To celebrate their successful inaugural year, the Cape Chamber Music Collective presents two programmes for different ensembles between 11 and 18 December 2022 at venues in and around Cape Town.
The first is a programme of works for piano trio by Haydn, Debussy, Suk and Piazzolla, and then a programme of chamber music for string sextet by Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
The piano trios will be performed by Cape Town’s leading musicians – Francois du Toit, Farida Bacharova and Graham du Plessis – all lecturers at the SA College of Music at UCT.
French Salon style
Haydn’s Piano Trio No. 39 in G Major (Gypsy) contains one of Haydn’s best-known movements, the Rondo all’Ongarese (Gypsy Rondo). The Piano Trio by Claude Debussy, also in G Major, is a youthful work written when Debussy was 18-years-old. The work is written in the French Salon style and is full of lyricism and is delightfully charming.
Summer from Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, is inspired by Vivaldi’s famous work. Originally scored for a quintet, it is presented here in an arrangement for piano trio. The programme is rounded off with Josef Suk’s Elegie Op. 23, was written for a memorial to Julius Zeyer, Bohemian novelist and writer of epic poetry.
The string sextet programme includes Brahms’ String Sextet No.1 in B-flat major Op. 18 and Tchaikovsky’s String Sextet in D minor, Souvenir de Florence Op. 70. The sextet comprises Jordan Brooks (violin), winner of the National Youth Music Competition 2019 and recent soloist with the CPO, with the CPO providing the remaining members of the sextet – Pieter Joubert (violin), Petrus Coetzee and Azra Isaacs (viola), Eddie McLean and Dane Coetzee (cello).
Brahms suffered from a lack of confidence in his abilities as a composer and therefore chose to write for a string sextet rather than a string quartet primarily to avoid any comparisons to Beethoven. The fuller sonority of the string sextet suited Brahms and allows for an almost symphonic richness and gives Brahms the opportunity to weave rich contrapuntal tapestries.
Tchaikovsky spent some time in Florence in 1890 while working on his opera Queen of Spades. It was during this time that he made some sketches for what would become this String Sextet. The main theme of the 2nd movement is distinctly Italian and therefore the title, Souvenir de Florence.
Concert schedule
* Paarl: Piano Trio – Sunday 11 December, 16:00, NG Kerk Paarl (Strooidakkerk), 163 Main Road, Hoog-En-Droog, Paarl. Tickets R150.
*Durbanville: Piano Trio – Monday 12 December, 19:00, Curro Durbanville Primary School, 1 Memento Drive, Sonstraal Heights, Durbanville. Tickets R150, includes a glass of wine.
*Cape Town City Centre: Piano Trio – Wednesday 14 December, 18:00 at No 6 Spin Street. Tickets R150, includes a glass of wine.
*Cape Town City Centre: String Sextet – Wednesday 14 December, 19:30 at No 6 Spin Street. Tickets are R220 includes canapés and wine.
*Cape Town: Piano Trio – Thursday 15 December, 19:00 at Erin Hall, 8 Erin Rd, Rondebosch. Tickets are R150, includes a glass of wine. Student tickets available at the door R75.
*Cape Town: String Sextet – Friday 16 December, 19:00 at Erin Hall, 8 Erin Rd, Rondebosch. Tickets are R150, includes a glass of wine. Student tickets at the door R75.
*Wellington: String Sextet – Saturday 17 December, 19:00 at Old Tannery, Hermon Road, Wellington. Tickets R150 includes a glass of wine.
*Stellenbosch: String Sextet – Sunday 18 December, 16:00 at Old Nectar Gardens, Jonkershoek Valley. Tickets R200/R50 students, includes a glass of wine.
Who: Cape Chamber Music Collective
When: 11 – 18 December 2022
Tickets: Quicket, www.capechambercollective.com
WS
