After seven months in lock-down, the musicians of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra have broken out and gone live, and you can see the results streamed in November. Four chamber music concerts, supported by the City of Cape Town, were recorded in October at Erin Hall, Rondebosch, in front of a very small, socially distanced, and appreciative audience.
The works they performed showcased the musicians in a chamber music environment, allowing them to show they are just as skilled in an intimate work as in a huge symphonic one. Says CEO Louis Heyneman, “this was the only way we could ensure our supporters could hear good music which our musicians loved performing.
“It was, at the time, the only way in which we could perform in front of a live audience. We are recording two symphony concerts for streaming in November but until our usual venues open to audiences out hands are tied.” Works included some of the most loved pieces of the symphonic repertoire which were arranged for chamber groups.
This is a chance to hear repertoire as you may never have heard it before – Beethoven Concerti, Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Elgar’s Cello Concerto all with a string quintet. Concerts feature almost every single CPO musician and its two guest concertmasters Farida Bacharova and Suzanne Martens, all of whom are eager to perform live once more.
The CPO is augmenting the line-up with some of its popular soloists: pianists Nina Schumann and Albie van Schalkwyk and two superb young pianists, Qden Blaauw and Mike Wang. New to the CPO is the brilliant young clarinetist Féroll-Jon Davids, a student at the University of Stellenbosch, who will perform the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with a string quartet.
Online subscriptions for the four concerts are R320, and single tickets R100 each. Tickets here: https://www.quicket.co.za/events/117345-online-streaming-ticketing-symphonic-masterpieces-in-miniature/#/
The full programme:
November 5 to 9 streaming from 20:00 Mozart Serenata Notturna K 239 Mozart Symphony no 40, K550, arranged for wind quintet Shostakovich Chamber Symphony (Op 110b)
November 12 – 16 streaming from 20:00 Mozart Overture, _The Magic Flute,_ arranged for Brass Quintet Beethoven 2nd Piano Concerto with Qden Blaauw (piano) and string quintet Beethoven 1st Piano Concerto with Mike Wang (piano) and string quintet
November 19 – 23 streaming from 20:00 Bach Orchestral Suite no 2 in B Minor with Gabriele von Dürckheim (flute) and string quintet Elgar Cello Concerto with Peter Martens (cello) and string quintet Beethoven Symphony no 2 arranged by the composer himself for piano trio – (Albie van Schalkwyk (piano), Suzanne Martens (violin) and Eddie McLean (cello)
November 26 – 30 Mozart Clarinet Concerto with Féroll-Jon Davids (clarinet) and string quartet Brahms Piano Quartet Op 25 in G minor with Nina Schumann (piano)
