Nothing sounds more exciting than a music festival! Gather your family and friends, because the Klein Karoo Klassique, Oudtshoorn’s festival of classical music, is back and takes place from November 27 – 28.
“It is wonderful to present this festival of classical music in Oudtshoorn once again and to head into the festive season in this way. Everyone is invited to breathe in the music and enjoy this escape in the Klein Karoo with us,” says Hugo Theart, Artistic Director of Klein Karoo Klassique.
“Without the support of the Rupert Music Foundation over the past eight years, Klassique would not be possible. Join us in Oudtshoorn for a summer celebration by the country’s top classical musicians, with a programme that includes something for every taste.”
The festival begins on Saturday November 27 at 10am with Guy Buttery and the Gqeberha Quartet. Together, David Bester (violin), Jan-Hendrik Harley (viola), Lynn Daphne Rudolph (viola), Mariechen Meyer (double bass) and Guy Buttery (acoustic guitar, sitar, and mbira) create an enhanced musical interaction between contemporary classical music and Buttery’s distinctive compositional style. Each member of the quartet is treated as an independent musical voice, creating unique string textures.
Saturday at 3pm, Nina Schumann, one of South Africa’s foremost pianists, returns to perform in Oudtshoorn in Beauty in Variation/Variation in Beauty. In this recital, the juxtaposition of works by four composers – Bach, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff and Medtner – serves to underscore not only the traditional variation form and its “recomposition”, but also the conversation that can be had between composers based on shared aesthetics.
Renee van der Westhuizen (second violin), Emile de Roubaix (violin), Dane Coetzee (cello) and Petrus de Beer (first violin) present a Sunset Concert at Karusa on Saturday at 6:30pm, with a special programme of popular classical music, music from musicals and well-known films, and even a few classical adaptations of popular modern hits. This exceptional string quartet performs works from Mozart to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Katy Perry to Bach, with the Karoo sunset as a backdrop for a classical open-air experience. Guests can arrive early and enjoy Karusa’s à la carte menu for a wonderful family evening under the Karoo stars. The programme includes a short interval.
Klassique draws to a close on Sunday November 28 at 11am with A Baroque Christmas. Members of the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra [Lynelle Kenned (soprano), Joshua Frank (recorder) and Erik Dippenaar (harpsichord and director)] present a programme of Christmas music from the
Baroque, much of which is still included in our regular Christmas repertoire today. The programme includes extracts from Handel’s Messiah and Corelli’s Christmas-concerto as transcribed for keyboard around 1780 by Thomas Billington, as well as popular Christmas carols such as Isaac Watts’ Joy to the World from 1719, and O come, all ye faithful from the mid-1700s. The music is complemented with season appropriate readings by Sandra Prinsloo.
“A special ticket package is available for all four recitals, at a saving of 20%. Tickets can be purchased online at Quicket. Bring the whole family to enjoy this celebration of music with us,” says Theart.
The art also reminds music enthusiasts about an early Christmas concert by Coenie de Villiers and Deon Meyer. Audiences from across the country raved about De Villiers and Meyer’s Karoo Suite 1 & 2 and now these two masters and Karoo enthusiasts have put together a special show, Karoo-Kersfees which takes place on 25 and 26 November at 19:00 at the beautiful Surval Boutique Olive Estate in Oudtshoorn. Karoo-Kersfees promises to be an unforgettable and special experience for the whole family. Tickets for this experience are also available at Quicket.
Celebratio Pomegranate Farm also presents a special Classical Klein Karoo Christmas on 11 December. This open-air concert has become a regular event in the Klein Karoo. Lynelle Kenned shares the stage with the ever-popular Jannie Moolman and Corlea Botha. They are accompanied by members of the Stellenbosch Choir, under the direction of Paul Loeb van Zuilenburg. Tickets are available online at www.celebratio.co.za or at PostNet in Oudtshoorn. The farm is approximately 30km outside Oudtshoorn on the old cement road.
For more information on any of these recitals, visit www.klassique.co.za, or call 044 203 8600.
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Picture: Supplied