The Cape Town Baroque Orchestra has expanded its calendar of events to feature a Winter Baroque Season 2026 of concerts during June and July. The first programme concluded on 10 June (the highly enjoyable Bach in Dialogue). Two more are in the offing, reports BEVERLEY BROMMERT:
Baroque music has been steadily gaining in popularity with Cape Town audiences in recent years, and the Winter Baroque Season in June and July reflects the diversity that makes this musical idiom so appealing – the intimacy of chamber music; the refined marriage of vocal and instrumental performance in pastoral works; and a full-bodied orchestral concert enhanced by solo participation.
The CTBO’s distinguished Artistic Director Erik Dippenaar will conduct the two last-named events from the harpsichord; currently based in Norway, he is due to arrive in mid-July in good time to rehearse with his musicians.
It’s a measure of his commitment to music-making in this city that he is willing to exchange the long, sunny summer days of Scandinavia for the wet, chilly gloom of a Cape winter, but as he remarks, “I always love coming back to Cape Town, it’s very exciting to have an extra season of Baroque, and it testifies to the taste of audiences here that their support keeps on growing.”
These concerts progress from an ensemble of just three musicians (Bach in Dialogue) to a sextet of singers with an equal number of instrumentalists (Idyll – Pastoral Works by Charpentier), culminating in the collective artistry of the CTBO ‘s seventeen players with three soloists of note.
Each event elicits enthusiastic comment from Dippenaar, who is disappointed at having to miss the first one.
He explains that Bach in Dialogue could not be scheduled closer to the other concerts (22nd and 30th July) due to pre-existing commitments of the celebrated virtuoso harpsichordist Leon Schelhase, who was joined by CTBO’s Annien Shaw (baroque violin) and Rosamund Roth (viola da gamba) for this intense musical conversation. A fine experience for the connoisseur of Baroque music (ed’s comment: Agreed, I was there!).
Winter Baroque Season 2026 final two concerts
The concert on 22nd July will bring together the CTBO and its long-standing partner, Lutesong Consort, as they navigate the stylised charms of Charpentier’s pastoral composition. Of the four works performed, only one is French; the other three are Italian. Dippenaar comments that this composer’s vocal writing perfectly suits Lutesong, adding that subtle differences in the two styles of setting, discernible in metrical rhythms, will be of special interest. A highly civilised, cosmopolitan inclusion which proves that music transcends nationality.
Most exciting of all will be the finale on 30 July, equally cosmopolitan and with a mix of the familiar (JS Bach, Händel) and the rarely-heard (Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre).
Here one will be able to appreciate the distinct colours and textures of each group in the Baroque orchestra, strengthening the text for the singer. The instruments, emancipated from providing mere accompaniment, assume an identity of their own as they engage in dialogue with the human voice.
Dippenaar thoroughly approves of the spirit shown by the two female composers whose works will be performed on this occasion, describing them as “cutting edge” in an era when womanly activities were confined to domesticity. Not only did they flout convention by their foray into musical composition; their work itself is original and cosmopolitan in inspiration. Wilhelmine’s concerto for harpsichord will give Dippenaar an opportunity to display his prowess on that instrument, while Élisabeth’s orchestral suite will be a breath of fresh air to offset the familiar pieces by Bach and Händel.
The much-loved cantata “Ich habe genug” BWV82, and the aria “Se il mar promette calma” from Händel’s Lotario complete the quartet of gems in this programme.
Dippenaar relishes the amalgam of voice and instrument, remarking “The Bach cantata will be wonderful with baritone William Berger and Ingo Müller on baroque oboe complementing the orchestra…”
Performed in the acoustic comfort of the CTBO’s regular venue, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Greenpoint, this third concert of the Winter Baroque Season should provide a spirited finale to the new venture.
What: Winter Baroque Season 2026
Where and when: St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Greenpoint on 22 and 30 July 2026
Tickets: Quicket
WS
