KZNPO 2019 EARLY SPRING SEASON

(Left: Conductor Daniel Raiskin)

The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic #Orchestra’s 2019 Early Spring Season runs each Thursday from August 22 to September 12, 2019, with World Symphony Series concerts performed in the Durban City Hall on August 22, and on September 5 and 12, and in The Playhouse Opera on August 29, 2019.

“We are always delighted to reconnect with our loyal family of music lovers during our four symphony seasons each year,” says Bongani Tembe, the Orchestra’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director. “In keeping with the proud traditions of our World Symphony Series, our latest Early Spring Season programme features a proud array of guest artists who will team with our dedicated orchestral musicians to bring our audiences many hours of uplifting live music-making. The season dovetails with our ongoing endeavours in the spheres of community engagement and skills transfer among new generation artists and learners.”

 

(Right: Yi-Jia Susanne Hou)

The celebrated Russian maestro Daniel Raiskin makes a welcome return to Durban on August 22, to launch the season with a richly curated programme of French, German and Czech masterworks. 

This opens with Gabriel Fauré’s atmospheric Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, before the gifted young Chinese soloist, Yi-Jia Susanne Hou, takes centre-stage to put her stamp on Max Bruch’s highly Romantic Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, one of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire. The evening climaxes on a joyous note with a rendering of Dvořák’s sunny Eighth Symphony.

Principal guest conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of Symphony Nova Scotia in Canada, Bernhard Gueller takes the Playhouse Opera podium on August 29. 

(Left: Conductor Bernhard Gueller)

He kicks off the programme with one of the great showpieces for orchestra, Saint-Saëns’s unforgettable La Danse Macabre, before 21-year-old Russian virtuoso Daniel Kharitonov steps into the spotlight to pit his skills against the daunting demands of Frantz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No 1. Brahms’s deeply rewarding Symphony No 2 brings the evening to a rousing close.

Back in the Durban City Hall for the third programme of the season on September 5, Daniel Boico, the KZN Philharmonic’s popular Associate Guest Conductor, will lead the evening’s proceedings. He will share the guest roster with soloist, Gary Hoffman, one of the outstanding cellists of our time. The programme includes: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, Gabriel Fauré’s enticing Élégie; Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme; and ends with his Symphony No 2, affectionately known as the "Little Russian”.

(Right: Gary Hoffman)

The Early Spring Season ends in traditional style on September 12 with the KZN Philharmonic’s Resident Conductor, Lykele Temmingh on the Durban City Hall podium for the annual National Youth Concerto Festival, which showcases the cream of young South African talent taking the stage to perform with seasoned professionals.

Concerts take place in the Durban City Hall, except for August 29 which will be held in the Playhouse Opera. All concerts start at 19h30.

Season tickets and bookings for individual concerts are through Computicket on 0861 915 8000, or online at www.computicket.com. For more information call 031 369 9438, email bookings@kznphil.org.za

(To link direct to the KZN Philharmonic’s website click on the orchestra’s banner advert on the top of the page or visit www.kznphil.org.za)