The first symphony season for 2012 is about to begin next week on 8 February 2012. The friend with whom I attend the concerts and I usually attend the free pre-concert talks which start at 19:15 in the hall to the east of the concert hall. These take place before every concert and provide a listening guide for novices and experienced listeners alike. The information is over and above that which is given in the programme notes and the two complement one another. The usual presenter is Ms Estelle Sher.
The first concert is marked by easily accessible, pretty Romantic music and a great performer on piano, Michael Roll.
Michael Roll, British pianist
Guido Ajmone-Marsan, the conductor for the first two concerts in the first JPO season, was born in Turin, Italy in 1947 and is a naturalised American now living in London. He is best known for his interpretations of the Italian operatic repertoire although he has very wide experience of all opera and symphonic music as one may expect of a man of his age and reputation.
Conductor Guido Ajmone Marsan
The music for the first concert of the first symphony season 2012 is:
“Eugene Onegin” (you cannot imagine how that sounds in Russian – Yevgenni Onyegin with a very hard “g” is closer to it than the way English speakers will try it – and you will be reviled if you pronounce it incorrectly, although it is affectionately known as “One Gin” as in gin and tonic) is an opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893). A quick note about Russian spelling – the Russian alphabet uses Cyrillic script so there is no “correct” spelling of Russian names in Roman letters. It is all done phonetically. The libretto for Eugene Onegin is by Pushkin. Act Two has a waltz and Act Three has a Polonaise. These are the opening pieces for the first concert of the first 2012 symphony season.
Michael Roll is a British pianist who studied under Fanny Waterman. (I met Fanny Waterman at the 11th International Unisa Piano Competition in 2008 and found her to be incisive, dedicated and very personable and she was supposed to be here again as an adjudicator for the 12th International Unisa Piano Competition but had a severe fall which at 91 years of age is frightening). Michael Roll was a child prodigy who did not burn out and he made his Royal Festival Hall debut at twelve, although by this time he was already a “seasoned” solo performer. He played the same work we will hear, the “Schumann Piano Concerto”, although it was then with Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting. Michael Roll is married to the Bulgarian pianist, Juliana Markova, and they have an adult son, Maximilian.
The “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54” is a famous Romantic concerto by Robert Schumann completed in 1845. It was played by Robert Schumann’s wife, Clara Schumann, at its premiere in Leipzig on 1 January 1846. It was dedicated to Ferdinand Hiller who conducted the premiere performance.
The “Symphony in D minor” is the only symphony written by the 19th century Beligian composer, Cesar Franck, a late work in his life. It was completed in August 1888, and is dedicated to one of Franck’s pupils, Henri Duparc and was poorly received when it made its premiere in 1889, the year before the composer died. It is orchestrated for two flutes, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, two cornets, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, harp and strings and it has Wagnerian and Lisztian influences. Too difficult and too modern for audiences of his day. The critic Camille Bellaigue said it was “arid and drab music, without … grace or charm” and another review called it “morose … [Franck] had very little to say here, but he proclaims it with the conviction of the pontiff defining dogma.” Charles Gounod wrote of it: “incompetence pushed to dogmatic lengths”. The artistic committee of the JPO are now programming for those who want to be entertained rather than educated and that this season reflects that very strongly, so I find it somewhat ironic that the audiences of Franck’s day hated this work, considering it to be modern and ugly.
This first programme can be heard on Wednesday 8 & Thursday 9 February at The Linder Auditorium and on Sunday 12 February at ZK Matthews, UNISA.
Look and Listen have a conveniently situated stand in the foyer of the Linder Auditorium where one can buy CDs. They always have a selected discography that relates to the repertoire and performers of the evening. Look out for the following CDs by Naxos: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin Waltz and Polonnaise (8554843 which features selected operatic arias and tunes from Russian operas), Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor (8557547 which has Jeno Jando playing all three of Schumann’s big piano works), Franck’s Symphony in D minor (8553631 which is Volume 1 of Franck’s Symphonic Works).
The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra members for the First Season 2012 are: First Violins – Miroslav Chakaryan (Concertmaster), Irene Tsoniff (Assistant Concertmaster), Elbe Roberts, Dorota Swart, Nelly Shmukler, Mary Tennant, Malale Mantu, Ginger Neff, Ivo Ivanov, Catrien Jooste, Jacques Fourie, Annake de Villiers, Elena Zlatkova, Viara Markova, Arthur Matlhatsi, Willem van der Walt; Second violins – Samson Diamond, Daline Wilson, Juanita du Plessis, Olga Maraba, Milena Toma, Bernard Madumo, Ludidi Mphutha, Maria Branco, Zelda Malan, Lesiba Mogolane, Dineo Matsepe; Violas – Vladimir Ivanov (Principal), Esther Spies, Andrea Erasmus (Orchestra Manager), Martie Botha, Morkel Combrink, Judith Klins, Kate Moore, Juretha Swanepoel, Jeanne-Louise Moolman; Celli – Susan Mouton (Principal), Peta Anne Holdcroft, Sonja Bass (Academy Orchestra), Wessel Beukes, Daliwonga Tshangela, Vanessa Coetzee, Toni Ivanova; Basses – Christi-Louise Swanepoel (Principal), Regomoditswe Thothela, Lodovico Gabanella, Zanelle Britz; Harp – Ventura Rosenthal (Principal); Flutes – Melane Hofmeyr-Burger, Merryl Monard, Handri Loots; Oboes – Gary Roberts (Principal), Lesley Stansell, Andrew Moroosi; Clarinets – Phillip Coetzee (Principal), Morne van Heerden, Leagh Rankin, Allan Thompson; Bassoons – Penelope Ives (Principal), Brahm Henkins, Arno Steyn; Horns – Shannon Armer (Principal), Graham McWilliams, Christopher Bishop, Peter Griffiths; Trumpets – Donald Bouwer (Principal), Michael Magner, Berndt Baumann; Trombones – Berwyn Roberts (Principal), Nathan Thomas; Bass Trombone – Alexander Hitzeroth (Principal); Tuba – Thobeka Thukane; Timpani – Rudolf van Dyk (Principal and Librarian); Percussion – Matthew Downey (Principal), Joshua Kim, Greg Witt, Lloyd Owen; Celeste – Kevin Kraak. The JPO Board comprises Walter Mosetlhi (Chairperson), Stephen Jurisich (Deputy Chairperson), Shadrack Bokaba (Managing Director), Malcolm Segal (Financial Director), Dieter Bergs, Sidney Frankel, Joe Manana, Pranill Ramchander, Gary Roberts. The Artistic Committee comprises Bernhard Gueller (Principal Guest Conductor), Shadrack Bokaba (Managing Director) and all orchestra principals. Administration staff are: Edith Maimba (Financial Manager), Neville Pritchard (Sales, Subscriptions), Andrea Erasmus (Orchestra Manager), Kgaladi Thema (Education and Development), Sonja Bass (Academy Orchestra), Rudolf van Dyk (Librarian), William Monel (Stage Manager, Assistant Librarian) and Patricia Mampani (PA to MD).
The dates for the concerts of the first season, 2012, are: Wednesday 08 and Thursday 09 February and Sunday 12 February at ZK Matthews, UNISA at 15:00 (Guido Ajmone-Marsan conducting Tchaikovsky/Schumann/Franck and Michael Roll on piano); Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February (Guido Ajmone-Marsan conducting Wagner/Shostakovich/Mozart with Anzel Gerber on cello), Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February and Sunday 26 February at ZK Matthews, UNISA at 15:00 (Horia Andreescu conducting Barber/Barber/Beethhoven with Mirijam Contzen on violin), Wednesday 29 February and Thursday 01 March (Horia Andreescu conducting Ligeti/Mozart/Tchaikovsky with Michael Collins on clarinet), Wednesday 07 and Thursday 08 March and Sunday 11 March at ZK Matthews, UNISA at 15:00 (Bernhard Gueller conducting Mussorgsky/Rachmaninov/Smetana, with Alexander Lubyantsev on piano), Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 March (Wednesday 14 & Thursday 15 March with Berhard Gueller conducting Dvorak/Prokofiev/Berlioz with Pallavi Manhindhara on piano). All Johannesburg concerts commence at 20:00.
The Linder Auditorium is situated at the Education campus of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), 27 St Andrews Road, Parktown. Telephone for the venue is 011 717 3223 and telephone for the JPO is 011 789 2733. GPS co-ordinates: 26° 10′ 54.6456″ S, 28° 2′ 29.8932″ E. Website: http://www.jpo.co.za. There is plenty of parking in front of the venue, with more to the sides and behind the auditorium. Facilities for physically disabled patrons are available. The Siyafunda Cafe is open before the concert, during interval and the bar is open after the concert.
The ZK Matthews Hall is at the main campus of UNISA in Pretoria. The number of the venue is 012 429 3344. You will need to make arrangements in advance for disabled parking and seating.
What I do, see, hear, eat and drink. 