Peta Stewart
There’s no doubt that conductors live busy and stressful lives, but Conrad van Alphen is at the moment in a league of his own! He will conduct the last two concerts in the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra’s Spring Symphony Season, the first one with the Sibelius Violin Concerto and Marina Grauman on Thursday, September 7.
First of all, his home in Rotterdam was just a kilometre away from the recent incident where a rock concert was cancelled in the face of a potential terrorist attack. Then there is his schedule.
Russian National Orchestra
Van Alphen flies in from Switzerland (via Rotterdam), where he is conducting the Russian National Orchestra in the Festival de Musique Classique Montreux – Vevey. Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev is the soloist and the company Van Alphen is keeping in the festival includes the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Charles du Toit. These concerts followed rehearsals in Moscow. Then straight on to the CPO. He leaves Cape Town in between his two CPO programs to conduct his own ensemble Sinfonia Rotterdam, in the harbour of Rotterdam, to mark the 100 year celebrations of the historical sailing ship Oosterschelde. The organisers of this event being important supporters of the orchestra Van Alphen wasn’t allowed to substitute a guest conductor, and is being flown back to conduct!
Then he is back for his second concert with the CPO which features the Russian cellist Alexey Stadler in the Schumann Cello Concerto.
Sinfonia Rotterdam
After that, it’s straight back into rehearsals with Sinfonia Rotterdam for the opening of the most popular series of De Doelen, the grand concert hall seating 2200 in Rotterdam, later in September. Most of the seats are already sold out for the concert, which will, fortunately, be televised.
It’s been a good year for this South African-born and educated double bass player who hasn’t touched his bass in 13 years and still misses it! Amongst many highlights this season are his collaborations with the Russian National Orchestra with concerts in Moscow, China, Bogota, and the Swiss appearances stand out. “This is one of Russia’s top orchestras and the musicians really have the ability to ignite during concerts. I remember being overwhelmed the first time I conducted them in concert in 2014, and now look forward to this experience every time.” There is more to come – he makes his debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in January.
It’s the sharing of his art that inspires him. “I have great concerns about the dramatic things happening in the world at the moment; this really saddens me a lot. That said, I simply love to sit in any place in the world and just watch and experience all the different and beautiful people of the world, and have difficulty to understand why there are so many problems. I hope that sharing music with as many people as possible in some way contributes.”
Why did he take the conducting route?
“From an early age this was my dream. Before deciding to definitively go for it, I tried it out at some summer masterclasses for conducting in England and Czech Republic. Just to see if and how orchestras respond to me. That went well and gave me the confidence to go for it.”
He also realized another wish. “I felt that Rotterdam was in need of a chamber orchestra to perform the masterpieces from the classical genre and the other beautiful repertoire at a high level. It would also allow us to take classical music into all corners of the city, and it has turned out internationally to South America, Mexico and Russia. Being a chamber orchestra makes us very flexible, and we have lovely players who really buy into this, even if we sometimes play in venues as far from the concert hall as we do.” In 2000 he literally established the orchestra at risk, and in his own backyard, now proudly presents at least 35 concerts annually in The Netherlands and far beyond.
Van Alphen regularly visits South Africa and always looks forward to being back with his friends and compatriots. He is looking forward to conducting the world premiere of Hendrik Hofmeyr’s Symphony ll – The Elements. “A great composer. I remember conducting the premiere of his concerto for 2 pianos several years ago and enjoying his expressive and colourful composition style.”
He will be coming back next year for more concerts, including one with the Russian violinist Nikita Boriso Glebsky to whom he introduced the CPO a couple of years ago. Van Alphen and his Sinfonia have released many recordings and received excellent reviews, including an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Some of the CDs will be on sale on the night of the concert. There will be a pre-concert talk by Rodney Trudgeon open to concertgoers at 7.15pm. The dress rehearsal at 11am is also open at a fee of R50.
Who: Conductor Conrad van Alphen
What: Cape Town Philharmonic’s Spring Symphony Season
Where: The City Hall, Cape Town
When: 7 and 14 September, 2017 at 8pm
Info, book: http://bit.ly/SibeliusSymphonicConcerto / http://bit.ly/SchumannAndStrauss
Web: www.cpo.org.za
WS
