The Durban City Orchestra performs a programme of Classic and Romantic pieces at St Agnes Church in Kloof on July 23.
Durban - Music-lovers are invited to an intimate afternoon concert in the company of the Durban City Orchestra (DCO) as they perform a programme of Classic and Romantic pieces at St Agnes Church in Kloof on Sunday, July 23, and again at St Thomas Church on the Berea on Sunday, August 6, both at 2.30pm.
The orchestra, one of the longest-running orchestras in the country, has a complement of about 30 active members who get together weekly. The orchestra includes two accomplished professional musicians in Charl van der Merwe as resident conductor and Jitske Brien as concert master.
The programme comprises three pieces: Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony; Francois Borne’s Fantaisie Brillante sur Carmen from Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, and Finlandia by Sibelius.
Protest: Finlandia is a symphonic, tone poem by Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. It was written for the Press Celebrations of 1899 – as a protest against the increasing censorship of the media controlled by tsarist Russia.
Passion: François Borne’s Fantasie Brillante on Themes from Bizet’s Carmen (based on the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet) is by far his most famous composition. Borne’s setting of Carmen’s luscious melodies combine a deep understanding of the flute (he was a flautist, French composer, flute maker and flute professor), with a flair for the distinctive Habanera dance rhythms and passionate colours of the opera – although his interpretation is far brighter and more cheerful than Bizet’s original.
The soloist performing this work will be Nolwazi Nkwanyana, who is a cadet member of the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and a music student studying through Unisa under the tutorage of Sabina Baird, the principal flutist with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
Puzzlement: Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony is among the most popular works of the prolific and accomplished composer, and one of the iconic pieces of the late Classical, early Romantic period. Dubbed great and strange, with uncharacteristic fearlessness and directness, it is a mystery why the piece was never finished.
Tickets, through Computicket, are R150 full price, and R120 for pensioners and students (excluding Computicket surcharge)
It is advisable to pre-book tickets.
St Agnes Church is at 53 Abelia Road, Kloof, and St Thomas Church is in Musgrave Road, Berea.
The Independent on Saturday