Conductor: Richard Cock

It wouldn’t be the end of the festive season if you couldn’t be transported to Vienna by Richard Cock and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra for its Viennese New Year!  This year, two concerts  will take place at the Cape Town City Hall on January 17 — at 3 pm and 7 pm.   The orchestra will enchant you with some of the loveliest melodies by Strauss, father and son, while tenor  Stéfan Louw and soprano Janelle Visagie will bring you Johann Strauss and Franz Lehar.   The concerts’ Fairy Tales from the Orient will include Mozart along with the effervescent waltzes, polkas and marches you know and love. Dancers from Cape Town City Ballet will add to the Viennese flair.

Tickets are from R75 to R160 from Computicket on 0861 915 8000  and Artscape

Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695. More information cpo.org.za / luvuyo@cpo.org.za> luvuyo@cpo.org.za 021 410 9809.

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Perry SO opens CPO season

Christina McEwan
Cape Times September 15, 2015

Perry So is on the spot. This young conductor, 33, is returning to Cape Town to open the Spring symphony season with two concerts, one of which is an Homage to Sibelius. So has loved Sibelius’ music ever since he was a child. Lately, as he enters his mid-thirties, he is increasingly drawn to the pensive and self-doubting moods that emerge in Sibelius’ later years. But in the Second Symphony which he will be conducting, there is only a hint of this introspection – this youthful symphony is particularly memorable with its broad palette of orchestral colours inspired by a long visit to Italy.

“This iconic symphony is filled with soul-stirring optimism for a Finland that will be free, both politically and culturally. The grandeur and the arching melodies embody the hope of creating their own future, however grim their situation was becoming within the Russian Empire,” So recounts.

The historical reflection leads to an admission that he can be something of an antiquarian. “My big discovery this week is that Mahler’s conducting copy of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony is down the street from my house at the Yale University library. I’m so excited – like a kid in a toy store! Manuscripts, old scores, letters from composers to their wives, their old houses – these are a crucial part of my process for getting into a piece of music.” His wife Anna is writing her doctoral thesis on Russian history at Yale, which, So says, “at least partly explains why I’m constantly aware of how much the past is always lurking everywhere.”

Although he has only spent a few days in Finland, So lived for six months in the neighbouring city of St. Petersburg, Russia, where he had won the first and special prizes at the Fifth International Prokofiev Conducting Competition. There, among other things, he learned to appreciate the harshness of the climate. “Each time I left home I had to check that I wasn’t going to die from an icicle through my skull- I came away with a deep appreciation for how much it took to create great music under these circumstances.”

Our conversation turned to his excitement on returning to Cape Town for the third time, and how he has changed over the last few years. “I have hopefully grown as a musician since my previous visits! I find I am spending ever more of my time trying to find better answers to questions I once thought I had figured out. Every musician will bring something of themselves into the music they perform. On my part, I’m much more at peace than I’ve ever been with the schizophrenic upbringing I received in Hong Kong – a colonial education in the twilight of empire, with thousands of years of Chinese culture floating around! I hope I’m finally starting to understand how to be this person in the music I perform.”

While America is his home at the moment, he continues to work around the world, more and more in mainland China. “That part of the world is an essential part of me. The curtains have closed on the Hong Kong I grew up in, but that led me to discover what a huge, diverse country China is, and I love spending time there.”

After Cape Town he is off to Guangzhou and Shanghai, all the while teaching at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. “I absolutely have to spend a few weeks each year with young musicians – their enthusiasm and fearlessness power me for months afterwards.“ He is off also to Spain, including Tenerife in the Canary Islands, conducting in the magnificent hall designed by Santiago Calatrava overlooking the Atlantic Ocean where the CTPO played in in 2000 in the 16th International Festival of Music.

So was an inaugural Dudamel Conducting Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and recently concluded four years with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra as Associate Conductor. His 2012 recording of American violin concertos with German violinist Alexander Gilman and the Cape Town Philharmonic was awarded a Diapason d’Or. His mentors include Edo de Waart and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

So’s two concerts are on Thursday, October 22 when he conducts Pallavi Madidhara performing the Second Rachmaninov Piano Concerto, Goitsemang Lehobye singing Orchestral Cycle on Poems by Ingrid Jonker and Prokofiev’s Seventh Symphony; and the Homage to Sibelius with Maria Solozobodova playing the Violin Concerto on October 29, with Finlandia and the Second Symphony. Both are at the City Hall at 20:00.

More information from luvuyo@cpo.org.za and tickets from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.

Interview with Pallavi Mahidhara

Christina McEwan
Cape Times October 1, 2015

It’s been several years since pianist Pallavi Mahidhara has been in Cape Town – she last gave a recital tour in 2012 – and she is happy to be back but, horrors, Johannesburg is her favourite city (for its climate)!  Ms Mahidhara knows Johannesburg well – her parents were based there from 2006 until April this year and she visited it as often as she could.

She is in Cape Town to play the Second Rachmaninov Piano Concerto with the CPO and Perry So in its season opener at the City Hall on October 22.

Pallavi Mahidhara is bringing a new interpretation to her performance of the concerto.  “I last performed it in 2009, and since then I have spent the last five years studying with the great Russian pianist and teacher, Dmitri Bashkirov in Madrid. His influence on me has been vital, and has helped me to develop much more of a Russian perspective.  I feel very privileged and honored to have had the chance to work so closely with Professor Bashkirov, and the intensity of his character and musical ideas have left me feeling more closely connected to Russian music. Anytime I see a photo of Rachmaninov’s face, I feel that it is a perfect representation of his music. Both can be sometimes quite severe and restrained, yet always full of inner beauty and life.”

The Russian masters are not all that Ms Mahidhara feels passionate about.

“Being Indian, I love Indian classical music as well.  I am always trying to find a way to connect Western and Eastern classical music. In 2004, I performed in India for the first time and I premiered a piece for solo piano  “Fantasia and Fugue in C” by the internationally revered film score composer, Vanraj Bhatia. Bhatia, who is trained in Indian music, has also studied Western composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Howard Ferguson in London, and is widely acclaimed for his collaborations with Indian Art Film Director, Shyam Benegal. In this large scale piano work, the fantasy is based on the Indian epic, Mahabharata, while the fugue is based on an Indian raga (scale), Puriya Dhanashri.

She has performed the piece many times in Europe and America, always to great acclaim for the piece as well as her performance!

“It is a very descriptive piece, full of drama, expressivity, and emotions.”  The piece can be heard on her website http://www.pallavimahidhara.com/#

Last year she worked with the Indian violinist Dr. L Subramaniam in Bangalore, where she learned more about the basis and structure of Indian classical music. “It opened my mind to the similarities between Western and Indian classical music, and I look forward to exploring this genre more in depth throughout my career.”

Not that she has a lot of time.  Since taking 2^nd place in the Geneva International Competition last year, she has barely stood still.  She performed the First Rachmaninov Concerto in the Grand Hall of the Philharmonie in St Petersburg in May, in awe of those who had played there before … Rachmaninov himself, Prokofiev, for instance. She played in a recital in Berlin, where she now lives, completing her master’s degree at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule with Eldar Nebolsin,  once a pupil of Bashkirov; she played at the National Auditorium in Madrid, and she played with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) in March, amongst a smattering of performances in the States.

She made her debut in South Africa with the JPO in 2008, independently of her  4^th Prize, Audience Prize and Prize for the Best Romantic Concerto in the UNISA International Competition, and has been back almost every year to perform in South Africa . With her sister Radhika, an accomplished cellist who took second prize in the Artscape Competition, now turned banker in Hong Kong, she did four fund-raisers for the soup kitchen at St Martins-in-the-Veld in Johannesburg, raising enough money for the volunteers to run the kitchen for the next year.  The two sisters are now looking for a charity to help in Hong Kong, where Pallavi makes her recital debut next year.

What’s next? She comes to Cape Town directly from Bergen, Norway where she will have had master classes with Leif Ove Andsnes, following performances in Berlin and Madrid; and post Cape Town, she will give a performance in the Geneva Competition’s Laureates Festival, with a live recording being made on Claves Label, and then will go to India for a four-city concert tour.

So for Pallavi Mahidhara, coming to South Africa is almost like coming home. “Although I never lived here, South Africa was my family’s home for several years, and I have a very strong attachment to it.” And certainly she has played often here – five times with the JPO, her second appearance with the CPO and three times in Durban, along with recitals all over the country.

You can hear Ms Mahidhara’s artistic versatility and musical insight on Thursday, October 22, at the Cape Town City Hall at 20:00. Also on the programme with Perry So on the podium, are Three Orchestral songs on poems by Ingrid Jonker by Bongani Ndodana Breem and the Symphony no 7 in C-sharp minor by Prokofiev.

More information from luvuyo@cpo.org.za and tickets from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.

A Gift of Music

The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra is deeply honoured to have been chosen as a beneficiary of the estate of the late Erica Manning. By leaving a generous legacy gift to the CPO, Mrs Manning, who died in May, has left an indelible mark on the orchestra and on classical music more broadly.

Her gift, a legacy far beyond the financial commitment,  assures the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and the music loving public, including the thousands of children in our Youth Development and Education Programme, continued access to world class performances by the CPO and so many more life chances for young people in our two youth orchestras and in Masidlale, our grassroots training programme.

Erica Manning was born and educated in Vancouver and moved to Bermuda. Here she met and married Liam Manning, an Anglican Church minister. They lived in Europe for a number of years before moving to South Africa. Initially, they lived in Cape Town before moving to George where he husband was the Bishop of the diocese. They later moved back to Cape Town where they lived for the rest of their lives. A great love for the arts from music, ballet and opera saw Erica Manning bequeath a significant portion of her estate to ensure the success and sustainability of the CPO as well as opera and ballet. Erica Manning was a woman of great charm and intellect who read and travelled widely. She had a great interest in and love for the performing arts, including the orchestra, ballet and opera. In 2014 she made a seed donation which lead to the formation of The Cape Town City Ballet Endowment Trust. On her death in May 2015 she became a major benefactor to the performing arts in Cape Town as well as making bequests to various deserving charitable organisations. Her  legacy will be of lasting and significant value. Mrs Manning’s  generosity is key to helping the CPO develop further into a diverse and growing orchestra maintaining not only international standards but also striving to be representative of South Africa’s multicultural society and live its vision to be an Orchestra for All Seasons.

Click here to see how to leave a legacy gift or bequest in your will.

The CPO and CPYWE take music to the Overberg

The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Brass Quintet and the CP Youth Wind Ensemble will be taking the Overberg by storm with a series of concerts in partnership with community organizations from Genadendal to Grootbos. On Sunday, October 11, the CPYWE will perform in the Moravian Church, in collaboration with OKOSI, at 15:00, following workshops. The concert will be conducted by Faan Malan and will feature bright and breezy popular works for brass instruments by composers such as LeRoy Anderson and George Gershwin. Tickets: R50 at the door. The musicians will participate in the church service that morning at 10:00. Greyton residents will also experience the exuberance of smaller ensembles of the CPYWE , who will pop up in various places in the town on Saturday, October 10. On October 12, the Brass Quintet will perform two concerts under the auspices of Radio Overberg for high school learners at  8:30 at Albert Myburg Secondary School in Bredasdorp followed at 11:00 by a community concert at the Retirement Village in Napier.  At 15:00, the Quintet will play for the communities of Blompark and Masikane in collaboration with the Grootbos Foundation at Academia Hall in Gansbaai.

The CPO announces its newest partner

The CPO is delighted to announce a new partnership … with Aon Private Insurance Broking, a sponsorship that will run for the next year. We would like to introduce you to Aon and what the company can offer our concertgoers and friends:

It takes a discerning eye to recognise a uniquely talented group of individuals working together in perfect harmony to create a symphony that can be heard across the globe. This mirrors the synergy between the prestigious Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Aon Private Insurance Broking which offers distinct, inspired and bespoke insurance solutions designed to enhance and safeguard your lifestyle.

Aon’s blue chip household and motor insurance solutions cater for the needs of high-nett-worth individuals with significant and often complicated assets. “We are able to offer one of the widest insurance covers and highest limits in the market to ensure your valuable and hard-earned assets are adequately protected,” says Mandy Barrett of Aon South Africa.

A mark of inspiration…
Aon has the expertise to manage even the most complex of personal portfolios with one-on-one support, guidance and a partnership approach. Drawing from a rich and diverse group of experts in their fields, Aon offers global expertise that is seamlessly intertwined with a uniquely local perspective, affording you the peace of mind of entrusting your possessions in the care of private insurance broking experts who understand you.

You can benefit from:

• a thorough client needs analysis
• higher limits
• wider cover
• worldwide assets all risks
• fair and seamless claims settlement

When you gather the strength of a group of inspired individuals into one team – uplifting results follow – Aon Private Insurance Broking.

For more information about Aon Private Insurance Broking solutions, please contact Mandy Barrett on (011) 944 7000, go to www.aon.co.za or email us for a quotation.

Interview with Brandon Phillips

By Beverley Brommert
WEEKEND ARGUS September 26, 2016

Versatility is arguably the most important quality in the resident conductor of a symphony orchestra like the Cape Town Philharmonic, as its recently appointed incumbent Brandon Phillips is aware: having just returned from collaborative direction of the CPO in Johannesburg with veteran Richard Cock, he now finds himself preparing to accompany fledgling soloists in Artscape’s upcoming Youth Music Festival after performing with the likes of celebrity violinist Joshua Bell and diva Pretty Yende.

This is not a new experience for him as he conducted the CTPO last year at this annual event, so he is already comfortable accommodating the needs, both musical and psychological, of young performers making their début in public performance with a professional orchestra. “I’m less nervous now than a year ago in the light of that experience; there were 10 different works then, and this time there are 13,” he said.

With the advantages of youth and a gentle sense of humour, Phillips is a natural when it comes to eliciting the best from inexperienced musicians of talent. “I love spending time with youngsters, and this year two of the soloists in the YMF are already known to me as they belong to the Cape Town Philharmonic ‘s Youth Orchestra – flautist Robert de Fries and Shannon Thebus, who plays the French horn,” he remarked.

Phillips’s own experience of instrumental playing is extensive. Like many a young musician he first learnt the recorder, progressing to the trumpet. Two older brothers, Gavin and Ashley, soon introduced him to their own choice of instrument, the oboe and cello. “I taught myself these as I enjoyed experimenting, and as well as learning to play oboe and cello I also discovered the clarinet and flute – and taught my mother the viola,” he recalled.

Teaching comes easily to him, making his current task a pleasure. His rules are simple: “I treat every piece and its executant with respect. Simpler works like CPE Bach’s Flute Concerto call for enhancement to add to their performance, so that is what I try to show the musician. It’s very important for the player and the conductor to be on the same page, as a good soloist energises the orchestra. I treat each youngster like a best and valued friend, appealing to their imagination. So I’ll suggest, ‘Think of a storm when you play this, or like a forest, or whatever is appropriate.’ The trick is to make them bond with the music.”

At the first rehearsal on September 22, four days before the festival, he will keep his presence low-key, taking notes and listening attentively until the time comes to say, “Watch me at this point, I’m the conductor.” The repertoire is already set by then, and he is given the scores “in a bunch” to work through from the top down. “When the energy levels are high, I go for the more challenging pieces”, he commented. His choice of the overture, from Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro, is light and breezy to suit the age of its players. By his own admission, most of the pieces to be aired are “hectic”, and when asked to identify a favourite he names so many that one suspects each is special for different reasons. Like the executants themselves, aged from 10 to 24.

Robert de Vries

Echo September 24, 2015

Muizenberg resident Robert de Vries is one of the young musicians who will be playing at the 44th annual Youth Music Festival, seen as a launching pad for classical musicians. Robert lives in residence at UCT but returns to his home in Muizenberg when not busy at UCT Music School where he is doing his BMus Honours in Performance in Western classical music under Bridget Rennie-Salonen.

Robert started to learn music in the New Apostolic Church but has since travelled far in his musical journey. In 2014 he was invited to attend master-classes in Austria hosted by Professor Hansgeorg Schmeiser from the University of Music in Vienna, the Neuberg Kulturtage in Neuberg and the 14th European Flute Academy in Fiss, Austria. In February this year he was selected to play in a master class for Sir James Galway at the first Galway Flute Festival in South Africa and was then invited to attend the Galway Flute Festival in Weggis, Switzerland. While at the festival he had the opportunity of having master classes with the principal flute of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Kersten McCall, and the professor of flute at the Conservatoire de Lyon, Julien Beaudiment.

Full newsletter: Goitsy on the go, not too late to subscribe and National Youth music competition finals!

Goitsy is on the move!

*Material that is not copyright may be used with attribution

Giving a world premiere takes its toll, but Goitsemang Lehobye is comfortable, partly because of the songs and partly because of the help she has been getting preparing. She is so looking forward to beginning the rehearsals, for Perry So’s reputation is, she says, “wonderful”.  She will sing Three Orchestral Songs on poems by Ingrid Jonker at the opening concert of the spring season next Thursday.

About the songs, she says:  “The music is tonal, but still it is a little stressful to be busy with modern music because it is difficult and there’s no reference material. Even so, I am so enjoying learning them. My favourite is Ek herhaal jou. The music is beautiful and even when I didn’t understand  fully the meaning of the words I really connected with the music. It is wonderful to be part of making history and the fact that Bongani Ndodana-Breen is so helpful also adds to the experience. I really appreciate that about him.”
Goitsy is also full of praise for the team behind her and calls the  SA College of Music, with whom the CPO often collaborates, a  family affair!

Full newsletter: Join us at the CPO’s Viennese New Year

January 17 Cape Town City Hall 15:00 & 19:00

It wouldn’t be the end of the festive season if you couldn’t be transported to Vienna by Richard Cock and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra for its Viennese New Year!

Full newsletter: Festival Season starts soon

Indian violin maestro to perform world premiere of new concerto with Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra on February 6

Lovers of Indian Classical Music, and particularly the lighter form of ghazal, will be in for a treat when noted Indian violinist and composer Deepak Pandit premieres his new work Symphony of Ghazal in concert with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra on February 6 at 8.30 pm at Artscape Opera. The concert will be conducted by Brandon Phillips.

Symphony of Ghazal, presented by Inner Circle Entertainment, is a celebration of the music of the late ghazal legend Jagjit Singh. Pandit accompanied Singh as his violinist for 23 years performing in more than one thousand concerts across the globe, including South Africa. Pandit has also scored and arranged music for Singh. The concert will bring together the styles of Indian and Western Classical music in a unique way and will expose the audience to a tapestry woven from Indian Classical, semi-classical, and ghazal as it interweaves the beautiful harmonisation of the symphony orchestra.
Listen to Deepak Pandit here

Although the ghazal deals with the whole spectrum of human experience, its central concern is love. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain.

“The work is unique in that some of the most popular items of Jagjit Singh have been re-scored for orchestra,” says Pandit. “This is a dream project and I am delighted to team up with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra to debut this work. The concert introduces a cross-section of Jagjit’s repertoire including some of his ghazals which featured in movies, his compositions of great poets, and some semi-classical items which always received thunderous applause in our concerts across the world.”

Deepak Pandit will be joined on stage by musicians from India, performing with the Orchestra. The strong Indian percussion section will ensure that the rhythmic nuances of Indian music are restored when accompanying the orchestra, whilst the bansuri (bamboo flute) will add the texture of the velvet voice of Jagjit Singh as he explored the many ragas which formed the basis of his prized compositions.

Louis Heyneman, CEO of the CPO, is delighted about the partnership. “Our mandate as an orchestra for all seasons is given deeper meaning by this collaboration which breaks new boundaries. A full classical accompaniment crossing into the music of ghazal will bring a new audience to the concert hall, one that appreciates how a symphony orchestra can bring so much pleasure to all the citizens of the city of Cape Town.”

Tickets from R200 – R300 from Computicket outlets, by calling 0861 915 8000 online at www.computicket.com and Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695.

Soloists for the 3rd Len van Zyl conductors’ competition

Three brilliant young musicians have been chosen as the soloists to perform in the 3rd Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and three talented young conductors on the cusp of a career and who will have reached the final round. The concert takes place on February 14 at the Cape Town City Hall at 20:00.

The eight who made it through are Chad Hendricks, Reghardt Kühn, Andre Oosthuizen, Russell Scott, Grant Snyman, Charl vd Merwe, Schalk van der Merwe and Jaco van Staden.

Jeffrey Armstrong (19), former concertmaster of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra who is in his first year at the Birmingham Conservatoire, will play the Introduction and Rondo Capriccio by Saint-Saëns;  Shaheel Kooverjee (19) will play the first movement of the Second Piano Concerto no 2 in C minor by Rachmaninov, and Leo Gevisser (12), will play the first movement of the Piano Concerto in G by Ravel. Gevisser and Kooverjee performed in the Artscape National Youth Music Festival. The other works on the programme are Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky Korsakov, Noon Witch by Dvořák and the overture from Tannhäuser by Wagner.

Founder of the competition Len van Zyl says that the competition provides an unparalleled opportunity for talented young conductors to have master classes and fine tune their skills.

“It is the only opportunity of its kind in South Africa. There were more than 30 entries this year, with eight who made it through the earlier round in June coming to Cape Town for the semi-finals,” he says. “The three finalists have the opportunity to play with a first-class professional orchestra, and they accompany soloists who are amongst the up and coming stars of the future.”

The winner of the Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition will leave in late February for a one-month internship with the Philadelphia Orchestra and two months with Professor Victor Yampolsky at Northwestern University in Chicago. Brandon Phillips, the winner of the first competition and now resident conductor of the CPO, joins judges Victor Yampolsky, Bernhard Gueller and Richard Cock on the adjudication panel at the finals.

Tickets for this concert are available from Computicket and Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.

Full newsletter: Concerts live on FMR, upcoming concerts and Valentine’s under the stars!

Donohoe back in the City

Cape Times February 3, 2016

CHRISTINA McEWAN

Peter Donohoe is a man who knows his scores, but just as much he knows his mind. And doesn’t mind speaking out.  He will be in Cape Town to play the 1^st Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in the opening concert of the Cape Town Philharmonic’s 10^th International Summer Music Festival, sponsored by the City of Cape Town, on February 4. The CPO will play under the direction of Bernhard Gueller.

This is Donohoe’s third visit to South Africa – he was here on a nationwide tour in 1985 when it was when it was disapproved of in the UK. “I did it because I do not approve of being used politically by anyone. It’s why I perform in Israel and Russia and China. If they invite me, I will go, no matter what I think of the regime. I know enough about international politics to know that what we see and hear about is often over simplified and every single example of visiting a country without a full approval rating has been a revelation to me. I believe that keeping lines open through the arts and other connections does far more good than pressure through sanctions, which often harm the very people they are meant to protect. I am very happy to have seen for myself at least a section of the reality of South Africa in the 1980s, and am able to form my own opinions about such things on the basis of personal experience.”

Donohoe was here again in in the mid 1990s when he played Beethoven’s  Emperor Concerto with Bernhard Gueller, a partnership he is looking forward to repeating: “I loved working with Gueller very much and am only sorry it has taken 20 years to repeat the experience.”

On the subject of competitions for rising musicians, he says:  “Awarding a first prize when it is not justified undermines the integrity of the competition. I feel that a first prize should not be awarded if it is not warranted. It doesn’t do the young musicians any good if they are not ready. Winning competitions can be bad for careers – the ability of the winners to stand up to the total life change that includes the response of the media, the agents and the record companies. This is by definition short-termist.  Of course winning, when a first prize winner IS ready for what is coming can be the best possible assistance with the career, as long as they are ready,” he says. “I won a Silver Medal in the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition and I was not fully prepared for what happened to me, so if I had won Gold I may have become jaded and given up”.

He notes that it is very important to see that there is such a big difference between admiring a young pianist and expecting him to have a great career ahead of him on the one hand, and awarding the prize that could possibly ruin them on the other.

“It’s a kind of pastoral care thing that we experienced older musicians need to extend to the younger generation.  I guess that’s what the jury did for me in 1982 by awarding me joint Silver. I am glad they did it although at the time I viewed it differently, and politics were also involved. It was the time of the Cold War and east-west relationships were dangerous. I was also the audience favourite but since juries look for other qualities the audience favourite is often not the gold winner. “

Donohoe leaves Cape Town to play a recital with a Turkish theme in the International Mozart Festival in Johannesburg, before returning to the UK to pick up on what is his greatest relaxation at the moment.

“I have spent the whole of January practising Mozart – my next two years’ project – at the end of which I will record it. i needed something of a rest from public performance having played in Russia, South America, America and Germany in the autumn, with performances in the UK of course. So it has been a good relaxing break –  all his solo piano music and the concertos which are part of my life.  Mozart is possibly the greatest composer, one who fulfils my needs at my level of (hopefully) maturity. It’s actually fascinating to see Mozart from the retrospect of having played so many works from later in music history. My last recording projects were all the major piano solos works of Shostakovich and Scriabin so this is a very big contrast. It was Messiaen who told me to wait until I was sixty before exposing myself and the world to Mozart’s sonatas. I was a student of Messiaen many years ago and it still a surprise that a contemporary composer Messiaen should have had such a high regard and infinite respect and understanding of Mozart – they are so different. I followed his advice, partly because I had become associated with the 20th Century and Russian Romantic repertoire for the obvious marketing opportunities and I always had to work hard to persuade people to not to go for those concerti! I also took Messiaen’s advice and benefited from his wisdom on many different topics.”

As one of the foremost pianists of our time, Donohoe is in demand everywhere for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique, and performs with every worthwhile orchestra almost everywhere!   He holds seven honorary doctorates from British universities and was awarded a CBE for services to classical music in the 2010 New Year’s Honours List.

The concert on February 4 also includes the Roman Carnival Overture by Berlioz and the Dvorak Symphony no 6. Tickets  from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.  More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za   or 021 410 9809.

Full newsletter: Len van Zyl competition this weekend, Radio broadcasts and Youth Celebrations!

The Len van Zyl’s Young Conductors to soar!

Christina McEwan

Cape Times

Competitions can really establish a musician and see a career soar. Winning Placido Domingo’s Operalia’s Gold was gold for the wonderful Pretty Yende; the Van Cliburn Piano Competition opened the doors for the glamorous Olga Kern, and the Mahler Competition taking place in Germany for the fifth time this May gave Gustavo Dudamel his springboard in 2004 to huge success!   While there are several national and international competitions for strings and piano in particular, there are not many opportunities for young conductors and this set Len van Zyl, a South African advertising executive who lived and became involved in the Philadelphia Orchestra in America, dreaming. The dream has become a reality with the 3^rd Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition final round taking place at the City Hall on February 14 at 20:00. Not only will three talented young conductors compete for the prestigious title, but the concert also provides the opportunity for three brilliant young soloists – Jeffrey Armstrong (violin) and Leo Gevisser and Shaheel Kooverjee (piano) to play with the CPO.

Van Zyl’s dream started to take shape in 2009.

“The Philadelphia Orchestra was happy to come on board; Victor Yampolsky is a committed educator and had been involved in setting up the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra was delighted to become a partner. Three competitions on, it is gratifying to see what the Competition has done for the first winner, Brandon Phillips, who walked away with the first title in 2010. He’s now resident conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra as well as music director of the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and invited to guest conduct all over the country. The second prizewinner, Xavier Cloete, is also making his name, and is conducting the CPO in two Valentine’s Day concerts.   And soon there will be a third winner.”

Eight young men (yes, only men made their way through the first rounds) are competing on Friday (Feb 12) for a place in the finals. What’s on offer is not only the title but a one-month internship with the acclaimed Philadelphia Orchestra (its music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin is one of the most exciting conductors today) and two months with Victor Yampolsky, arguably America’s leading conducting professor, at Northwestern University in Chicago. The prize also includes a ticket to America and accommodation on top of the peerless internships.

“Three competitions on, I am convinced we are offering a valuable opportunity. The entrants have increased each time, and for the first round in June this year we had nearly 30 entrants. Maestro Yampolsky gave each one a couple of masterclasses as each conducted to two pianos played by François du Toit and José Dias in the first round. Feedback from them was really positive and I think they all go away knowing they have benefited from excellent advice. Getting to the eight wasn’t easy amongst the talented young men and one woman. I hope that in the next competition in 2018 we will have more women!

“But what an eight,” he says. “They come from all over the country – Andre Oosthuizen from Potchefstroom, Schalk van der Merwe and Jaco van Staden from Pretoria, Russell Scott from Durban, Grant Snyman from Port Elizabeth, Reghardt Kühn from Stellenbosch and two from Cape Town – Chad Hendriks and Charl van der Merwe, both CPYO assistant conductors.

“These eight will all be tested on various theoretical aspects, receive one group master class, and then each will conduct from Debussy’s Quartet in g minor and Puccini’s I chrisantemi, performed by a string quartet, comprising mainly CPO principals Patrick Goodwin and Emina Lukin (violin), Jill King (viola), and Kristiyan Chernev (cello).

Yampolsky will be assisted by Bernhard Gueller, Richard Cock (who has been involved since inception) and Brandon Phillips to choose three of the eight to go forward to the finals on February 14 at the City Hall, after three rehearsals with the orchestra. They will also form the final adjudication panel.

The final concert includes the first movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G and Rimsky Korsakov’s breezy Capriccio Espagnol; the 1^st movement of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor and Dvořák’s Noon Witch; and Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso with the overture to Wagner’s opera, Tannhäuser. The CPO, under the direction of Brandon Phillips, will then play the Festive Overture by Shostakovich before Van Zyl announces the winners.

Tickets from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.  More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za   or 021 410 9809.

Olga Kern starts her own International Piano Competition

Christina McEwan

Cape Times

Catching up with Olga Kern was not easy — she had just arrived back in her New York home and was about to leave for Nice within a couple of hours, before coming into Cape Town to play in the Cape Town Philharmonic’s 10^th International Summer Music Festival when I managed it! Ms Kern will play both the 3^rd Piano Concerto by Tchaikovsky and the Rachmaninov/Paganini Variations at the City Hall on February 11, when the CPO plays under the direction of Bernhard Gueller.

It was winning the Gold at the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 2001 that set her on the world stage, and it the Olga Kern International Piano Competition that will pave the way for some other young people. “Van Cliburn was a hero to the Russians,” she said, “when he won the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition. My parents adored him, and I entered the competition to meet him more than to win it. I was lucky – I did both and he became not only my mentor but my friend. He advised me on so many aspects of my life, especially my playing. He was a very special friend, and shared great stories with me. He was so good to my son, Vladislav, and me.” (Capetonians may remember Vladislav playing Mozart about 10 years ago, when his feet could barely touch the pedals! He is now 16, has won the International Bach Competition, is graduating from the Juilliard School of Music’s Pre-College course in New York, and wanting to embark on his own soloist/conducting career! He was born for the stage, she says!)

The Cliburn competition opened so much up to her, she says. “A good management, recognition, recording contracts and, of course, more and more engagements. So why not help others? The ideal opportunity came up last year. I have been playing with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra for years, in good times and in bad financial times, doing benefits where required and helping them regain stability.   I love the atmosphere there – orchestra, the concert hall, the community and aboe all the desert and the huge mountains. It’s gorgeous there and grand nature is for me, very inspirational. The orchestra decided to start a piano competition and wanted my involvement.   So, not only does it bear my name, but I am artistic director of the competition AND chairman of the jury. I advise on all matters artistic. The competition, like the Cliburn and UNISA, make it possible for outstanding young artists without the financial means to come, since all expenses are paid for all competitors, who are eliminated down to 20 – 25 through You Tube screening auditions. Most of all, I look forward to identifying a young star, someone who will shine for years to come. I also look forward to hearing a work by a Scottish composer, Rory Boyle, that we have commissioned for the contestants to play. He has shared his thoughts with me and I know the work in progress will have a long life time in the world of concerti.”

Ms Kern is also president of the Van Cliburn Amateur competition which takes place before her competition in November.

Helping people is not new to here. With her brother Vladimir, also known to Cape Town audiences through his appearances as conductor in the International Summer Festival of which she was artistic director for many years, she has started a foundation to help young people around the world.

“I was so moved when we saw how giving three young Russian girls whose parents were simply not able to buy them concert clothes changed their performance outlook and gave them confidence. We give talented children scholarships and make introductions where we know they can help people get good teachers or make a good career move or move to great schools like in Imola in Italy or the Moscow Conservatory.” She hopes to get involved with the College of Music at UCT.

“There are so many talented children in South Africa who also need a helping hand,” she says.

She likes big projects. “I played all the Rachmaninov concerti and the Variations in Cape Town and then travelled to many places with them. I have done something similar with Tchaikovsky. Now it’s time for Gershwin and Barber, having just become an American citizen!”

The concert which also includes the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky and the Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz will be on February 11 at the Cape Town City Hall at 20:00. Since it is the opening of Parliament, patrons are advised to come up Christian Barnard Road from the Foreshore to Buitenkant and find parking there. The concert will not begin until all patrons are seated.   Booking information Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.  More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za   or 021 410 9809. The concert will also be broadcast live by Fine Music Radio 101.3 and the dress rehearsal at 10:00 on the day of the concert will be open at a cost of R50.

Ms Kern will also play at La Motte on Saturday 11^th before embarking on a nationwide tour.

Full newsletter: Chad Hendricks wins Len van Zyl competition, CPYWE at the Waterfront and Belvedere booking is open

Jack Liebeck to perform with CPO

Christina McEwan

Cape Times

Zipping in and out of cities is the rule of thumb, says Jack Liebeck, the young British violinist  who will be in Cape Town for one week to rehearse and perform with the Cape Town Philharmonic in its 10^th Cape Town International Summer Music Festival, supported by the City of Cape Town, and in recital for the Cape Town Concert Series. This is because the compelling and busy violinist is also a professor and he takes his teaching responsibilities very seriously.

“I have five students at the Royal Academy of Music in London who need regular lessons, roughly seven hours a week and, while I have been forced to teach via Skype when I was in Australia, I prefer not to.”  So he doesn’t usually get much time to see the city he is playing in, except that in this case he has been here before. In fact, his parents were both born here, leaving in 1973 for London, so he feels a sort of kinship for Cape Town.

“My grandparents were war immigrants, so my parents were first-generation South Africans. My mom’s family had links to the diamond trade both here and in Amsterdam.  I haven’t any family left Cape Town but they do visit often.  I have been about three times, once for two days at the end of a music cruise from Southampton and another a recent week long holiday with my parents, so I know how a little bit about the city.”  Although his father is a great cricket fan, telling him on the trip back here where he played cricket (tennis, rugby and soccer!) as a young man, Liebeck won’t be going to the 20/20 on the Friday between his concerts – that will be spend rehearsing for the recital!

Born in London in 1980, Liebeck studied at the Royal Academy before making a name for himself both in the UK and abroad. His recital debut at the Wigmore Hall in 2002 was both acclaimed and sold out, and he has just made his New York recital debut – on  February 7 – at the Lincoln Centre just before arriving here and shortly after that a concert in San Sebastian in Spain.  As a soloist, he has appeared with all the major British orchestras, and also with many abroad from Scandinavia to Moscow, America and Australia.

As a chamber musician (and heard on the soundtrack of several films such as Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina), Liebeck is in demand as a soloist and with his trio, Trio Dali,with Amandine Savary and Christian-Pierre La Marca, and also in duo with Ms Savary.  While the Trio was formed in 2007, he only joined it three years ago. “It had a great name before I joined, and hopefully still a good one now,” he says with charming humility. And yes, it still has a very great reputation today! He has also collaborates with pianists Katya Apekisheva, Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Angela Hewitt and  Piers Lane  and with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon at some of the best festivals in Bath, Aldeburgh, Montpellier, Montreux, Reims, Spoleto and of course the City of London. He is also artistic director of Oxford May Music Festival, a festival of music, science and the arts.  He plays maybe 20 trio concerts a year plus his recitals and orchestral appearances – he played at last year’s BBC Proms, for instance – and there are many more festival appearances on the horizon.

Liebeck returns to London to run a Kreisler Festival with master classes and concerts, various recitals and a festival in Australia, before returning to Australia with Trio Dali for a concert tour there.

“Amandine and I have known each other since we were first students at the Royal Academy.  We realised when we started our Trio Dali discussions three years ago that we knew each other by sight, but she was one of the cool French kids in our student days! She’s still cool but now she’s a friend!  She lives in Paris and instead of my visiting her to practice often we can rehearse together in London because she was recently also appointed to the Academy faculty and so comes over once a week.”

Liebeck has released several CDs, two critically acclaimed discs for Sony Classical (Dvorak, awarded a 2010 Classical Brit Award and Brahms Sonata’s with pianist Katya Apekisheva) and has just started a new recording relationship with Hyperion Records.  His latest CDs include the music of Fritz Kreisler and recordings of Bruch’s music for violin and orchestra.

At his concert with the CPO on February 18 at the City Hall, he will play the Bruch G minor Violin Concerto,  on his

‘Ex-Wilhelmj’ J.B. Guadagnini dated 1785. On the podium will be Victor Yampolsky, who will direct the CPO in Don Juan, the tone poem by Richard Strauss, and the Brahms Symphony no 4 in G.   For the Cape Town Concert Series recital on Saturday, February 20, at the Baxter Concert Hall , Liebeck and Ms Savary will play sonatas by Debussy, Beethoven (in  F,  “Spring”) and Brahms (no 3 in D minor) and Two pieces by Lalo – Romance Serenade and Guitare.

Both concerts start at 20:00. Tickets for both concerts from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.  More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za  /info@ctconcerts.co.za

Full newsletter: Omri Hadari, subscriptions now open and CPYO Woordfees

Omri Hadari

It’s been years since Omri Hadari has lived in Cape Town, but it still remains one of his favourites, for its beauty and above all for the friendships he made. Hadari is back to celebrate 175 Years of South African Jewry in the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s final concert of the current 10th Cape Town International Summer Festival. This concert takes place at the City Hall on Thursday, March 3, at 8pm.

Hadari has never lost his ties with South Africa. Having been principal guest conductor with the CTSO from 1985-1989 when he was appointed music director for three years, he has continued to come back, and in fact, was with the KZNPO for 22 consecutive years until 2 years ago. He was also back with the CPO and conducted the SA National Youth Orchestra.

While he and his wife Osnat have lived in Oporto (he was principal guest conductor for seven years and very involved in the city’s music life with conducting master classes after he left Cape Town), London (where they lived before they came here), and Israel where they now again live, Cape Town remains dear to them.

“It was one of the best periods of our lives,” he says. “And what makes this visit so pleasurable is that one of our dearest friends, Sheila Catzel is returning from Australia to celebrate a special birthday when we are here. Sheila was chairman of the Friends of the CTSO for many years, before moving with her late husband to Sydney, and someone who took many visiting artists under her wing. It will be wonderful to see her.”

When he was music director, he did 44 concerts a year over 22 weeks, and with the larger forces at his command he was able to programme virtually all the Mahler Symphonies and even some Bruckner. He recorded all the Arnold van Wyk symphonic works, and conducted the Britten War Requiem. Other highlights included the massive Turangalila Symphony by Messiaen and bringing in, probably for the first time, two black choirs – from Soweto and Gugulethu, to sing the Beethoven 9th Symphony. He also puts the City Hall at the top of his list of great concert halls, which also includes the city halls in Durban and Johannesburg. “The older ones resonate much more than most modern concert halls,” he says.

Hadari is no stranger to what has happened in South Africa- closure of orchestras thanks to lack of funding. Since settling in Israel, Hadari’s Ashdod Chamber Orchestra was closed, and last year the Classica Israel Hadera Orchestra, where he was in place for 13 years, was closed as soon as a new mayor took office and needed to make budget cuts.

Before he became a conductor, Hadari was one of Israel’s finest trumpeters, then graduating from the Guildhall School of Music in London from an advanced conducting course. From that point, he appeared with many orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Israel Chamber, the San Francisco Chamber, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) orchestras, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on a regular basis. In 1987, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, directed many live broadcasts and made studio recordings for the ABC.

Hadari’s friends will also know that his violinist son, Netta, who attended Westerford High, and made his professional debut in the city, is now a Yale graduate and has opened a music school in New Haven in Connecticut with his Korean violinist wife. He also conducts the youth orchestra, plays and teaches, and helps out with their two young children, one of whom “looks Korean the other an Ashkenazi Jew”, he says. His daughter Keren, is “the best eye surgeon in Israel”.

Other high points in recent years include conducting in Taiwan, and also in Turkey where, before Israel and Turkey cut ties, he conducted in four cities for four years.

Hadari is looking forward to the concert because of two special links: “I introduced the sololoist, Aviram Reichert, to South Africa and am looking forward very much to collaborating with him again. The second reason is that 25 years ago I conducted a gala concert with the CTSO to celebrate 150 years of the Gardens Synagogue. There are truly good reasons to be back!” He will also be back to conduct the CPO in November.

The concert on March 3 will feature Reichert performing Gerswin’s Rhapsody in Blue as well as the overture to Bernstein’s opera, Candide, and the Second Rachmaninov Symphony.

Tickets from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695. More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za or 021 410 9809.

Gérard Korsten here to conduct Salomé

It’s hard to believe that it was 13 years since Gérard Korsten last conducted in Cape Town. He will conduct the CPO in Cape Town Opera’s Salomé, the Richard Strauss opera which will be “short, outlandish and incredibly exciting” according to its daring director, Matthew Wild. Wild is making his debut as CTO’s artistic director.

The CPO caught up with Korsten while Rodney Trudgeon was interviewing him for People of Note (March 13 at 6 pm and repeated on March 17 at 1 pm on FMR), and renewed a long-time friendship which began when he was concertmaster of the CTSO from 1991 to 1993.

He hasn’t changed. Looking more like a 30 year-old than someone who is 55, he still has that amazing energy that has musicians on their toes. A top-notch violinist, he was concert master of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with conductors Sandor Vegh , Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. While there his interest in conducting grew and he made the switch to conducting. Now, he only takes out his violin when feeling depressed. After 10 minutes, the playing begins to hurt his body and all that serves to do, he says, is make him more depressed!

Many a South African National Youth Orchestra musician will attest to the power of the challenges Korsten threw down … even a baton or two that slipped! He says he has quietened down, that he no longer makes those big movements we are all used to, but seeing will be believing!

Korsten headed up the opera in Cagliari in Italy for some years, often premiering new works, and then based himself in Zurich where he still lives with his partner, the singer Eva Mei. While he loves working with her, their career paths don’t often cross and he is looking forward to accompanying her in Four Last Songs, also by Strauss, coming up soon in Voralberg in Austria, where he is principal conductor of an excellent project orchestra. Korsten says he has stopped concentrating solely on opera which was all-consuming, and now works evenly in opera and on the concert stage.

When he arrived back in Cape Town to conduct, he says he immediately felt at home, and what will make it more special is that his four siblings (with him the big 5, he says!) are all coming to Cape Town for a performance … and a braai! Pity his two blonde Italian daughters, aged 20 and 22, can’t be here as well.

This Salomé is a reduced orchestral version; even so there are 72 musicians and many challenges in the score . He loves the music, which he describes as difficult, veering between noble and beautiful for John the Baptist and Salomé, and neither for Herod and Herodias!

CONDUCTOR: MARTIN PANTELEEV

SOLOIST:  KRISTÓF BARÁTI

RAVEL ALBORADA DEL GRACIOSO

BARTOK VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2

RACHMANINOV SYMPHONIC DANCES

According to Ida Haendel, Kristóf Baráti is “the most talented violinist of his and many generations”.   The Hungarian virtuoso, raised in Venezuela, won top prizes in many of the best international competitions such as the Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris, the Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians Competition and the Paganini Competition in Moscow. His solo and chamber music career takes him to the leading concert hall venues in the world, and he has collaborated with a host of leading conductors such as Kurt Masur, Marek Janowski, Charles Dutoit, Jiri Belohlavek, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Mikhail Pletnov.

As associate conductor of the  Philharmonia of the Nations orchestra, founded by Leonard Bernstein and Justus Frantz, Martin Panteleev performed more than 1000 concerts in Europe, Asia and America. In 2008, he took the Sofia Festival Orchestra on an American tour, followed by one in 2011 with the CPO, whose principal guest conductor he was from mid-2012 for four years. In 2014, he made his debut as conductor of the Royal Philharmonic. He is a composer of note, and is currently chief conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra in his native Bulgaria.

Renewals of subscriptions from Computicket and Artscape Dial-A-Seat: 021 421 7695 April 30 to May 11; new subscriptions and single seats from May 21. Subscribe and stand a chance to win one night at the 5-star Iconic Luxury Apartments in Stellenbosch.

CONDUCTOR: MARTIN PANTELEEV

SOLOISTS: MACIEJ GRZYBOWSKI (piano)

ERIC DIPPENAAR (organ)

SCHUMANN PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR OP. 54

SAINT SAËNS SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN C MINOR OP. 78 “ORGAN”

As associate conductor of the  Philharmonia of the Nations orchestra, founded by Leonard Bernstein and Justus Frantz, Martin Panteleev performed more than 1000 concerts in Europe, Asia and America. In 2008, he took the Sofia Festival Orchestra on an American tour, followed by one in 2011 with the CPO, whose principal guest conductor he has been since 2012.  In 2014, he made his debut as conductor of the Royal Philharmonic. He is a composer of note, and is currently chief conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra in his native Bulgaria.

 “A phenomenon, a marvel, a miracle, a special kind of genius” is how the music critic of the Los Angeles Times described  Polish pianist Maciej Grzybowski  in 2012. As a soloist, he has performed at many international festivals alongside great artists such as Martha Argerich, Paul Badura-Skoda,  Ivo Pogorelich and  Piotr Anderszewski and plays in recital and with orchestra around the world. His two recordings of works by Bach, Berg, Mykietyn, Schönberg, Szymański and Paweł Szymański were nominated for the prestigious Polish award, Fryderyk.

Renewals of subscriptions from Computicket and Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 April 30 to May 11; new subscriptions and single seats from May 21. Subscribe and stand a chance to win one night at the 5-star Iconic Luxury Apartments in Stellenbosch.

CONDUCTOR: BERNHARD GUELLER

SOLOIST:  PETER MARTENS (cello)

DVORAK  CELLO CONCERTO IN B MINOR, OP. 14

TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO.5 IN E MINOR, OP.64

Music director of Symphony Nova Scotia in Canada since 2003 and a frequent guest conductor in Cape Town since 1994,  German-born Bernhard Gueller is acknowledged internationally for his insight, passion, excitement and profound interpretations.  For the last three years, he was also principal guest conductor of the Victoria Symphony in BC and before that music director of the  Nuremberg Symphony. His career has taken him around the world, most recently concentrating on North America.  His recent CD of music by Canadian composer Tim Brady, nominated for an East Coast Music Award, can was released shortly because one of orchestrations of Schubert songs with the Canadian mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig.

Peter Martens is one of the most highly acclaimed cellists in South Africa. He has been principal cellist of several orchestras including the Cape Town Philharmonic, while pursuing an active career as a chamber musician and soloist. He studied with  Dalena Roux at Stellenbosch University and Heidi Litschauer at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and was awarded his PhD at Stellenbosch. He is a member of the Amici String Quartet, has performed with the Brodsky String Quartet in London,  participated in festivals in Russia, Holland, Salzburg, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Portugal, and recorded the Bach Cello Suites and Beethoven Cello Sonatas for TwoPianists Records.

 Renewals of subscriptions from Computicket and Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 April 30 to May 11; new subscriptions and single seats from May 21. Subscribe and stand a chance to win one night at the 5-star Iconic Luxury Apartments in Stellenbosch.

Conductor: Arjan Tien
Soloist: Bryan Wallick (piano)

BRITTEN – Passacaglia from Peter Grimes, Op. 33 B
PROKOFIEV – Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
MENDELSSOHN – Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 (Scottish)

Arjan Tien, winner of the first prize “Rotary Faller” in conducting in Switzerland, performs in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, where he  works with internationally established orchestras and opera companies such as Wermland Opera, Opera South, Gauteng Opera,  the WDR Rundfunkorchester, the Belgrade Philharmonic and most major Dutch and South African orchestras. He was the artistic  director and principal conductor  of the Magogo Chamber Orchestra ( 2006-12) and recorded for many international record labels. He is a professor at the Maastricht and Fontys Music Academies, regularly gives master classes and is principal conductor of the Athenaeum Chamber Orchestra at the Royal Conservatoire. Praised by The Guardian “as being among the most thoughtful, elegant and refined of painists”

Gold medalist of the 1997 Vladimir Horowitz International  Piano Competition in Kiev, American  pianist Bryan Wallick has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and South Africa. He made his New York recital Hall and his Wigmore Hall recital debut in London in 2003. He has also performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Sinfonietta and at the St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church with the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra. In recent seasons, Wallick has performed with many orchestras, particularly in the USA and South Africa

Bryan Wallick is gaining recognition as one of the great American virtuoso pianists of his generation. Gold medalist of the 1997 Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev, he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and South Africa.

Mr. Wallick made his New York recital debut in 1998 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and made his Wigmore Hall recital debut in London in 2003.  He has also performed at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Sinfonietta and at the St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church with the London Soloist’s Chamber Orchestra.

In recent seasons, Mr. Wallick has performed with the Boise Philharmonic, Brevard Symphony, Cape Town Philharmonic, Cincinnati Pops, Evansville Philharmonic, Illinois Philharmonic, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Kentucky Symphony, Kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic,  Phoenix Symphony, Portland Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; and collaborated with Erich Kunzel, Marvin Hamlisch, Yasuo Shinozaki, Robert Moody, Daniel Boico, Vladimir Verbitsky, Victor Yampolsky, Andrew Sewell, Josep Vicent, Leslie Dunner, Alfred Savia, Christopher Confessore, and Carmon Deleon among others.  Mr. Wallick has performed recitals at the Chateau Differdange in Luxembourg, Tivoli Artists Series in Copenhagen, Ravina’s Rising Star Series, Xavier Piano Series (Cincinnati), Scottsdale Center’s Virginia Piper Series, Sanibel Island Music Festival, and the Classics in the Atrium Series in the British Virgin Islands.  In March 2002, Mr. Wallick played two solo performances at Ledreborg Palace for HRH Princess Marie Gabrielle Luxembourg, and HRH Prince Philip Bourbon de Parme.

Bookings for  new subscriptions and single seats from 29 February

Conductor: Arjan Tien
Soloist: Melvyn Tan (piano)

PUCCINI – Capriccio Sinfonico
MENDELSSOHN – Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25
BRAHMS – Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73

Arjan Tien, winner of the first prize “Rotary Faller” in conducting in Switzerland, performs in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, where he  works with internationally established orchestras and opera companies such as Wermland Opera, Opera South, Gauteng Opera,  the WDR Rundfunkorchester, the Belgrade Philharmonic and most major Dutch and South African orchestras. He was the artistic  director and principal conductor  of the Magogo Chamber Orchestra ( 2006-12) and recorded for many international record labels. He is a professor at the Maastricht and Fontys Music Academies, regularly gives master classes and is principal conductor of the Athenaeum Chamber Orchestra at the Royal Conservatoire. Praised by The Guardian “as being among the most thoughtful, elegant and refined of painists”

Melvyn Tan studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music and has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist around the world, including his native Singapore where he is artist in residence at the conservatory. Tan established his international reputation with pioneering performances on fortepiano. Tan has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist at many of the world’s  leading concert halls, from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and London’s Wigmore Hall to New York’s Lincoln Center, and at the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festival

Bookings for  new subscriptions and single seats from 29 February

Conductor: Conrad van Alphen
Soloist: Nikita Boriso-Glebsky (violin)

MOZART – Symphonic No. 38 in D, K. 504
VIEUXTEMPS – Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor, Op. 31
DVORAK – Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

Conrad van Alphen is artistic  director and chief  conductor of Sinfonia Rotterdam. In the past 15 years, he has moulded it into an internationally acclaimed  orchestra, which hosts a concert series  in the de Doelen in Rotterdam, the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague and in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Recently international tours include Russia, Mexico , Brazil, Colombia and Chile. He is also a  frequent guest conductor in Russia, Germany, Holland and South Africa. The Dutch/South African conductor has gained tremendous popularity with orchestras and the audiences alike for the unorthodox manner in which he rehearses and performs

Nikita Boriso-Glebsky rose to prominence in 2010 when he won the International Jean Sibelius Violin competition and the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition. He has also won top prizes in the eight other prestigious violin competitions including the Tchaikovsky, the Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians and the Montreal Music competitions. He has been widely praised for the depth of his musical thinking, impeccable technique and a rare combination of elegance, naturalness and uncompromising severity of performance. He now performs with many of the world’s foremost orchestras under the conductors such as Valery Gergiev. He is also an established chamber musician.

Bookings for  new subscriptions and single seats from 29 February

Full newsletter: Concerts April to August

View all our upcoming concerts from April to August 2016 here

Full newsletter: So much happening!

The autumn season begins on Thursday, April 28. Renewals for the winter season in June open on April 30. CP Youth Orchestra performs in Suidoosterfees on April 28. Entries for Cape Town qualifying rounds auditions for the 35th International Belvedere Singing Competition announced…

Full newsletter: New subscriptions, Belvedere building up and FOM Soiree

Bryan Wallick’s leap of faith

Cape Times 9 May 2016
Christina McEwan

From concert pianist to concert artists’ manager as well  … that’s the leap of faith taken by Bryan Wallick, who will play Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the final concert of the autumn season on May 19.

Wallick, an American pianist who graduated from the Juilliard School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music and finished his doctorate at the University of Pretoria, came to South Africa in 2004.  This was at the suggestion of John Roos, whom he met in Dublin, and who suggested Wallick  apply to enter the next UNISA International Piano Competition Roos was organizing. As luck would have it, the piano detailed to Wallick in Pretoria for practise became the instrument that introduced him to the owner’s daughter, Gina, actually an actuarial student, whom he married within 18 months.   They moved to London, but when Gina fell pregnant 10 years ago with their first of three children, they chose to come back to South Africa … for the birth, then six months, then a year, then the second child and a third, and now 10 years later they simply couldn’t move.  Gina runs a nursery school for 80 children and Bryan, well Bryan continues to play …

“It’s not that easy remaining on the international scene, but my New York manager gets me three or four engagements a year in America and I play a lot locally. Most recently I did a recital series in Pretoria and Knysna with soprano Hanli Stapela.

Wallick was the Gold medallist of the 1997 Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Kiev. He made his New York recital debut in 1998 at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and his Wigmore Hall debut in London in 2003 and then established himself on both continents.  In recital, he has performed in Copenhagen, at Ravinia and in many other venues in America.  He has also given two solo performances at Ledreborg Palace for HRH Princess Marie Gabrielle Luxembourg, and HRH Prince Philip Bourbon de Parme.

In South Africa, Wallick has performed in recital around the country and also with the CPO, the JPO and the KZNPO, with which he played the same Prokofiev to critical and audience acclaim last year.

But now life has a second dimension … about four years ago Schalk Visser, the doyen of South African concert managers, asked Wallick to join him with a view to Wallick’s taking over the agency.  When Visser died last November at the age of 87, he was still not quite ready to fully hand over the reins, so Wallick was handed a challenge and thrust into a steep learning curve.

He is excited about taking Visser’s agency forward.

“I have kept the name,  Schalk Visser and Bryan Wallick Concert Promotions, to honour Schalk and what he achieved over the last 35 years. He brought out some of the most important names on the international stage like Olga Kern, Jerome Pernoo, Ilya Gringolts, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, names that performed with all three orchestras and in recital around the country,” he says.

“I love what I am doing despite the odds like the continuously falling rand.  While many artists want to come to play in South Africa for reasons other than money, thank heavens, it does create challenges.  I hate writing letters saying we have no money but that’s the case for most concert presenters in South Africa. Bringing seven international artists in one season means seven international tickets and fees and, with the reduction of concerts by the  Johannesburg Philharmonic, there are now only two orchestras to share the costs with several smaller concert societies.   If the dates don’t suit the orchestras’ schedules, that’s a big problem and sometimes results in postponement or cancellation of concert tours.  Sometimes venues are not available. Occasionally tours hover on the brink for ages, very stressful for us all.”

In the coming months, Wallick is bringing violinist Kristof Barati, who will play not only with the CPO but with the Cape Town Concert Series.  In September, he will present another violinist,  Sergei Malov, who will play trios with Wallick and cellist Peter Martens.

In 2017, Wallick will bring the winner of the last UNISA International Piano Competition, the Rumanian pianist Daniel Ciobanu.

“I loved his playing in the competition. He is very exciting.  I will also present, for the second time,  violinist Andre Barynov who will play with his sister, the pianist Maria Baranova;  pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi; and a Korean violinist from New York, Rachel Lee Priday.

Wallick has a yet another dimension – he explores  synesthetic realities allowing the audience to see the colours he experiences while performing.  Synesthesia is the ability to experience two or more sensory experiences with one stimulus.  He sees colours with each musical pitch and has created a computer program that projects images of his coloured visions to the audience.  It’s not possible, sadly, to do this in the CPO concert but the time will come when he will present this in concert in Cape Town, he says.

Bryan Wallick is looking forward to performing under the direction of Dutch conductor Arjan Tien. “I know so many good things about his accompaniment and I am looking forward to working with him for the first time.”

The concert, which also includes the Passacaglia from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten and the Scottish Symphony by Mendelssohn, takes place at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday, May 19, at 20:00.

More information from luvuyo@cpo.org.za and tickets from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ http://www.computicket.com/ or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 769

Alexander Ramm – Cellist to Set the mood

Cape Times 28 April, 2016
Christina McEwan

When a comment on the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Facebook says that Alexander Ramm could have been a model, you know you have something special in this package! But he is more than a pretty face – he is one of the most exciting cellists working on the international stage today. This UNISA prizewinner in 2010 will be in Cape Town to open the CPO’s autumn season with the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky on Thursday, April 28, at the Cape Town City Hall.

What makes this cellist tick? You might think it is music, but it is life itself for this very positive young man.
“ I love life in all its forms. I love spending time with my family. I also love driving and my car is my sanctuary. He also says a good movie is a must and his taste runs from arthouse to blockbusters! Music is not my whole life – friends and family are very important to me, ” he says.

Sasha Ramm lives in Moscow with his wife, Anna Odintsova, a pianist who won the prize for best accompanist when she played with him in the Tchaikovsky Competition, who he numbers as one of his main inspirations, the other being his mother who has always been his cornerstone. She moved back to her native Lithuania three years ago but he visits as often as he can. And he also says his teachers at different times have been inspirational.

When Ramm was in kindergarten in Kaliningrad, he heard “a very weird ensemble”. It was eight violins and one cello. All players were children from local music school. I was so taken by the sound that when I got home I imagined I was a violinist, pretending to be one in front of a mirror. My mother – neither she nor my father or even grandparents weren’t musicians – soon gave in and took me to the local music school. I was just seven years old, and at the audition, they told me I was too old to study the violin! It was a terrible blow for me and I was really upset. But a lovely young woman at the school took at look at the size of my hands and offered to let me try the “big violin”. And so I fell in love. I am so happy that this was what destiny had in store for me.”

Ramm won the UNISA competition .. and discovered that winning such a competition comes with a huge responsibility. “The incredible happiness I had felt was not short-lived. Now I had to prove I was worthy of winning such an accolade.”

One of the prizes was a concert tour of South Africa in 2012 and he showed indeed that he was worthy. What’s more, he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ramm was born in 1988 in Vladivostock and his talent was quickly perceived once he entered the Glier music school in Kaliningrad at the age of seven. His first teacher’s serious attitude towards music studies and her expertise as a teacher quickly revealed the young Ramm’s rare musical talent. Three years late he was accepted into the Chopin Moscow College of Music Performance and in 2007 entered the the Moscow. He was also a post-graduate student at the Hanns-Eisler Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin under the guidance of the famed cellist Frans Helmerson, where Ramm was perfecting his artistry and mastery of the instrument.

After his debut at the age of nine with the Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra in the Kaliningrad Philharmonic, he was on the path to playing with orchestras in Russia and now across the world. Other prizes he has won include the Gold Medal at the 4th Moscow Competition for young cellists(2003), as well as top prizes at the First Cambridge International Boston Competition, the Moscow Festival of Romantic Music and the 3rd Beijing International Music Competition in Beijing and the First All-Russsia Music completion, both in 2010, the Janigro Cello Competition in Croatia. And the Paulo Cello Competition.

A chamber musician as well, he has established an award-winning duo partnership with pianist Anna Odintsova, and attends master classes with the outstanding cellists of our century such as Maria Kliegel. Since 2012, he has been a soloist of the Saint-Petersburg House of Music.
He plays a fine cello by the Cremonese luthier Gabrielle Jebran Yakoub.

Ramm’s second tour takes him to Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and other smaller towns but he says his concert with the CPO is definitely a highlight. I am ecstatic to be back.”

The concert, conducted by Conrad van Alphen, will also include the symphonic poem Tamara by Balkirev and A London Symphony by Vaughan Williams.

Tickets from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695. More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za or 021 410 9809.

Alexander Ramm

SYMPHONY CONCERT, Thurs 28th, City Hall;
CPO conducted by Conrad van Alphen, soloist Alexander Ramm;
Balakirev: Symphonic Poem, Tamara; Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op 33; Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 2 (“A London Symphony”).

The opening concerto of the CPO’s autumn season was given on a blustery night which assumed the status of the preview for a fast approaching winter. We have become so accustomed to full houses at these concerts that to witness even a modest spread of empty seats seemed extraordinary. One hopes that it was the weather and not the programme that occasioned some absenteeism, for the concert – even if none of the works is a real crowd puller – provided more than sufficiently engaging music for a very satisfactory listening experience. The opening tone poem by Balakirev is a lesser known, but very evocative work by a somewhat eccentric composer, the original sketches dating from around 1868, although the work was only completed in 1882, with the first performance being given shortly after his appointment as Director of the Imperial Court Chapel. His assistant at the chapel was Rimsky-Korsakov, whose familiarity with this work by his mentor surely explains the overt references to it in his own “Scheherazade”.

The Russian half of the concert continued with Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo” variations for cello, a work that does enjoy a regular slot in concert programmes and which was played in engrossing fashion by the young Muscovite, Ramm, currently engaged in postgraduate studies in Berlin. (A neat reversal: the original dedicatee, Fitzenhagen, was a German who accepted a professorship in the Moscow Conservatoire.) There was much to admire in this vivacious account, demonstrating virtually every facet of a cellist’s technical battery. The work – admired by no less critical a hearer than Liszt – follows the tried and trusted formula of a theme and variations; but they are expounded and development with such adaptative skill as to make the work a substantial musical offering. Still, there are traps for even the wariest of performers in the writing – not least in some of the tempo indications. The work commences with a wistful introduction after which the soloist announces the theme, marked “moderato semplice”. “Simple” and “moderate” are easy enough concepts – until one takes into consideration the second and third variations, in which the tempo of the underlying theme is required to remain the same as the opening, whilst the soloist indulges in evermore complex passage work. Ramm whizzed through the triplets of the first variation with alacrity, but the chosen tempo proved a little too quick to maintain any hint of Rococo elegance in the giddy (even if accurate) demi-semiquavers of the second.

The third variation afforded Ramm opportunity to display the truly gorgeous tone of his cello, a modern instrument by the Cremonese luthier, Gabriele Jebran Yakoub. It has a lush richness to the timbre, wonderfully resonating on the lower strings; producing a keening intensity in the upper positions on both D and A strings (both aspects to the fore in the closing rhapsodic measures of this variation). The next variation provided Ramm with opportunity for a display of technical sophistication in the quasi-cadenza writing; and I loved his doleful minor variant in the sixth. Finally, the seventh variation, in which any pretence at eighteenth century elegance is cast aside in favour of a frenzied outburst that showed more cosinage to the gopak than to the minuet. The ovation he received was surely as much for Ramm’s sheer physical effort, as for his superior musical attributes.

Finally, a symphony which should be far more often performed than it is: Vaughan Williams’ “London Symphony”. I give conductor van Alphen full credit for a fluent reading which captured Vaughan Williams’ orchestrational pallette in very satisfying fashion. Occasional imbalances of orchestral texture apart (the trombones did not have a particularly subtle evening), one was continually caught up in the lovely interplay of instrumentation giving rise to wonderfully disparate colours and moods: now all riot and jangle, now the personification of polite discretion, now the timeless inexorability of a great river and the fascinating city that grew up on its banks. If there was a highpoint of this reading, it was surely the reflective Lento, a movement described as depicting “Bloomsbury Square on a November afternoon”. An apt image: an intensely urban square, in that London manner, with multi storied buildings standing around in serried ranks; but, also, in the centre, the omnipresent garden, the rich colours of late autumn foliage lending a softening serenity to the scene. Vaughan Williams knew his London.

Deon Irish

Pieter Kooij berig

Die Burger
2 Mei Kaapstadse Filharmoniese Orkes, Kaapstad stadsaal
Pieter Kooij

’n Nuwe seisoen van simfoniekonserte het die afgelope Donderdag met die eerste van vier herfskonserte begin.

Die dirigent vir die eerste twee konserte is Conrad van Alphen. Hy is in 1963 in Pretoria gebore, maar woon en werk reeds van 26-jarige ouderdom in Nederland.

Die solis in Tsjaikowski se Variasies op ’n Rococo-tema op. 33 was die 28-jarige Russiese tjellis Alexander Ramm.

Die program is geopen met Mily Balakiref se toondig Tamara: ’n werk wat buite Rusland seker as minder beduidend gereken word.

Balakiref was een van vyf komponiste met aansienlike invloed op die Russiese nasionale skool in die 19de eeu.

Die dirigent en die orkes het Tamara met oorgawe uitgevoer, maar die musiek kon my nie heeltemal begeester nie.

Hierna het Ramm ’n pragweergawe van die Rococo-variasies gelewer. Hy verkry ’n besonder ryk toonklank uit sy voortreflike instrument wat in Cremona deur die luitmaker Gabriele Jebran Yakoub gemaak is. Maar die elegansie van die 18de-eeuse styl (Tsjaikowski was ’n groot bewonderaar van Mozart) is tog verkry. Al sewe variasies verg baie groot virtuositeit van die solis. Hiermee het Ramm geen probleme gehad nie.

Ná die pouse het maestro Van Alphen aangenaam verras met só ’n treffende vertolking van Ralph Vaughan Williams se Simfonie no. 2 (“ ’n Londen-simfonie”) dat ek my siening oor hierdie Engelse komponis sal moet aanpas.

Williams het ’n enorme hoeveelheid musiek gekomponeer, maar word vandag hoofsaaklik vir sy fantasieë op ’n tema van Thomas Tallis, asook Greensleeves onthou.

Moet egter nie hierdie simfonie misreken nie. Nie as dit so oortuigend, intens en atmosfeerryk soos Donderdagaand gespeel word nie.

Die poëtiese, maar tog stralende vertolking van die stadige deel; die kragtige klimakspunte en die intense hoë spanningslyn in die finale was inderdaad baie imponerend.

Pascale Plougmann

Talent comes in small packages, and multi-talented packages at that! CPYO violinist Pascale Plougmann is also singer and won an audition to sing in My Fair Lady which will be staged by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society with the Cape Town Philharmonic in July and August. Pascale , who turns 15 this week joined the CPYO in January , is in Grade 8 at Springfield Convent School where she was awarded the St Cecilia Scholarship for music. She was a student at the Sun Valley music Academy where she won the Paganini Music Trophy. A pupil of former CTSO violinist Titia Blake from when she started playing the violin in Grade 1, Pascale has benefited from Titia, a role model who has nurtured her love and interest in music at every turn. Pascale has also had lessons at school with CPO violist Emile de Roubaix. For three years, Pascale has been a member of Titia’s Masi violin ensemble which has played at several weddings and in concerts for schools, old age homes, town festivals and even World Busking Day festivities that have been entered into the Guinness World Record books. The ensemble won its category in the 2015 Cape Schools music competition.

Pascale won her singing role after auditioning with 21 others at Arscape last year. Twelve youngsters will rotate in groups of three in the 23 performances. She will appear is several general scenes, but also play the role of a girl who walks down Wimpole Street where Prof Higgins lives.

Full newsletter: Chad Hendricks wins Len van Zyl competition, CPYWE at the Waterfront and Belvedere booking is open

Jack Liebeck to perform with CPO

Christina McEwan

Cape Times

Zipping in and out of cities is the rule of thumb, says Jack Liebeck, the young British violinist  who will be in Cape Town for one week to rehearse and perform with the Cape Town Philharmonic in its 10^th Cape Town International Summer Music Festival, supported by the City of Cape Town, and in recital for the Cape Town Concert Series. This is because the compelling and busy violinist is also a professor and he takes his teaching responsibilities very seriously.

“I have five students at the Royal Academy of Music in London who need regular lessons, roughly seven hours a week and, while I have been forced to teach via Skype when I was in Australia, I prefer not to.”  So he doesn’t usually get much time to see the city he is playing in, except that in this case he has been here before. In fact, his parents were both born here, leaving in 1973 for London, so he feels a sort of kinship for Cape Town.

“My grandparents were war immigrants, so my parents were first-generation South Africans. My mom’s family had links to the diamond trade both here and in Amsterdam.  I haven’t any family left Cape Town but they do visit often.  I have been about three times, once for two days at the end of a music cruise from Southampton and another a recent week long holiday with my parents, so I know how a little bit about the city.”  Although his father is a great cricket fan, telling him on the trip back here where he played cricket (tennis, rugby and soccer!) as a young man, Liebeck won’t be going to the 20/20 on the Friday between his concerts – that will be spend rehearsing for the recital!

Born in London in 1980, Liebeck studied at the Royal Academy before making a name for himself both in the UK and abroad. His recital debut at the Wigmore Hall in 2002 was both acclaimed and sold out, and he has just made his New York recital debut – on  February 7 – at the Lincoln Centre just before arriving here and shortly after that a concert in San Sebastian in Spain.  As a soloist, he has appeared with all the major British orchestras, and also with many abroad from Scandinavia to Moscow, America and Australia.

As a chamber musician (and heard on the soundtrack of several films such as Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina), Liebeck is in demand as a soloist and with his trio, Trio Dali,with Amandine Savary and Christian-Pierre La Marca, and also in duo with Ms Savary.  While the Trio was formed in 2007, he only joined it three years ago. “It had a great name before I joined, and hopefully still a good one now,” he says with charming humility. And yes, it still has a very great reputation today! He has also collaborates with pianists Katya Apekisheva, Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Angela Hewitt and  Piers Lane  and with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon at some of the best festivals in Bath, Aldeburgh, Montpellier, Montreux, Reims, Spoleto and of course the City of London. He is also artistic director of Oxford May Music Festival, a festival of music, science and the arts.  He plays maybe 20 trio concerts a year plus his recitals and orchestral appearances – he played at last year’s BBC Proms, for instance – and there are many more festival appearances on the horizon.

Liebeck returns to London to run a Kreisler Festival with master classes and concerts, various recitals and a festival in Australia, before returning to Australia with Trio Dali for a concert tour there.

“Amandine and I have known each other since we were first students at the Royal Academy.  We realised when we started our Trio Dali discussions three years ago that we knew each other by sight, but she was one of the cool French kids in our student days! She’s still cool but now she’s a friend!  She lives in Paris and instead of my visiting her to practice often we can rehearse together in London because she was recently also appointed to the Academy faculty and so comes over once a week.”

Liebeck has released several CDs, two critically acclaimed discs for Sony Classical (Dvorak, awarded a 2010 Classical Brit Award and Brahms Sonata’s with pianist Katya Apekisheva) and has just started a new recording relationship with Hyperion Records.  His latest CDs include the music of Fritz Kreisler and recordings of Bruch’s music for violin and orchestra.

At his concert with the CPO on February 18 at the City Hall, he will play the Bruch G minor Violin Concerto,  on his

‘Ex-Wilhelmj’ J.B. Guadagnini dated 1785. On the podium will be Victor Yampolsky, who will direct the CPO in Don Juan, the tone poem by Richard Strauss, and the Brahms Symphony no 4 in G.   For the Cape Town Concert Series recital on Saturday, February 20, at the Baxter Concert Hall , Liebeck and Ms Savary will play sonatas by Debussy, Beethoven (in  F,  “Spring”) and Brahms (no 3 in D minor) and Two pieces by Lalo – Romance Serenade and Guitare.

Both concerts start at 20:00. Tickets for both concerts from Computicket on 0861 915 8000/ www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.  More information on the concerts luvuyo@cpo.org.za  /info@ctconcerts.co.za