(Christopher Cockburn
will perform on the magnificent Pietermaritzburg City Hall pipe organ)
It’s all systems go in preparation for one the highlights of
the local music calendar, the Last Night
of the Proms concert to be presented by Parklane SuperSpar in the
Pietermaritzburg City Hall on October 10.
Richard Cock will conduct the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic
Orchestra, while the Pietermaritzburg Proms Choir will lead the audience in
raising the rafters of the City Hall.
For this year’s concert, celebrating the 25th anniversary of
the Proms in KwaZulu-Natal, Cock has promised the best of the best in this
special compilation. The soloists include the KZN Philharmonic’s distinguished
principal players, Russian-born cellist, Boris Kerimov, and Romanian
French-horn player, Sorin Osorhean.
Sharing the spotlight with them will be the outstanding
young tenor Lukhanyo Mayoke, principal tenor at Cape Town Opera, pipers and
Christopher Cockburn at the City Hall organ.
Proms attendees can look forward to a bumper programme of
concert favourites, including O Fortuna
from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Nessun
dorma from Puccini’s Turandot, Va pensiero (the hugely popular Chorus
of Hebrew Slaves) from Verdi’s Nabucco,
Glazunov’s Reverie, Finlandia by
Sibelius and Leroy Anderson’s ever-green, Blue
Tango.
Other items to be enjoyed include O sole mio, the Hallelujah
Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, as
well as Proms fixtures such as Parry’s Jerusalem,
Thomas Arne’s Rule Britannia and Sir
Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance
March No 1.
Cock will be in the city a few days early to lead the
specially-massed choirs in their final preparation of these last items for the
evening.
As locally-based seasoned ‘prommers’ will know, this event
is modelled on the wildly exuberant last night culmination of Britain’s
world-renowned BBC Promenade Concert series, which were founded in 1895 —
although the term ‘Promenade concerts’, predated this as they had existed in
London’s pleasure gardens since the mid-18th century.
The Proms, as they are known today, have long been
entrenched in British culture, attracting thousands of followers from all
corners of the globe, who enjoy the eight-week summer season of daily
orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually in venues
across Britain, predominantly in London’s Royal Albert Hall. When the total
number of BBC Proms concerts reached 100 for the first time in 2009, Czech
conductor Jirí Belohlávek described the Proms season as “the world’s largest
and most democratic musical festival.”
The 2015 Last Night of
the Proms will take place on October 10 at 19h30 in the Pietermaritzburg
City Hall. Tickets range from R120 to R260. Early booking is strongly advised
to avoid disappointment. Tickets are available exclusively from Parklane
SuperSpar on 033 342 3487. Secure parking is provided in the City hall
precinct.
The Last Night of the Proms in Pietermaritzburg is presented
and sponsored by Parklane SuperSpar and supported by The Witness, Msunduzi
Municipality, CPW Printers, and Music Revival.