The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra displays its gift for diverse programming with a concert with Simphiwe Dana and a season of Spring Symphonies.

July 29 sees the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra accompanying one of South Africa’s most celebrated musical voices, Simphiwe Dana, in a one-night-only spectacular at the Artscape Opera House, followed a month later on August 27 by the start of a five-week season of Symphonies at the City Hall.

This shows the diverse programming and flexibility of this multi-functional orchestra which is also presenting a concert for matric music students, recording Symphony of Bansuri, rehearsing for the Klein Karoo Klassique which takes place in Oudtshoorn from August 8-10, and giving one concert with Mandisi Djantyis at Artscape on August 22. During the Spring season the CPO will also present the Youth Classical Concert, a collaboration with Artscape.

Simphiwe Dana: The Symphonic Experience will reimagine some of the artist’s most beloved songs through the rich colours and emotional power of a full symphony orchestra, creating an evening that brings together African heritage, contemporary expression and symphonic sound.

The programme will include favourites such as “Inkwekwezi”, “Mayine”, “Ndimi Iqhawe” and “Mombathise”, alongside “Ndimemeza”, performed a cappella. Dana will be joined by her Musical Director Tshepo Tsotetsi and rhythm section, together with the full Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Brandon Phillips. The concert is supported by the City of Cape Town.

Then new subscriptions and single seats are on sale for the CPO’s Spring Symphonies at the City Hall. Cape Town’s international rising stars Leo Gevisser (piano) and Jordan Brooks (violin) are returning to their roots to perform the Ravel Piano Concerto In G Major (Leo on August 27) and the Britten Violin Concerto (Jordan on September 3). Daniel Raiskin will conduct these two concerts, as well as that on the September 10 with the Russian Pianist Alexei Volodin, who will perform the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor. The fourth concert, on September 17, will be conducted by Bernhard Gueller, with Anna Geniushene as the soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major by Brahms. The final concert, on September 24, is a Wagner Spectacular, conducted by Jeremy Silver with soloists Valerija Iljin (soprano) and Owen Metsileng (tenor).

Other works on the five programmes are Strauss Don Juan, Op. 20, Kelly Murphy’s Dark Nights, Bright Stars, Vast Universe and Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel on August 24; Pärt Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten and Schumann Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 97, “Rhenish”, on September 3; Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141, on September 10; and Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90, on September 17. The season concludes with the Wagner Spectacular on September 24 and includes highlights from, for instance, Der fliegende Holländer, Die Walküre and Tristan und Isolde.

Tickets for Ms Dana and new subscriptions for the symphony season, which attract a 10% discount and enable one to retain the same seat as long as one subscribes, and single seats are available at Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 and single seats for symphony concerts are also on the Webtickets platform.

Shirley Gueller
shirley@cpo.org.za
071 318 1495
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
http://www.cpo.org.za