A weekend to savour for KZN’s music lovers
LAST Thursday’s symphony concert in the Durban City Hall will be remembered as one of the most exhilarating events in recent seasons of the KZN Philharmonic’s World Symphony Series.
The live-wire energy of the evening’s acting concert master, William Harvey, combined with the mercurial authority of Daniel Boico on the podium, ensured superbly focused playing throughout the all-Beethoven programme.
Boico’s taut traversal of the Coriolan Overture’s austere terrain effectively contrasted with the exuberance of the Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello. Ireland’s Fidelio Trio delivered finely integrated, if occasionally self-effacing, accounts of the latter work’s solo parts.
The evening closed with a performance of the Second Symphony that saw sparks flying at the whip-lash close of its finale. Details of the KZNPO’s Late Spring Season, which runs from October 19 to November 16, will appear in the next edition of this column.
A number of events are on offer for music lovers at this weekend’s Hilton Arts Festival. The KZN Youth Orchestra perform Sundowner Classics in the festival’s Falcon Tent venue this evening at 6.30pm. The programme includes items by Bach, Mozart, Verdi and Tchaikovsky, as well as popular evergreens.
A series of recitals will be held in the Hilton College Chapel. Tomorrow at 10am Steinway pianist Christopher Duigan performs a programme that includes Handel’s flamboyant Chaconne in Major, Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata, Debussy’s Reflections on Water and Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise.
Pianist Andrew Warburton appears at 2pm with the Violeta Osorhean (violin) and Sorin Osorhean (horn). Their programme includes Beethoven’s 6 Bagatelles Op 126 and his Spring Sonata for Piano and Violin Opus 24, followed by Brahms’s Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn Opus 40.
Sunday’s programme opens at 9.30am with piano duo Carin van Graan and Chanie Jonker playing Brahms Waltzes and Hungarian Dances. Duigan returns at 11.30am with a programme of nostalgic light classics entitled Songs My Mother Taught Me, conjuring a bygone era of family gatherings around the piano.
Friends of Music’s concert on Tuesday (September 19) features the Siberian Trio, comprising Liezl-Maret Jacobs (piano), Elena Kerimova (violin) and Boris Kerimov (cello).
They will perform famous piano trios by Haydn, Arensky and Schubert. Jacobs will also accompany the evening’s prelude performer, 16-year-old Rachel Luyt (saxophone) of St Mary’s DSG in Kloof, in a short piece by Richard Rodney Bennett.
Starting at 7.30pm, FOM concerts are presented at the Durban Jewish Centre, 44 KE Masinga Road. Safe parking is provided, and booking is through Computicket.
Sing with One Voice – an annual one-off event of choral music and dance featuring Catholic schools from the greater Durban area – will be held at Emmanuel Cathedral as a fund-raiser for the Denis Hurley Centre on Wednesday (September 20) at 6pm. This year’s theme is “A Song for World Peace”.
Participating schools are: Thomas Moore Kloof, St Benedict’s Pinetown, St Francis Mariannhill, and Maris Stella Berea. The music will be complemented by learners from the KwaThintwa School for the Deaf (founded by Archbishop Hurley) who will perform a showcase of dances.
The programme culminates with all choirs joining in to sing the beautiful English folk song, Oh Shenandoah. Entry is free and all are welcome. A collection will be taken for the Denis Hurley Centre.
Safe parking at the Cathedral is provided. Tea will be on sale after the concert.