(Gypsy
Strings)
For the past 20 years, Music Revival has been bringing the best
classical performers to Pietermaritzburg – and to celebrate this special
anniversary its founder, pianist, Christopher Duigan, is hosting a special Spring
Festival in the city.
Running from October 6 to 13 at different venues, the festival
represents a flavour of all he has tried to achieve with his concert series
over the past two decades.
“Music Revival was established on October 29, 1997,” said Duigan, who
was born and raised in the city. “I had just come back from overseas and had
done a couple of performances at the Tatham Art Gallery on my own. I had also
done a concert with a guitarist friend, Craig Ogden, from Australia.
“But our first proper concert was hosted by Gilly Walters at the home of
Brian and Meryl Kurz; and instead of just one concert we ended up having three.
Gilly did all the catering and handled the ticket sales. Those performances
were pivotal – they started the whole journey off,” he adds.
Conversations With My Piano
The festival opens with Conversations with my Piano, featuring
the jazz great, Darius Brubeck, and Duigan, on October 6 at 19h30 at Casa
Mexicana, 35 Montgomery Drive, Athlone in Pietermaritzburg.
Brubeck is most often heard as the leader of the Darius Brubeck Quartet
or with his brothers playing the music of their father, the legendary pianist,
Dave Brubeck, in Brubeck plays Brubeck.
For this concert the two musicians will play a ‘piano ping pong’, with
Duigan spontaneously playing classical and popular solos, improvisations and
original material off-setting Brubeck’s jazz offerings.
This conversational engagement will take place with, and around, the
piano in an intimate and beautiful setting.
Tickets R150, which includes a glass of wine from 19h00 and coffee
afterwards.
Booking is essential through email booking@musicrevival.co.za or send an
SMS or WhatsApp to 083 417 4473. Please include your contact numbers in all
email and telephone bookings. There is secure parking at the venue.
Baroque 2000
The second concert, titled Baroque 2000 in their 20th Year, will
take place in the Victoria Hall at Maritzburg College at 19h30 on October 7.
Baroque 2000 was founded in 1997 by a band of keen Baroque enthusiasts,
under the leadership of KZN Philharmonic trumpeter, Michel Schneuwly. Since
then, they have provided the greater Durban area and those living in
Pietermaritzburg with a delightful exploration of the vast Baroque repertoire.
With most performances now presented at the Mariannhill Monastery near
Pinetown, this 20th anniversary grand concert will be an unmissable treat for
classical aficionados.
The programme includes Charpentier’s Te Deum, featuring a choir
of 30 and soloists, the overture to Rameau’s Zais, orchestral excerpts
from Indes Galantes, Les Boreades and Platee, Lully’s Marche
pour la Ceremonie des Turcs and music from Louis XIV court composers at the
Court of Versailles.
Tickets R150. Booking essential via email booking@musicrevival.co.za or send an
SMS or WhatsApp to 083 417 4473. Please include your contact numbers in your
booking. There is secure parking at the venue.
Chilled
Cape Town-based guitarist, James Grace, will launch his new album, Chilled,
at a concert of the same name at the Tatham Art Gallery in Chief Albert Luthuli
Street in Pietermaritzburg on October 9 at 19h30.
His programme will include a selection of popular songs from The
Beatles, Norah Jones, as well as classic songs like Perhaps Love and Vincent.
Tickets are R100. The concert will have a cafe setting, so make an
evening of it and enjoy dinner at the Cafe Tatham from 18h00.
Booking for dinner is essential – phone 033 342 8327. A cash bar will be
available and there is secure parking next to the gallery. Book via email at booking@musicrevival.co.za, send a
WhatsApp or SMS to 083 417 4473 or phone Bryony at 033 392 2825 (mornings
only).
Gypsy Strings
Five vibrant musicians make up the Gypsy Strings, who will be playing a
colourful and exciting selection of traditional Bulgarian, Rumanian, Russian
and Greek music in the concert Gypsy Nights at the Tatham Art Gallery at
19h30 on October 10.
The quintet is led by Bulgarian-born violinist, Ralitza Matcheva, who
has a masters degrees in music from the Music Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria and
the Music Conservatorium in Enschede, Netherlands.
She has been with the co-principal second violin for the KZN
Philharmonic Orchestra since 2000 and is the concertmaster for the Baroque 2000
ensemble. She also collaborates with the Tinta Baroka group in Cape Town.
The other musicians are:
• Annamaria D’Andrea (viola), who was born in Roma, Italy, where she
studied viola at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. She has been with the KZNPO
since 2006.
• Ralitza Todorova, who started playing the cello when she was nine
years old in Pleven, Bulgaria. She has studied music in Bulgaria, Geneva and
Roma and is now a permanent member of the KZN Philharmonic.
• Roberto Palma (violin) from Italy, who graduated Cum Laude with a
masters degree from the Music Academy in Como, Italy. Since 2013 he has played
first violin for the KZNPO and is also a member of Baroque 2000.
Completing the ensemble is percussionist Stephane Pechoux, from France,
who has been playing the drums since he was eight years old. He studied in both
Geneva and Paris and has been the KZNPO Principal Percussionist since 2009.
Tickets R100. The concert will have a cafe setting, so make an evening
of it and enjoy dinner at the Cafe Tatham from 6 pm. Booking for dinner is
essential – phone 033 342 8327. A cash bar will be available and there is
secure parking next to the gallery. Book via email at booking@musicrevival.co.za, send a
WhatsApp or SMS to 083 417 4473 or phone Bryony at 033 392 2825 (mornings
only).
Clarinet, piano and viola concert
Duigan will be joined clarinettist, Junnan Sun, and David Snaith on
viola for the concert, Music for Clarinet and Viola Trio, at Casa
Mexicana in Pietermaritzburg on October 11 at 19h30
The three men will play Mozart’s delightful Kegelstatt Trio,
supposedly composed while he was playing skittles, as well as a selection of
pieces by Max Bruch and solo pieces for each instrument.
Tickets are R120 including a glass of wine and coffee afterwards.
Booking via email at booking@musicrevival.co.za or send an
SMS or WhatsApp to 083 417 4473.
My Favourite Things
Howick singer, Cat Simoni, will join Duigan for a performance of My
Favourite Things at the Tatham Art Gallery at 19h30 on October 12.
The collaboration will feature favourite songs from musicals, jazz
standards, show tunes, and pop numbers performed in a way you have never heard.
Simoni spent 10 years in the United Kingdom, playing and singing for the
international crème de la crème at the Steinways of London’s five-star venues
and exclusive clubs, The Ritz, Carlton, Dorchester, Mayfair, and Park Lane
Hotel. She now performs her music across South Africa.
Tickets R120. The concert will have a cafe setting, so make an evening
of it and enjoy dinner at the Cafe Tatham from 6 pm. Booking for dinner is
essential – phone 033 342 8327. A cash bar will be available and there is
secure parking next to the gallery. Book via email at booking@musicrevival.co.za, send a
WhatsApp or SMS to 083 417 4473 or phone Bryony at 033 392 2825 (mornings
only).
Swing Into Spring
The final concert in the Spring Festival will be Swing Into
Spring, in which the KZN Philharmonic will play an elegant selection of
Strauss waltzes, marches and grand melodies in the magnificent City Hall.
The programme includes a selection of Strauss waltzes, usually
associated with that most elegant of cities, Vienna, a city also associated
with its magnificent floral vistas.
This includes Johann Strauss II Tales from the Vienna Woods Waltz
and Voices of Spring along with the Tristch Trasch Polka.
Edvard Grieg’s Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Morning Mood
from Peer Gynt and Norwegian Dances will also be performed by the
60-player orchestra along with Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers, a
must for any floral-themed concert.
The grand sweep of Tchaikosvky’s music will carry through into the
opening moment of his celebrated Piano Concerto No 1. The work, which
will be performed by Duigan, is regarded as one of the most dazzling piano
compositions ever written, and renowned for its soaring opening melody.
The KZN Philharmonic will be conducted by Naum Rousine. The concert will
take place in the Pietermaritzburg City Hall on October 13 at 19h30 Tickets R170
(R140 pensioners, R100 scholars) and R250 for premier seats. Tickets are
available at Ticketpros.co.za
For those who require assistance with online booking, a representative
will be available at Parklane SuperSpar. Phone 033 342 3487 for more
information.
“The festival is a real celebration and the variety of music and the
desire to promote live music is what Music Revival is all about,” said Duigan.
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