CHRISTMAS MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA

(iGrandi Tenori: Mlindi Pato & Timothy Sehau)

Final Friends of Music concert for the year featured the fine voices of tenors Mlindi Pato and Timothy Sehau. (Review by Caroline Smart)

For its last concert of the year, Friends of Music presented Christmas Music Extravaganza on December 18, 2018, at the Durban Jewish Centre. In a change from the normal row format, audiences were seated at tables and were permitted to bring in their own food. This made for an elegant supper theatre evening which was well received.

The concert was presented in association with the fast-growing and highly popular group, iGrandi Tenori, featuring the fine voices of tenors Mlindi Pato and Timothy Sehau who have won competitions national and internationally. The company is headed by its pro-active Executive Director, Kwazi Mhlongo, and Artistic Director Sanele Mkhize provided excellent piano accompaniment along with the Le Lounge Strings.

Guest artists were sopranos Nontobeko Bhengu and Dorh Mfayela; mezzo soprano Phindile Cele and baritones Philani Mdima and Sbani Mwelase. Well-known personality Thokozani MaMkhize-Ndlovu was the MC for the evening.

Pato and Sehau started the programme, beautifully matched in When Jesus Comes, to be following by Christmas-styled numbers with the other soloists. A clear audience favourite was Pie Jesu sung by Cele and Mfayela, the latter also impressing with a poignant Mary Did You Know? Mwelase gave Oh Danny Boy the emotion it required and Mdima handled Where e’er You Walk with sensitivity. Bhengu’s Ave Maria was clear-voiced and sincere.

Highlights from the whole group were The Lord’s Prayer and The Holy City.

The second half of the programme comprised well-known Christmas carols and, while they were musically well-presented, I would have preferred a little more joy and passion in pieces like Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Oh Come All Ye Faithful.

iGrandi Tenori is a non-profit making company aiming at igniting hope for all art practitioners through creating platforms that will foster opportunities to showcase skills. “We strongly believe that young people are the future and therefore investing in their development is of paramount. Hence, the company offers musical master-classes to all schools across the province of KwaZulu-Natal under the theme Let Me Sing,” explains Mhlongo. Thathunyawo Secondary Grade 12 pupil Philani Mdima and North West University music student Ntombikayise Zwane were both winners in the 2018 competition. For more information or to contact iGrandi Tenori, phone-+27 73 1938 032.

The first Friends of Music concert next year will be on February 26 featuring the exciting solo pianist, the Indian-American Pallavi Mahidhara who is on a return visit to South Africa to perform for the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra. The Durban Jewish Centre will be undergoing renovations and this recital will take place on a brand new floor and stage. 

For more information on Friends of Music visit http://www.friendsofmusic.co.za/– Caroline Smart

BAROQUE 2000: CHAMPAGNE CHRISTMAS CONCERT

A joyful, heady and bubbly occasion. (Review by Keith Millar)

Living up to its title of being a Champagne Christmas Concert this was certainly a joyful, heady and bubbly occasion.

With no fewer than eight items on the programme the full house audience at the Mariannhill Monastery Church last Sunday was royally entertained at this the final Baroque 2000 concert of the year.

Star of the concert was the superb tenor Sandile Mabaso. The KZN born singer who has toured and performed overseas extensively is blessed with a powerful, effortless and honey toned voice. He was on top of his game as he contributed on three occasions during the concert.

He started off with Comfort Ye, My People and Ev’ry Valley Shall be Exalted from Handle’s Messiah and then sang Henry Purcell’s aria, Three Happy Lovers from The Fairy Queen and JS Bach’s aria, Deposuit Potentes from Magnificat.

The Baroque 2000 ensemble which comprised eight musicians on this occasion and was ably led, as usual, by their charismatic concertmaster Ralitza Macheva, performed a delightful mix of festive items.

They played two pieces composed by Antonio Vivaldi (1878 – 1741). The Allegro and Ciaconna from his attractive Paris Concerto RV 114 and his bold and powerful La Fallia (literally meaning madness). A rhythmic, percussive piece which builds to a dramatic crescendo.

In music, “Folia” means a very quick-paced and tumultuous dance, in which the dancers carried men dressed as women upon their shoulders. They were literally driven mad by the noise and the stirring rhythm.

Two items from lesser known Baroque composers also added to the festive feeling of the concert. They were Marco Uccellini’s (1610 – 1680) Aria: sopra Bergamasca and Claudio Merullo’s (1533 – 1604) Ciannona.

The compositions are dances which employ a repeating four-note ground bass technique over which the violins perform a mischievous, virtuoso duel.

Both were great fun and very well received by the audience.

The main item on the programme was Arcangelo Corelli’s (1653 – 1713) famous and much loved Concerto Grosso in G Minor “Fatto per la Notte di Natale” Op.6 No. 8 (Christmas Concerto). A glorious piece to ring down the curtain on this concert, and Baroque 2000’s year of wonderful music making.

The good news is that they have already secured funding for 2019 from the Die Rupert Musiekstigting and will stage their first concert in March.

For more information about Baroque 2000 contact Michel Schneuwly (Organiser) on 031 312 5539 or 083 303 5241. Their e-mail address is sursouth@iafrica.com – Keith Millar

JENNIFER MORRISON EXHIBITION

(“Storm” - Watercolour on Paper by Jennifer Morrison)

Durban-born artist Jennifer Morrison invites art lovers to take a deeper look at her new Johannesburg exhibition.

Is a painting ever really just a painting? Is the result of a beautiful surface an end goal in itself, or is it the expression of a myriad of forces, bubbling just beneath the surface?

Surface Depth, the newest exhibition on South African shores by this UK-based artist, invites viewers to consider the dynamic contextual and emotional forces at work in the artistic process, in her upcoming exhibition at Graham’s Modern & Contemporary in Johannesburg beginning of 2019.

“There are forces at play in this series of paintings”, says Morrison, “elemental forces which lie both within and without. A line of a branch speaks of struggles within me. A gnarled root, a tangled vine, the palest mist, can sum up what it is to be alive. Alive alongside death – another eternal juxtaposition. Decay and rejuvenation, pain and joy, claustrophobia and open space: all of this is trying to find expression on my canvas.”

(Jennifer Morrison)

Morrison was born in South Africa in 1971. It is here that she began her artistic pursuits, later continuing in London after graduating from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. She has exhibited in group shows in London and New York, and her works are in private collections in USA, London, Singapore, South Africa, and beyond.

Although she has lived in London for over two decades, the colours and vibrancy of South Africa remain evident in Morrison’s work. Large canvases are used to explore the delicate balance between the unconscious and the deliberate, the precise mark and the accident, the paint’s ability to offer communication and meaning, while evading precision and definition at the same time. It is this ambiguity that fascinates Graham Britz, owner and curator at Graham’s Modern & Contemporary in Johannesburg.

“This will be the third time we are exhibiting with Jennifer, who is quickly gaining recognition with local and international collectors alike”, says Britz. “Her work deals predominantly with colour and shape, movement and rhythm, and in this latest exhibition, she invites us to consider the contexts, processes and influences under the surface of her fascinating canvasses, rather than merely the final, finished surface.

Surface Depth opens on January 24 at 19h00 at Graham’s Modern & Contemporary, Bryanston in Johannesburg, and will run until February 26, 2019. For more information, contact the gallery on 011 463 7869 or info@grahamsgallery.co.za

HAPPY NEW YEAR AT TINA’S

With only five performances, enjoy Happy New Year, a fun-filled evening of music and entertainment with Barry Thomson and Friends at Tina’s Hotel, Kloof. 

This show features Thomson on guitar/vocals, Dawn Selby (Musical Director) on keyboards/vocals, Andy Turrell on bass guitar and Adrian Wilson on drums and percussion. The vivacious and super talented Marion Loudon, will be joining the band on vocals and percussion.

The repertoire will include hit songs from Barry’s and The Reals most popular tribute shows of 2018, including Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits, Bad Company, Neil Diamond and British Invasion.

Celebrate a special New Year performance on December 31, 2018, with an extended show, welcoming in 2019 at midnight.

Performances as follows:

December 27, 28 and 29 at 20h00

December 30 at 14h00

December 31 at 21h00

(Venue opens 60 minutes before show for drinks)

Tickets December 27 and 30 - R150 (R130 pensioners, students & FHSSC Members). Family Pack Pricing: 2 adults R300 and 2 children – free.

Tickets December 31 R300 – snacks, streamers & party hats will be provided on the tables and champagne at midnight.

Tables seat 6. (No alcohol or food may be brought on to the premises).

Tickets are cash or EFT only. Secure parking is available. Booking is through Computicket or contact Roland (also for large group booking discounts of 20 or more) on 082 499 8636 or email: roland@stansell.za.net or visit http://events.durbantheatre.com/

Tina’s Hotel is situated at 4 Beryldene Road in Kloof.

MICKEY’S 90TH SPECTACULAR

(The much-loved character, Mickey Mouse)

Mickey’s 90th Spectacular, a two-hour prime-time special, will be screened on M-Net (channel 101) on January 2 at 19h00.

The elegant affair will feature star-studded musical performances, moving tributes and never-before-seen short films. 

Superstars from music, film and television will join the birthday fun for the internationally beloved character.