“The second concert of the Summer Season is
sure to lift weary spirits!” says Bongani Tembe, CEO and Artistic Director of
the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Beginning with the Siegfried Idyll which reflects the gentle and tender side of Wagner, the evening continues with White's beautiful f# minor Violin Concerto and concludes on the joyous notes of Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony,” he concludes.
Conducted by Daniel Boico with violin soloist Rachel Lee Priday, the programme takes place on March 9 at 19h00 and features:
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
White: Concerto for Violin in f-sharp minor
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major,
“Rhenish”
Wagner composed the Siegfried Idyll
as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son
Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed on Christmas morning, 1870, by a
small ensemble of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich on the stairs of their villa at
Tribschen. Cosima awoke to its opening melody. Wagner’s opera Siegfried,
which was premièred in 1876, incorporates music from the Idyll.
José Silvestre White Lafitte (1836–1918) was a Cuban French violinist and composer. After receiving early musical training from his father, an amateur violinist, José gave his first concert in Matanzas in 1854. He was accompanied by the visiting American pianist-composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who encouraged him to pursue further violin studies in Paris and raised money for him to travel there. White studied at the Paris Conservatory, winning the 1856 First Grand Prize. He became a French citizen in 1870 and was highly praised by Rossini. White’s output comprised some 30 works, including his virtuosic Violin Concerto in f# minor.
Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony No. 3 is the last symphony he composed, although not the last published. Composed from November 2 to December 9, 1850, it premièred on February 6, 1851 in Düsseldorf, conducted by Schumann himself, to mixed reviews, but enthusiastic public applause between every movement, and especially at the end of the work when the orchestra joined them in congratulating Schumann by shouting “hurrah!”. The composer was inspired to write the symphony after a trip to the Rhineland with his wife Clara. This journey was a happy and peaceful trip, which felt to them as if they were on a pilgrimage. He also incorporated elements of the journey and portrayed other experiences from his life in this joyous music.
Don't miss out on this Season's heavily discounted ticket prices, due to the minor inconvenience caused by the temporary yet comfortable seats the Playhouse Opera Theatre has provided during their renovation.
The concert will take place in the Playhouse Opera Theatre on March 9 at 19h00.
Save 15-20% on single tickets through KZNPO
offices by emailing marketing@kznphil.org.za or by calling on 031 369 9438.
Bookings can also be made online via Quicket
For more information, click on the KZNPO advert at the top right of this page to link direct to the orchestra’s website or visit www.kznphil.org.za
The remaining concerts in the Summer Season
are:
CONCERT 3:
March 16 2023, 19h00. Playhouse Opera
Theatre
Conductor: Bernhard Gueller
Soloist: Shannon Thebus, French horn
Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture
Strauss: French Horn Concerto No. 1 in
E-Flat Major
Brahms: Symphony No. 4, Op. 98 in e minor
CONCERT 4:
March 23 2023, 19h00. Playhouse Opera
Theatre
Conductor: Daniel Boico
Soloist: Luis Magalhães, piano
Beethoven: Fidelio Overture
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 6 in D Major
Bessey: iNkosi uShaka: Umbono, Isizwe,
Isiphetho
(King Shaka: A Vision, A Nation, A Destiny)
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