It’s a summer treat as City supports 10th International Summer Music Festival
26 January 2016
Lovers of classical music are in for a treat at this year’s International Summer Music Festival presented by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) and supported by the City of Cape Town.
The series of six concerts features internationally acclaimed conductors and musicians, kicking off on 2 February 2016 and running into March.
‘The festival has become a firm favourite on the calendar for lovers of classical music. The City of Cape Town is not only proud to be a supporter of this event but also proud of the fact that it is being hosted at the City Hall.
‘The City Hall has become a hub for music shows and festivals, cementing its status as one of our key strategic assets. The hall is iconic and its history means that it is associated with unity and freedom. After all, it is from the City Hall steps that the late president Nelson Mandela made his first speech after being released from prison. Music also unites people and can bridge divides,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Councillor Garreth Bloor.
Peter Donohoe, Tchaikovsky first prize-winner and acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of his time for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique, will open the festival on 4 February 2016. Distinguished German conductor, Bernhard Gueller, Music Director of Symphony Nova Scotia in Canada, will be on the podium.
Donohoe will perform the majestic Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. The CPO will also play the overture, Roman Carnival, by Berlioz and the Symphony No. 7 in D by Dvořák.
The gifted and glamorous Russian pianist, Olga Kern, will play two concerti in the second concert in the festival on 11 February. The concert will begin once everyone is seated (should roads around the venue not have opened in time due to the opening of Parliament on the same day).
Ms Kern will play the Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat by Tchaikovsky, as well as the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninov. The CPO, under the direction of Bernhard Gueller, will play the Polonaise from Eugene Onegin and Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.
Jack Liebeck, a young violinist born in England, will perform the Bruch Violin Concerto with the CPO on 18 February 2016. Russian-American maestro, Victor Yampolsky, will be on the podium conducting the CPO in the tone poem Don Juan by Richard Strauss, and the Brahms Symphony No. 4.
Francois du Toit, one of South Africa’s most beloved concert pianists, will play the complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Concerti with the CPO over two consecutive nights. He will play the first, second and fourth concerti on 24 February, and the third and fifth (Emperor) on 25 February. These have been programmed to mark the 50th birthday of this versatile and enormously busy performer and teacher.
Omri Hadari (conductor) and Aviram Reichert (pianist) will appear with the CPO in the final concert of the festival. This concert forms part of the celebrations of 175 years of South African Jewry.
Reichert will play Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, while Hadari, who was formerly the Music Director of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the CPO in Bernstein’s overture to Candide and the Symphony No. 2 in E-minor by Rachmaninov.
All of the concerts start at 20:00 and tickets are available from Computicket on 0861 915 8000, online at www.computicket.com, and through Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695.
For more information, residents should please visit www.cpo.org.za, send an e-mail luyuyo@cpo.org.za, or call 021 410 9809.
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