(American
violinist Joanna Frankel, the KZNPO’s new concert master)
William Charlton-Perkins’ Classical Notes
are produced courtesy of The Mercury.
The KZN Philharmonic will introduce its new
concert master, Joanna Frankel, to the audience at this evening’s Valentine’s
Day symphony concert in the Durban City Hall.
A top prize winner in several young
artists’ competitions, Ms Frankel is from Philadelphia in the United States. As
a soloist, she has performed across the US and Europe at such major venues as
Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Rachmaninoff Hall, Glazunov Hall, Suk
Hall, Rudolfinum, Slovak Philharmonic Hall, Vanemuise Hall, and The Sibelius
Academy’s Chamber Music Hall, and has appeared with many other orchestras.
Announcing her appointment, Bongani Tembe,
KZNPO chief executive says: “I believe Joanna Frankel will prove to be a
significant asset to the KZN Philharmonic.
We are proud to have secured a violinist of her high calibre as our new
Concert Master. Joanna who was trained at the Juilliard School, my alma mater,
is a serious musician endowed with a good technique. Her approach to musical
phrasing and articulation is fantastic.”
Tembe commended Hristo Kardjiev, the
outgoing Concert Master of the orchestra, by saying: “Hristo has dedicated a
good measure of his life to the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra as our Concert
Master for the past 22 years - for this we are most grateful. I am delighted that our relationship with him
will continue into his retirement so that we will still benefit from his
experience and beautiful tone.”
Daniel Boico will be on the podium for this
evening’s programme which opens with Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, followed by Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor with soloist Anna Tifu, considered one
of the most talented Italian artists of her generation.
After interval the Spanish classical
guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas takes centrestage in a performance of Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez. After capturing
the Gold Medal at the inaugural Christopher Parkening International Guitar
Competition, Villegas quickly established himself as one of the world's leading
classical guitarists. He has performed in over twenty countries around the
globe on such prestigious stages as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Milan’s Sala
Verdi and Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Theater.
The recipient of more than 25 international
awards including the Andrés Segovia award, Villegas has appeared as soloist
with many leading chamber orchestras around the world, and has participated in
a host of international festivals. He has worked with prominent composers
including George Crumb, Cristóbal Halffter and Helmut Lachenmann. Villegas has
appeared with ABC, The BBC, Radio 2 Clásica RNE, TVE, Radio France and
Euroradio.
Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite brings the evening’s concert to a close.
Next Thursday evening Daniel Boico returns
to the Durban City Hall podium for performances of Cesar Frank’s Symphonic Variations, Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Bizet’s Symphony in C major The evening’s
soloist will be the young Russian virtuoso, Yulianna Avdeeva, who received
international recognition in 2010 as the winner of First Prize of the 16th
International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw - the competition that launched the legendary
Martha Argerich’s career in 1965. Avdeeva started piano lessons at the age of
five, studied at the Gnessin Special School of Music in Moscow, and graduated
from Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.
The fourth concert in the KZNPO’s current
Summer Season takes place on February 28. This sees Bernard Gueller returning
the City Hall podium. The evening’s first half will feature two works by
Benjamin Britten to mark the centenary of great British composer’s birth in
1913. Opening the programme will be The
Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes,
the first masterpiece in Britten’s operatic canon to achieve international
recognition after its 1945 premiere at Sadler’s Wells in London.
Britten’s Violin Concerto Opus 15, which pre-dated Peter Grimes by five years, will then be given a relatively rare
performance by the distinguished French violinist, Philippe Graffin, making a
welcome return to the KZNPO’s concert platform. Beethoven’s Prometheus Overture and his Symphony No 8 will fill the second half
of the evening’s programme.
Pre-concert lectures starting at 6.15pm are
given under the aegis of Friends of Music in the Alhambra Room at the Playhouse
during the KZNPO’s Symphony Season. – William Charlton-Perkins
Posts
