Royal Opera House Muscat celebrates cellos and Czech composers

The concert featured the renowned Czech orchestra with conductor Jakub Hrusa and Canadian-German cellist Johannes Moser

Muscat: It was a celebration of the cello and two Czech composers when the PKF-Prague Philharmonia orchestra visited the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) on Wednesday evening.

The concert featured the renowned Czech orchestra with conductor Jakub Hrusa and Canadian-German cellist Johannes Moser. The programme included two Czech composers, Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana.

It's not often that the cello is highlighted in orchestral music. The cellists are always visible near the front of the stage, doing their part to make the orchestra sound beautiful, but cello concertos are rather rare so hearing Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op 104, B. 191 was a lovely treat. The second movement is particularly gorgeous, with deep, warm, slow cello sections that are very emotional and stirring. 

Moser plays with intensity and drama, not just letting the bow and cello create the music, but using his face and body language to convey the message of the music, too. His brow furrowed in concentration; he rocked and caressed the instrument; his arms waved after big, dramatic notes; finally his face shone with triumph when he finished his last note. 

He proved why he is among the best cellists today. 

As the music finished on the stunning Cello Concerto in B Minor, no doubt many in the audience, including this reviewer, were wishing they could hit a repeat button and listen to it all over again. 

After the intermission the PKF-Prague Philharmonia took to the stage again, this time with a composition that truly shows their Czech pride, Smetana's six-part composition Ma Vlast (My Country). Smetana celebrated Czech landscapes, rivers, towns and even mythology. The music is exciting and colourful and does indeed evoke images of grandness and royalty associated with castles, flowing water, and open meadow. 

A marathon composition, it runs about 75 minutes long, so it's a daunting piece to play at once.  Maestro Hrusa was sweating last movement, his efforts clearly noticeable. The musicians, meanwhile, played with enthusiasm and passion right to the end, earning themselves a standing ovation. 

The PKF-Prague Philharmonia is a wonderful, energetic orchestra and hearing them play the music of their homeland was special. To have Johannes Moser play with them was even better, and for many it will be a classical concert to remember.