(Pic: Andrew Warburton)
On the homefront and abroad (by William Charlton-Perkins)
Enjoying a conversation with the Netherlands-based Italian mezzo soprano, Carla Regina, who visited Durban recently, I was inspired by the extraordinarily positive spirit that drives this multi-gifted artist. Starting out as a pianist at the age of three, she graduated from the Conservatorium Nicola Piccinni in Bari, Italy, before switching to voice at the age of 18. She graduated from the prestigious Giuseppe Verdi Conservatorium in Milan in 1999, and has worked with a number of the world’s foremost conductors, among them John Eliott Gardner and Claudio Abbado. Working with the latter particularly proved a humbling experience, not least for the opportunity it gave her absorb his down-to-earth approach to the professional theatre environment.
A career highpoint has been singing the title role in Carmen, packing a 4,000-seater festival auditorium outside The Hague with successive performances of Bizet’s masterwork, a celebrated test for great singing actresses through the ages. A tantalizing online glimpse of her interpretation can be sampled on You Tube. Beside her work in mainstream opera, Regina revels in collaborating with others in the broader field of music theatre. She is looking forward to teaming up soon with the acclaimed South African creative duo, playwright Geraldine Naidoo and actor Matthew Ribnik.
On the home symphonic front, guest conductor Victor Yampolsky is back in town and takes the podium in the Durban City Hall (June 25) for the KZNPO’s penultimate Winter Season concert. Enthusiasts heard an invigorating programme that opened with Weber’s Euryanthe Overtur. Following this were two works that underwent extensive revisions after their respective premieres. Britten’s Violin Concerto formed the evening’s centrepiece. Written in 1938 and revised 20 years later, this challenging work offers a welcome change from over exposed repertoire on the local music scene. The soloist was South African-born, Juilliard- trained Zanta Hofmeyr. The second half of the programme featured a return to the mid 19th century German Romantics, with Schumann’s Symphony No 4 in D Minor. Completed in 1841 and extensively revised in 1851, this rendered richly rewarding listening to round off the evening.
Next Thursday (July 2) Maestro Yampolsky opens his programme with Glazunov’s atmospheric Valse de Concert. This paves the way for Andrew Warburton’s appearance as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 2 in G Major. One of the great warhorses of late 19th century Russian Romantic repertoire, this 50-minute musical chase juxtaposes massively climactic passages with moments of searing beauty and passion, among them the lyrical interplay in its second movement of a solo violin and cello with the piano. In all, the work calls on the stamina and interpretive skills of a powerhouse pianist in top form. It promises a thrilling climax to the season, which concludes with a performance of another Late Romantic masterpiece, Sibelius’ Symphony No 1.
Finally, note that Baroque 2000 will team up with the Durban Chamber Choir at the Mariannhill Church of the Monastery this Sunday (June 28) at 15h00. Conducted by Christian Ashley Botha, the popular all-Bach programme features the Cantata no 147, containing the Chorale Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, to be preceded by the Overture Suite No 1 in C. Tickets are R80 at the door. There is ample safe parking, and tea coffee and scones can be enjoyed in the tranquil Monastery Gardens before the concert. – William Charlton-Perkins
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