Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Korngold comes to Cape Town
German violinist Alexander Gilman makes debut at Kirstenbosch with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
IN CAPE Town, February and March are generally months when the weather is ideal for outdoor theatre and music: balmy evenings, low wind.
Kirstenbosch is in full swing with its Sunday evening concerts until March 31.
About 100 000 people are expected to attend the season this year and a number of concerts have been sold out.
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Kirstenbosch gig is always a popular drawcard and this year’s concert on Sunday, February 24 is generating a buzz because of the headline artist, German-born Alexander Gilman, who is playing the rousing Korngold Violin Concerto under the direction of Brandon Phillips.
He has three concert engagements in Cape Town.
The first was this week with the CPO at the City Hall, conducted by Victor Yampolsky.
The third concert is on the Cape Town Concert Series platform (on February 23) at the Baxter Concert Hall, when he will be performing with his wife, the pianist Marina Seltenreich.
Gilman is 36. Seltenreich is 37. They reside in Switzerland and are considered hotties on the classical musical circuit – with their charismatic stage presence, coupled with craft.
And then there is the Kirstenbosch gig on February 24 with the centrepiece The Korngold Concerto.
It is an expansive concerto – bold and varied instrumentation and motifs by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
A Jewish émigré from Austria to the US, he was the quintessential crossover artist.
As a child prodigy – a composer and pianist – he was superstar in his teens and at an early age was known for his creativity in orchestrating and performing works.
Korngold’s theatrical flair and innovative streak caught the attention of Austrian-born film director Max Reinhardt who, in 1934, invited him to Hollywood to adapt a score for a film. Korngold wisely left Nazi Europe and took up his baton in Hollywood. He composed music for 16 Hollywood films, received numerous nominations and won two Oscar awards – Anthony Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of
Robin Hood (1938).
When he became disillusioned with the Hollywood track, he went back to composing classical concert music.
He wrote the Korngold Concerto in
1945.
Insights into your approach to the Korngold Concerto?
“There are so many fantastic violin concertos – Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. My all-time favourite is the Korngold Concerto.
“The feeling I have on stage while performing it is indescribable. Those harmonies; these magic sounds coming from the orchestra… Korngold was working for Hollywood and there is a lot of film music in this concerto. In my performance I try to keep up the magic of his Hollywood sound and give the audience the feeling of being in the middle of a movie from the Fifties.”
This is the first time you are playing at Kirstenbosch and are producing the tour to this country.
“Yes, yes, yes – very excited. I love South Africa and am very much looking forward to performing there. The tour was produced with big support of the CPO. Many thanks to the management of the CPO.”
Your association with the CPO goes back to 2010?
“My first time performing in South Africa was with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra at the City Hall, the Barber Violin Concerto in 2010. In the following year we recorded a CD with the violin concertos by Barber and Korngold and the Carmen Fantasy by Waxman and Schindler’s List by John Williams. Since my first performance, there is a very close and warm friendship with the CPO and the city.
“I have been coming almost every season since then.”
● Tickets for the Kirstenbosch Summer Series and the Cape Town Concert Series may be booked at Webtickets.