Audience give a standing ovation at the conclusion of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert at the Qatar National Convention Centre yesterday. Pic: Raynald C Rivera /The Peninsula
Nostalgic, exuberant, and hopeful. The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra’s first-ever appearance on stage since the pandemic hit the audience right in the feels.
Wearing face masks during their performance, 40 members of the orchestra came together in one stage yesterday playing for the audience with the same passion despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.
Following the Ministry of Public Health’s guidelines, only 90 people were allowed to watch each of the two shows at the Qatar National Convention Centre Auditorium 3, all wearing face masks and observing social distance all throughout the show.
“We are very happy that we are performing today for the first time after a long lockdown. It’s a pity that it’s the last concert of the year and we have limited time and number of musicians onstage - only 40- and 90- audience are allowed but I’m sure everybody will enjoy,” Kurt Meister, Executive Director of Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, told The Peninsula before the start of the first of the two concerts yesterday evening.
For the first time, the orchestra would play without a conductor, said Meister, amid all the challenges of the pandemic including on travel. It was the concertmaster, French violinist Lyonel Schmit who led the orchestra during the concert which lasted for only one hour but was packed with classical and romantic staples and concert favourites from Mozart to Tchaikovsky to Beethoven, among others.
Opening with the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony in A Major, the well-applauded show concluded with the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in C Minor followed by an encore.
Familiar and famous pieces On the Beautiful Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, Jr., Palladio by Karl Jenkins, Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata’s Prelude to Act 1 and Morning Mood from Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 were met with numerous ovations from the excited audience. Completing the diverse repertoire were the first movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, and two selections from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker including March and Russian Dance.
But the show saved the best for last when the whole orchestra greeted the audience Happy New Year followed by a surprise performance of Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson which cheered and lifted everyone’s spirits up.
