Eternal Mozart, with his musical interpreters, shower us with their talents. Sabine Meyer and the Kammerorchester Basel gave us all that we could want to make the evening journey in thunder and rain to the Saanen Church a major musical event.

Here we were once again with continual proof that Mozart’s prodigious talents can transport us to the highest plane of musical appreciation. With the enormous talent of clarinettist Sabine Meyer and conductor Giovanni Antonini energetically supporting Kammerorchester Basel, we are now totally spoiled. Ms Meyer has probably played the Klarinettenkonzert hundreds of times, but this evening's performance was like she had received it yesterday from the genius composer himself. Instead of another reading of it, she made it feel so fresh. Her enthusiasm for the piece is evidently never lacking. She gave us the instrumental flights of a soprano voice as well as low delicious dark colours.

The clarinet, a relatively new instrument in Mozart’s time, belongs in the continued programming for the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. This was proven on Wednesday evening.

The orchestra’s reading of the 41. Mozart Symphony demonstrated why a musician a few years after the composer’s death in 1791 called it “the Jupiter”. Aptly named for the Roman God sitting on a cloud controlling thunder and lightning, it was beautifully played and led by talented musicians.

The evening’s music all fit into the acoustics and ambience of the Saanen Church. We are indeed privileged that this marvellous building is the centrepiece for the Gstaad Menuhin Festivals.

CLAUDE MARSHALL

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