Concert review: Mozart’s Dark Side

strated in the encore, a Schubert Impromptu.

has been a long time coming.

A near-record audience for classical music attended Saturday’s (Feb. 4) Kamloops Symphony Orchestra concert — Mozart’s Dark Side — at Sagebrush Theatre.

The number of spectators was exceeded in the past five years only by the performance of Carmina Burana.

Guest pianist Maxim Bernard, here for the third time, was certainly a draw this past weekend.

His lyrical style was beautifully demon-

The program itself was a mixed bag. The themes jumped from a musical interpretation of the coronavirus pandemic, to a musical interpretation of a late 19th-century play, to Mozart’s experimental use of a minor key in a composition for piano and orchestra.

I say experimental as this was the first of six written in a single year and the one which followed a month later “could hardly be more different in character” (notes on Phillips’ Digital Classics).

This was an odd choice for the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra as a big Mozart work

The two evocative” works — Kelly-Marie Murphy’s In the Time of Our Disbelieving and Sibelius’ Pelléas and Mélisandre were certainly that as both were thoughtprovoking. Kudos to the wind section for its portrayal of the conflicting emotions of Mélisandre.

The Kamloops Symphony Orchestra will switch to pops on March 10 and March 11 with guest soloist Sarah Slean, an incredibly talented gal with a beautiful voice.

Tickets are available online at kamloopslive.ca or by calling 250-374-5483.