Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra performing at the Qatar National Convention Center. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra performed the “Best of Mozart” concert yesterday to a full house at Qatar National Convention Center.
The audience were serenaded with the music of Don Giovanni Overture, regarded as one of Mozart’s supreme achievements and one of the greatest operas of all time. Clarinet Concerto in A Major, the first note-worthy and remarkable work written for the clarinet, and Linz Symphony in C Major.
Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra Executive Director Kurt Meister told The Peninsula that “Mozart is one of the famous composers in the world, Mozart has many different colours and emotions and I think it is very important to have him, without him, music would not exist.”
Concertmaster and conductor Joo Young Oh, in an interview, said the concert is very special and was originally planned in March or April but due to restrictions, it was moved to a later date. “All of us were very happy to play this programme.”
The orchestra had only three days rehearsal for the said concert, disclosed Joo Young Oh, a tight schedule to practice.
He narrated on how they chose the pieces for the programme which he likened to a 3-meal course. “Let’s have a nice opening piece and Don Giovanni is one of the greatest of operas to begin with and I figured this overture would be a great opening to go with the clarinet concerto and symphony, so it’s like getting like a 3-course meal, you have the appetizer, entree, and desert. So the audience can enjoy the bits of Mozart within 70 minutes.”
Rony Georg Moser meanwhile performed the Clarinet Concerto which is the second piece featured. In an interview he said that “it’s one of the famous concert for us and one of the famous concerts we have to play for clarinet.”
Moser who is the Principal clarinetist of the orchestra also teaches at Qatar Music Academy said there is a growing number of kids being interested to play clarinet. “In the academy, we have the Western and Arab department, the most famous [instruments] are violin and piano, to date we have between five to ten students per year and the youngest is between six or seven years of age who are playing clarinet.”
Asking about how do they feel to be doing a concert after a long break due to COVID-19 pandemic, Joo Young Oh said: “It’s really great, I think inside everybody was eager to play, they are really thrilled to be back on stage, and now we are able to do it, we can not be any happier.”
Meanwhile, Moser said: “It feels really good to be back on stage. It’s a good feeling for us, the most important thing is you play for an audience. I get the chance to play solo again so it’s nice.” One notable personality who attended the concert was Switzerland Ambassador to the State of Qatar, H E Edgar Doerig in which he described it as “very pure and great.”
