Forrester holds the spotlight
ANDREW DAVIS'S choice of music for last night's first Toronto Symphony concert of the New Year provided
numerous opportunities for members to show off their musicianship in varied solo fragments. The results proved generally good, but not good enough to steal the spotlight from contralto Maureen Forrester, soloist in the premiere of the orchestral version of Oskar Morawetz's Psalm 22. The enthusiasm of the Roy Thomson Hall audience was uncharacteristic of the reception usually accorded new works by TS subscribers.
That does not mean a radical audience change. Morawetz is an imaginative and emotionally communicative composer, especially when he specializes in laments and elegies. Psalm 22 - My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? - has been interpreted by the composer through his views of the Nazi concentration camps of the Second World War. Composed for Miss Forrester, the original version for voice and piano was well received in its premiere, with Morawetz at the piano. It seemed to me more moving - possibly because the interpretation was more personal - but the new version achieved grander effects with its powerful orchestral climaxes.
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