Three concerts representing a wide variety of symphonic literature from Tallis to Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Sibelius and William Walton are designed to make the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Autumn Symphonies as t the City Hall as diverse and compelling as possible. Booking is open at Webtickets and Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695 (where discounted subscriptions are available) now.
The season begins on April 3 with Bernhard Gueller on the podium. Israeli pianist Yaron Kohlberg will perform the Piano Concerto no 3 by Prokofiev, with Weber’s Freischutz overture and a selection from the much loved ballet Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky completing the CPO part of the programme. The concert will begin with a curtainraiser by the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, in which Liam Burden will conduct Rimsky Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnole.
On April 10, the foremost National Youth Chor (UK) will present Walton’s Belshazzer’s Feast with other works by Parry, Grainger and Tallis/Chilcott. Nicholas Chalmers, one of Britain’s leading young conductors, will be on the podium for his single Cape Town orchestral appearance and joining the choir in some of the pieces will be the award-winning choir of Fezeka High School. The soloist in Belshazzar’s Feast will be William Berger.
The final concert of the season is two weeks later, on April 24, when the internationally feted South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha returns home to sing Strauss Four Last Songs. Kamal Khan will be on the podium for the 2nd Symphony by Sibelius and the Carnival Overture by Dvorak.
The CPO is also involved in many Easter concerts like Messiah on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, as well as the Faure Requiem at the Toringkerk in Paarl on Easter Saturday; the CPO with Andrea Bocelli on April 16 is sold out but tickets are available for the CPO accompanying Lebo M at Grand West Arena on April 18 at ticketmaster.