete drama in itself. The whole orchestra was the vehicle for its exposition, and the compositions’ energy, pace and flow was modulated with great smoothness and control.
The next piece, Flute concerto No. 2 in D major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the orchestra had Flautist Henrik Wiese, the featured soloist, play a ‘jugalbandi’ (concerto -a duet) with the orchestra. Mozart’s compositions are lively, melodious, emotional, universally appealing and a joy to listen to, and to my mind (arguably), the remarkably gifted Mozart was the greatest composer of beautiful, complex and extraordinary music.
As required in this Flute Concerto, only two oboes and two horns remained on stage with the strings. The brass and woodwind section therefore exited and Henrik Wiese took his place at the front of the stage.
This perfectly balanced composition for flute and orchestra was an eloquent display of proficiency of both the orchestra and the soloist. The first movement was a light and clear composition with a slow centre which highlights the soloist and places the flute in its most liquid range, and makes the orchestra serve as a backdrop with beautiful melodic and rhythmic orchestral motifs, the soloist, Henrik Wiese, exhibited exceptional technique, tone and breath control. His playing - fluid and agile; his effortless breathing making us hold our breath in awe, and his smooth fingering during the long phrases making us wonder if he had more fingers than us ordinary humans. The finale of this flute concerto was ebullient and vivacious though it started off sedately, leaving the audience invigorated as Mozart always does.
Brahms Symphony No 3 in F major was the last and the longest piece of the evening. Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 - April 3, 1897) Symphony No 3 is in four movements and was written in 1883. It is said that Brahms desired to write music that was worthy of standing next to that by Beethoven. This composition was a little difficult to get a handle on, and I was not shaken out of my senses by it as I was in the Mozart Flute Concerto, but, on resuming close listening after losing concentration for a short while, I could empathise with the work, all four movements are quiet and gentle, almost pastoral, like a walk in a forest; although there were unusual modulations in the stately first movement, there were parts that stood out; it was pleasant to hear the clarinet; and in the third movement the heavy foundation of the tympani, and the cello’s and double basses, followed by the French-horn solo. And then when it ended, I realised, that though I had fought to retain attention in the beginning, it was really a well designed composition and one began to understand the role of the conductor as an interpreter and custodian of the music.
Wolfgang Heinzel, the silver maned conductor of the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, is more than a time keeper, guide and controller of the musicians in the orchestra, he doesn’t just point out soloists’ and indicate dynamics: He showcases the proficiency of the whole orchestra - which is his instrument - and he is an interpreter who brings to light the music’s artistry to the audience as he did in the Brahms third Symphony, which was not an easy piece by any means.
The evening ended with a standing ovation to the orchestra, and with three encores, the first, a piece, by Tchaikovsky and the other two by Brahms – both Hungarian dances, which are light pieces and very listener friendly, after all, they are dances! In Hungarian Dance No.1 we heard a piccolo flute; and the Hungarian Dance No 5, seemed familiar to the audience. Each Encore got the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck another standing ovation.
Shilapakala Vedika was a fitting venue for this performance, with a large stage and good acoustics.
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