ROLAND PEROLD

New accompanist joins the Brutal Tunes team for Stirling theatre run.

Currently in Durban for a short time working towards a collaborative piano recital, Roland Perold will join the effervescent Brutal Tunes team of Lisa Bobbert and Anthony Stonier when the show runs at the new Stirling Theatre in Durban North.

Having performed to high acclaim and successful critical review, the multi-award winning brutal cabaret is back! Bristling with sharp wit and comedy and overflowing with musical ability, audiences should grab the opportunity to enjoy such talent as well as music by Sondheim, Noel Coward and Tom Lehrer.

Well-known classical pianist Andrew Warburton normally makes up the brutal trio and the show was specifically designed to highlight the talents and excellent working rapport of this highly energetic threesome. Directed by Caroline Smart, the music revue is filled with comedy, clever (and brutal …!!) lyrics and outrageous fun. It is mad cap and macabre with a mixture of mystery, murder, mayhem and mirth mixed together for massive ‘musement!!

Unfortunately, Andrew Warburton is not available for the Stirling Theatre run and the show is liable to take on a completely new look and feel with the inclusion of Roland Perold at the keyboards. An accomplished classical musician he is more than capable of upstaging Bobbert and Stonier, adding enormously to the brutal atmosphere!

Roland grew up on the South Coast of KZN where he matriculated at Port Shepstone High School. He moved to Durban to attend University and was appointed as accompanist and assistant conductor for the KZN Youth Choir whilst studying, accompanying them on tours to Europe on four occasions. Roland was seen in the Playhouse festive season productions of The Sound of Music (2005) and My Fair Lady (2006). Having completed his Bmus(Hons) degree in 2007 he decided to move to Cape Town to further his studies at the prestigious Waterfront Theatre School.

In Cape Town, Roland completed his Licentiate in Drama, various levels of dance training in the styles of Tap, Jazz and Modern Dance and received special notice for his outstanding work in Musical Theatre; passing his Licentiate in Musical Theatre with a very high distinction. In 2008, he played Stephen Hoffman in Old Wicked Songs which originated at the Masque Theatre and later enjoyed a second run at the Artscape Arena in 2009. Also in 2009 Roland acted as Musical Director for The Return from Oz.

In April of this year Roland presented a series of cabaret performances on the “RMS St. Helena” as entertainment for the FMR Music Cruise. Trying his hand at producing, Roland mounted the musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change acting as musical director and later entering the role of Jordan. After a very successful run in Cape Town the show went on to win the 2010 Standard Bank Ovation Award at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. Roland also appeared in Autobahn by American playwright Neil Labute during festival.

Brutal Tunes runs at the Stirling Theatre at the Italian Club in Durban North from September 3 to 5 and again from September 11 to 12 with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 20h00 (19h00 Sundays). Tickets R80 pp with an optional menu or BYO picnic/snacks. There is a cash bar but regrettably no credit card facilities. Plenty of secure parking is available. Bookings on 082 970 0002 or email bookings@stirlingtheatre.co.za

NJABULO MADLALA

Durban-born opera singer, Njabulo Madlala, first prize winner of the 2010 Kathleen Ferrier competition, will be giving two workshops next week. These are open to the public. He will be working with five students from the Opera School. These workshops will take place at the Jubilee Hall (OSCA) on September 7 from 15h00 to 18h00 and on September 8 from 14h00 to 17h00.

More information from Mandy Wilken, Concert organiser of the UKZN School of Music on 031 260 3353 or email: wilkenm@ukzn.ac.za

CLASSICAL NOTES

A pianist in good company. (Column by William Charlton-Perkins, courtesy of The Mercury)

A pianist’s life is a lonely one. If often so, this aphorism hardly applied to Christopher Duigan last week when he shared the Howard College Theatre stage with his colleagues oboist Magrit Deppe, violist David Snaith and fellow-pianist Andrew Warburton in an evening of music-making that will live in the collective memory of their audience for years.

The first half of the programme comprised a satisfying selection of chamber works by Schumann, his wife Clara Wieck, and two composers previously unknown to me, Charles Leoffler, and August Klughardt. The latter’s Schilflieder for Oboe, Viola and Piano Opus 28, in particular, proved a notable discovery that sent me scuttling home to seek it out online.

The big guns were brought out in the second half. Seated at a pair of Steinway concert grands, the two pianists set the place alight (after engaging in an equitable bout of verbal jousting to set the tone for their ‘encounter’) with a dazzling performance of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448 that obliterated any potential pitfalls of sounding overly busy or ‘dainty’. They brought to the piece a sense of gathering momentum that was both controlled and breath-taking, each off-setting the other with complementary touches of individuality which belong only to artists in full technical and interpretive command.

They then took on the heights and depths of Rachmaninoff, alternating sonorous bells with filigree flights in three contrasting movements from the composer’s Fantasie-Tableaux Suite for Two Pianos No 1, topping off the evening with Gershwin’s cheeky rag, Sweet and Low Down.

If you missed them, you can catch them reprising this wonderful fare and more in the opening concert of the Music Revival Series at the Hilton Festival on September 17.

Other concerts in the series include 1000 Baroque Music for Two Violins; Duigan’s two Celebrating Chopin programmes; a special bicentennial Schumann programme entitled A Poet’s Song, featuring the UK based SA baritone, Njabulo Madlala (winner of the 2010 Kathleen Ferrier Award); Last Night of the Hilton Proms; another Schumann programme on Sunday, and much more. Visit www.hiltonfestival.co.za for full programme details.

Meanwhile back home, note that Friends of Music’s next recital at the Jewish Centre is on Tuesday September 14. The young Russian virtuoso Vassily Primakov, hailed in the American press as ‘A Pianists’ Pianist’, will play music by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Shostakovich. Call 031-202 7822.

And as it’s Celebrate Durban time, a note that a musical highlight in this busy programme is the opening concert of the KZNPO’s Spring Season. Entitled For the Love of Tchaikovsky, this is themed around the composer’s much-loved Violin Concerto in D Major. In keeping with the evening’s Russian character, the concerto will be complemented by a performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5 in D Minor. Victor Yampolsky will be on the podium partnering the evening’s soloist, the prizewinning young Swiss violinist, Sibylle Tschopp.

The following evening, Friday September 17, the KZNPO performs at another Celebrate Durban event, the opening concert of the Glenwood Community Festival. Tickets cost R60. For more information about this family musical outing, call Jolene Kruger on 031 201 5165. To subscribe to the KZNPO’s Spring Season, call 031-3699404 or email bookings@kznpo.co.za.

Finally a note that we have a vibrant new source of creative energy on Durban’s classical music circuit, one that seeks to spread the love of the genre to new enthusiasts. The initiative of enterprising and gifted violinist Ralitza Cherneva, this performs under the banner of its newly launched title, Ancore. For information about the group’s wide ranging programmes, including a variety of fun theme concerts, log onto www.ancore.co.za or call 082 495 4236. - William Charlton-Perkins

FASHION AT SMME FAIR

The SMME Fair is an annual event hosted by the eThekwini Municipality’s Business Support and Markets Unit to afford SMMEs an opportunity to showcase their products and services, network and establish business links with big businesses; acquire and share information to enhance their businesses.

Running until September 5, this year’s event features over 500 exhibitors including national exhibitors are co-ordinated across all sectors to participate. In excess of 15,000 visitors are anticipated during the show. The conference attracts small and big business to listen to high profile speakers to the public and private sector discussing imperative issues affecting the growth of businesses.

This year the show took another gear and partnered with newly-formed KZN Fashion Council, a partnership between eThekwini Municipality, KZN Department of Economic Development and the Department of Trade and Industry.

Taking place on September 4 is The SMME Fashion Show; and at the helm of that brilliant creativity is Fashionista and International Fashion Show Producer, Danny Moodliyar. Danny has represented South Africa internationally showcasing its designers as well as Africanism itself.

This year’s theme is The Rise of Durban. “Just as the magnificent mythical free-spirited bird The Phoenix rose out of the ashes; so will the new Durban,” say the organisers. “Symbolising a rebirth ... a revival … the Phoenix represents rebirth and immortality. It has a plumage of gold, scarlet, blue and green. The Phoenix has long been presented as a symbol of rebirth, immortality and renewal as is Durban; a city with a mixture of the most vibrant colours, fun, passion and warm friendliness.”

Entrance to the SMME Fair at the Durban Exhibition Centre is free and all are welcome. More information from Winile Mntungwa on 031 311 4442 or email: mntungwaw@durban.gov.za

NOMUSA XABA

It's Been a Long Time Coming... - the launch of a touching memoir about an astonishing life.

Launched at the Durban Art Gallery on August 6, Nomusa Xaba’s It's Been a Long Time Coming... is the story of one woman's artistic and political journey from the tiny village of Robbins, Illinois, to East Africa—and her passage through the Westside of Chicago, the Civil Rights movement, and the Anti-Apartheid struggle on her way. The publication is a tenderly-written, hugely-personal reflection on the incredible life and personal journey of Nomusa Xaba – an African American artist, storyteller and activist.

The launch formed part of the evening programme which celebrated Women’s Day in the Durban Art Gallery. Izikhwepha Zethu (Our Strength) is the Durban Art Gallery's annual exhibition which started in 1998 and was initiated and curated by Phumzile Dlamini to celebrate Women's Day.

KEVIN “BLOODY” WILSON

Australian stand-up artist doesn’t disappoint. (Review by Neebha Budhoo)

Kevin “Bloody” Wilson appeared at the Playhouse last week. As a fan of his for many years, having seen him perform in Australia in the late eighties, I was really looking forward to a refreshing bit of humour that broke some of the rules that holds so many comedians back from making it big.

Listening to the chatter from the audience members before the show, everyone was looking forward to a few hours of un-PC entertainment, and no-one was disappointed. We realised that everyone attending was almost chuckling at the thought of the delight that Kevin was going to give - an honest take on subject matter which would otherwise be construed as highly offensive in our daily life. And on some levels, everyone was grinning at that thought. Like a tacit indulgence. Definitely not for the prudish, I told my partner.

The show was opened by Jenny Talia (great voice), Kevin’s daughter, who ripped into men from every angle possible with every kind of verbal weapon conceivable. Her songs were crude, dirty, the language was out the gutter and yet she managed to engage the audience at every moment. I asked my partner how Jenny’s lyrics made her feel as a woman and she said: “Not any less of a woman”. Sometimes she was even laughing harder than I was. Jenny sang all her songs from a woman’s perspective but I’m not sure if she propelled a feminine agenda. I don’t think I would go quite as far as saying that. One could argue it, I’m sure. One could also argue she was every bit as good as her father, if not better.

“You can’t kiss at a Kevin Wilson Show” was my reply to my partner who in a moment of soppiness, asked me to furnish her with a kiss during the first five minutes of the show. And that I realised that was the stark reality of Kevin Wilson for her. I tried to explain that you needed a firm, steady set of gonads (metaphorical or otherwise) to sit through Kevin’s show. It was not for the faint-hearted; not in the eighties, not now.

It didn’t matter what race, religion or culture you belonged to, no-one was spared Kevin’s caustic tongue. That was clearly evident when a nice friendly couple sitting in front of us, who hardly twitched through Jenny’s introduction and looked as if they had been anaesthetized while she was performing, calmly got up and walked out 10 minutes after Kevin got on stage. We saw it coming. This was, of course, while almost everyone else was roaring with laughter, falling off their seats, singing along and filling in the blanks that Kevin cued.

Meanwhile, to our left, some raucous young gentleman decided that his opinions mattered more than the person whom everyone had paid to come and see and decided to start shouting them loud enough to disturb others, to which one brave lad asked him to shut up, and in true Kevin-style. The fracas that erupted left the inebriated one thrown out, doing in Kevin’s words the “last lager waltz”.

Recommended like Eno to digestive gas. - Neebha Budhoo

EARTH DANCES 2010

Durban Dance Unlimited's Earth Dances 2010 has a three-night run at Crawford La Lucia.

Presented supper theatre style, this explosive dance theatre season features work by the creative Lamb sisters (Megan and Sharon), Enver Moolla, GMW, Musa Hlatshwayo and others. The programme covers hip hop funk to Jazz, modern, tap and Afro-contemporary.

Earth Dances 2010 has performances from September 3 to 5 at 18h30 at Crawford La Lucia. Tickets R50 per stand and R60 a table. Bookings and more information from Sharon on 082 414 5972.

MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES #243

Peter Hoyer, who is well-known in the liquor industry, had a novel idea when he and his wife Annette held a wine tasting at their home recently for our private tasting group. Six red wines with widely varying characteristics were presented. As usual, the tasting was blind; we were not told until afterwards which was which. And as usual we were given descriptions of the wines as clues. The unusual angle was that, instead of turning to learned references by lofty wine writers, Peter simply took the descriptions from the labels of the bottles with, I think, a little help from the producers’ websites

Broadly the six wines represented the following features: chocolate, coffee, pepper, berry, meaty and, wait for it, sexy. A little fanciful, perhaps, especially the last, but we had a lot of fun trying to sort them out. It was not easy. I have the theory that wines of high quality are more difficult to identify that than those that are more rough and ready, and the Hoyers’ six were all of high quality.

The most expensive wine on the list was one called The Chocolate Block, made by the Boekenhoutskloof Winery at Franschhoek. The name is self-explanatory, and the wine was described as having spicy notes supported by ripe plum, black fruit and violet aromas and --- chocolate. It is a blend of shiraz (69 percent), cabernet sauvignon, grenache noir, cinsaut and viognier. We found the 2008 vintage excellent, with a dark colour, a rich bouquet and complex flavours. It sells at R160 a bottle, and I suppose it is to our credit that it was given top place, on an average of the marks, in our blind tasting.

Second in our scoring was The Berry Box, a wine made David Finlayson at his Edgebaston cellar at Stellenbosch. This is another multiple blend:shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and merlot. The vintage was 2008 and the wine showed lovely full flavours that could develop even further with another couple of years of maturation. Interestingly enough, this wine has a screwcap, a closure being used more and more often for top-grade wines. The price is R60. Rather good value, I would say.

Third place was occupied by one of the “coffee wines” that have become popular in the past year or so. This was Boland Kelder’s Cappupinoccinatage, an impossible name really, like “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”. As the name suggests, it is a pinotage with mocha, coffee flavours, a 2009 vintage. Very attractive, and a big wine.
At a price of R47 it is, like most Boland Kelder wines, good value. Boland Kelder is at Paarl; kelder of course means cellar. It was established in 1947 and used to be called Boland Co-op. Today it has 96 wine farmer shareholders.

Perhaps our tasters weren’t in the mood, but they gave only fourth place to The Very Sexy Shiraz (yes, that’s its name) from the Cloof winery at Darling. I personally gave it first place on my scoresheet but I was defeated by my more reserved colleagues. The wine is apparently advertised as being Darling of origin, darling by nature. Whoever wrote the description seems to have been quite carried away: “Grown in vineyards that have been described as a shiraz heaven, the wine’s luscious fruit was accessorised with French oak, making a package so appealing and seductive that it could only be named after the experience one has when drinking it”. And all this for R60 a bottle.

The other wines tasted were Rib Shack Red 2008, from Douglas Green, a pinotage/shiraz blend described as being “meaty, just like a succulent steak or smokey rack of ribs”, R45; and another Edgebaston product, The Pepper Pot, a blend of shiraz, mourvedre and tannat grapes, with tastes and smells of black pepper, spice and red berry, price R60. – Michael Green

UPLUGGED

Top Durban musicians Barry and Calli Thomson, Andy Turrell and Marion Loudon have joined forces to bring Unplugged to the Heritage Theatre in Hillcrest.

Audiences are invited to kick back and slide into summer with classic hits like Layla, Romeo and Juliet, Losing my Religion and Hotel California, while enjoying the Heritage’s recession-busting ticket prices.

Unplugged runs at Heritage Estate until September 19. From Tuesday to Thursday tickets R150, Friday and Saturday R190 and Sunday lunchtime R165, including a two-course meal. There is also a show-only option of R100 per person. To book call the theatre on 031 7654197 or on line at www.heritagetheatre.co.za

FOM: TRIO HEMANAY

Friends of Music presents pleasurable concert. (Review by Michael Green)

This Johannesburg-based trio consists of Malcolm Nay (piano), Helen Vosloo (flute) and Marian Lewin (cello), an unusual combination of instruments. The name of the group is (I assume) a composite word made up of He(len), Ma(rian) and Nay (Malcolm).

They have played before for the Friends of Music, and for this recital in the Durban Jewish Centre they chose a distinctly unusual programme. You have to be rather brave, I think, to devote an entire programme, with one exception, to contemporary composers, and I suspect that the relatively small size of the audience reflected a certain wariness about the music being played.

Be that as it may, the works performed gave much pleasure to the listeners, none more so than the sole exception to the modern pattern, a 1790 Trio in D major by Haydn. The music was typical of this master: melodious, good-humoured, skilfully scored, terse and to the point. The players excelled, with the balance and rapport one would expect from a team who have been playing together for 13 years, and Malcolm Nay was in particularly good form at the piano. Most enjoyable, and warmly applauded.

Haydn died in 1809, aged 77. The only other really familiar name on the programme was Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine king of the tango, who died in 1992, aged 71. He was represented, predictably enough, by some catchy tango music.

The English composer John Rutter (born 1945) is well-known in Britain and the United States because he has written a good deal of choral music, hymns and carols. He was represented here by his Suite Antique, originally scored for flute, harpsichord and strings but arranged for cello, flute and piano by Nicholas Abbott, a young Cape Town cellist who died last year in a mountain accident, and by the South African composer Allan Stephenson.

The French composer Jean-Michel Damase (born 1928) writes rather whimsical and witty music, and his Sonate en Concert is a delightful sequence of widely varied short pieces, many of them with a slightly antique flavour; the composer has a liking for old baroque forms such as the rigaudon and the gigue. The audience found this music, written in 1952, very appealing, and it was indeed performed with skill and flair. Two South African composers completed the programme: Wessel van Rensburg (born 1964), with a work called No Words, based on African jazz; and Hendrik Hofmeyr (born 1957), with two contrasting tangos.

The printed programme was rather cryptic, and announcements from the stage didn’t help much. A partly inaudible announcement by a performer is not really a substitute for a good programme note.


The prelude performers of the evening, funded by the National Lottery, were Neliswa Katamzi and Ntokozo Mhlongo, students at the opera school of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Accompanied by Dana Hadjiev at the piano, they sang some popular songs, of which O mio babbino caro, from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, arranged here for two sopranos, was the best-known and the best-performed. The singers showed great promise. - Michael Green

BACKSTORY

Pic by Leon Schnell: Craig Morris

St Anne’s College hosts two-hander exploring the evolution process of man in innovative and amusing ways.

Presented by The Theatre – St Anne’s College and untouchable productions, Backstory is fresh from the Fringe of the National Arts Festival. Directed by Athena Mazarakis, the two-hander explores the evolution process of man in innovative and amusing ways. It traces the steps from the first human species with the evolutionary process highlighted until the culmination of the modern man. It explores the way in which humankind has evolved due to nature and nurture in a changing environment. The script influences are Darwinian in essence, with the principles of the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, but the play adds its own gene to the DNA pool: the MARC (Mitochondrial Archaic Reincarnative Chromosome) gene.

The show is presented as a lecture by Prof M (Strydom), a geneticist who has his son, Mark, nearby to experiment on with regression therapy through hypnosis to seek the answers about the evolution of man in the present form. Barry Strydom portrays the experimental professor and manages to make the script, which is loaded with technical explanation and scientific discourse, sound and believable. Craig Morris is Mark, and his talents are extremely riveting as he tells many short tales through grunts and physicality only. There are many comic moments, both in the physicality and the text, which will tickle the audience’s fancy.

The use of various theatrical devices; a screen with stop-motion animation, puppetry, silhouettes, sound effects and visual projections, create interesting images and enhance the story.

Theatre lovers are invited to experience this epic tale, spanning approximately six million years, told in approximately 60 minutes. A presentation of ground-breaking discovery: what is the terrible secret that lies within us all, and is it the key to our greatness or our downfall?

Featuring Craig Morris and Barry Strydom, Backstory has one performance at The Theatre-St Anne’s College on September 8 at 19h30. Tickets R70 (R50 concessions) booked on 033 343 6100.

RHINOCEROS

(Pic by Val Adamson: Lungame Malo plays Berenger)

Eugene Ionesco’s iconic French Theatre-of-the Absurd play about social conformity for DUT.

Under the direction of Lloyd O'Connor, Rhinoceros, Eugene Ionesco’s iconic French Theatre-of-the Absurd play about social conformity, will feature a cast of 35 Durban University of Technology (DUT) undergraduates when it is staged on September 1.

Rhinoceros takes place in a small village where locals pass the time and passionately debate the issues of the day. The everyman character, Berenger, is a laid-back drunk and a cafe regular. One by one the people around literally morph into rhinoceroses, until ultimately he is the only villager still in human form.

This watershed drama and dark comedy is a fascinating, wry and disturbing study of the “pack mentality” - man’s ability to indiscriminately embrace violence, force and conformity without question. Ionesco was profoundly influenced by the events which led to the outbreak of the Second World War and the alarming rise of Communism and Fascism in Europe. In a more contemporary context, the psychology behind this production could just as easily inform phenomena such as religious cults, neo-Nazism or xenophobia.

Berenger’s struggle of identity is ultimately pure philosophy – about holding onto one’s integrity and sense of being in a world where all others have succumbed to the new status quo – in this case the perceived “beauty” of the rhinoceros.

In an often-quoted interview in French newspaper, Le Monde (January 17, 1960), Ionesco is quoted as saying: “I have been very much struck by what one might call the current of opinion, by its rapid evolution, its power of contagion, which is that of a real epidemic. People allow themselves suddenly to be invaded by a new religion, a doctrine, a fanaticism…. At such moments we witness a veritable mental mutation. I don’t know if you have noticed it, but when people no longer share your opinions, when you can no longer make yourself understood by them, one has the impression of being confronted with monsters—rhinos, for example. They have that mixture of candour and ferocity. They would kill you with the best of consciences.”

Ionesco's primary purpose in writing Rhinoceros was not simply to criticize the horrors of fascism, communism or Nazism, but to explore the mentality of those who so easily succumbed to brainwashing against evidence of better judgement. He asks the question: what was it that allowed them to rationalise away their free thought and to subvert their own free will? What traits in the individual allow him to be snowballed by general opinion? Why is it necessary to believe the same thing that everyone else believes?

Rhinoceros runs in the DUT’s Courtyard Theatre, Steve Biko Campus, from September 1 to 4 at 19h00. Entrance Fee: R20. More information from Lebohang Sibisi on 031 373 2194.