(Andrew Young)
The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra invites romantics
and music-lovers of all ages to celebrate the season of love at a special
Valentine’s Day Concert in the Durban City Hall on February 14.
Hosting a stellar roster of illustrious guest artists,
headed by the internationally feted violinist Suzanne Hou, the KZN
Philharmonic, “Africa’s Premier Orchestra”, is set to enchant its audience with
a fragrant bouquet of musical delights, themed around the power of love.
The concert will be presented by popular East Coast DJ,
Damon Beard and television personality and actress Jailoshini Naidoo.
With American maestro Daniel Boico on the podium, the
evening’s programme opens with the famous Wedding March from Wagner’s Lohengrin,
before the audience welcomes the celebrity lyric soprano, Linda Bukhosini, to
sing one of the loveliest and most touching of all operatic arias, O mio
babbino caro, from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.
Superstar violinist Suzanne Hou then takes centrestage for a
rarely-heard performance of The Butterfly Lovers Concerto. Penned by
Chinese composers Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, this delicately-textured work
combines Western classical style with traditional Chinese folk music to evoke
an ancient tale of two young lovers.
Returning to sing much-loved highlights from Leonard
Bernstein’s Broadway classic West Side Story, Linda Bukhosini teams with
tenor Clint Lesch, who won all hearts as Tony in The Playhouse Company’s
staging of the musical in 2013, bringing the first half of the programme to a
close with their renderings of I Feel Pretty, Maria, and Tonight
Tonight.
After interval, the KZN Philharmonic continues its
exploration of love themes with a selection of rapturous excerpts from that
most romantic of all classical ballets, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, before
Suzanne Hou brings her unique magic to the achingly beautiful Adagio
from Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor.
The evening’s tempo slips into upbeat mode as the rising
young Cape Town-based jazz vocalist Amy Walton joins the orchestra for fresh
renditions of Rodgers and Hart’s My Funny Valentine and the evergreen
standard, My Baby Just Cares For Me. Clint Lesch then joins Amy Walton to
sing the ravishing duet All I Ask of You from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Phantom
of The Opera.
Moving onwards and up, the KZN Philharmonic lets rip with
that unfailing party-time crowd-pleaser, St Louis Blues, paving the way
for popular vocalist Loyiso Bala’s impassioned interpretation of Seal’s hit
single, Kiss of a Rose, after which Linda Bukhosini returns to join
Loyiso for their delicious take on the George Gershwin standard, I’ve got a
Crush on You.
Finally, big-league sax whizz Andrew Young, a longstanding
audience favourite, joins forces with his former orchestral colleagues to
deliver a superb coupling of those two all-time jazz
favourites, Georgia On My Mind and Sweet Georgia Brown.
The KZN Philharmonic’s Valentines Concert
takes place at 19h30 on February 14 in the City Hall.
Tickets range from R100 to R350 (orchestra subscribers qualify for 50%). Call
Computicket on 0861 915 8000 or book online at www.computicket.com
To become a KZN Philharmonic
subscriber and benefit from discounted rates to the star-studded six-concert
Summer Season, which runs in the Durban City Hall from February 19 to March 26,
call 031 369 9438. For full programme
details click on the orchestra’s advert at the top of this page or visit www.kznphil.org.za
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