A treat for lovers of classical
CLASSICAL music lovers are in for a treat this weekend, with two unusual concert programmes on offer.
This afternoon will be a historical moment at the Emmanuel Cathedral when Monteverdi’s Mass for Four Voices is performed in a church context almost 400 years after it was written. It will be sung by the Durban Chamber Choir during a mass led by his Eminence Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier.
Raymond Perrier, with the Denis Hurley Centre, said that, these days, such pieces were only heard outside a religious context.
“The mass was composed for services in St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. Our own Emmanuel Cathedral – though not as ornate as St Mark’s – is just as imposing, and also has fine acoustics and is similarly built on a reclaimed marsh,” he said.
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player, who was equally at home composing and performing secular and sacred music. He is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of opera.
Perrier said that, historically, Monteverdi’s music would have been sung during a mass conducted entirely in Latin, but the mass that Cardinal Napier would be celebrating would have a lot more English.
“And we hope – unlike 1600s Venice – that Christians of all denominations and people of other faiths will feel welcome to experience this for themselves,” said Perrier.
Doors open at 5.30pm at no charge, although a donation to the Napier Centre for Healing is encouraged.
Tomorrow Durban City Orchestra’s conductor Russell Scott celebrates 10 years on the podium, with a programme of popular classics at Mariannhill Monastery.
Since taking over the orchestra upon his return from the UK in 2008, Russell has led them in large-scale symphonic works, as well as backing South African superstars Gangs of Ballet, Kahn Morbee and Ard Matthews.
The orchestra has grown into a respected and versatile ensemble of more than 50 musicians. Russell also teaches music and conducts the KZN Youth Wind Band.
The concert will feature co-principal cellist of the KZN Philharmonic, Aristide du Plessis, playing the Dvorak’s classic Cello Concerto. Opening the concert is Schubert’s enigmatic Unfinished Symphony No 8.
After interval, the programme features the lesser-heard Symphonic Dances by Edvard Grieg, known for his use and development of Norwegian folk music.
The orchestra returns to the Mariannhill Monastery Church, with its wonderful acoustics, for this concert that’s the first of three in a romantic masters series. It starts at 2.30pm and tickets are R100 (R80 for pensioners and students) through quicket.co.za – Staff Reporter