Written 27th April 2025
We had two very hectic and very enjoyable weeks with glorious singing at the beginning of April.
First two concerts at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria singing with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Singing to an audience of 8500 two nights in a row is in itself a special experience – and the choir got super comments from the conductor.
Straight after that we had our traditional Good Friday Concert. This year we sang J S Bach’s St. John Passion. We had a wonderful group of soloists, all ‘home grown’ – not least of whom was internationally acclaimed tenor Siyabonga Maqungo, who now sings at the prestigious Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin. Siyabonga sang the role of the evangelist – the storyteller – and what a storyteller! Siyabonga ‘lived’ the story! Joining Siyabonga as soloists were Chris Vale: Bass, Hendré van Zyl: Bass, Brittany Smith: Soprano, Minette du Toit Pearce: Mezzo-Soprano, Bongani Mthombeni – Tenor, all brilliant. The choir was on top form and acquitted itself brilliantly in this great work. The audience responded with thunderous applause and lots of complimentary comments.
It really is a very special thing to experience a
LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE!
We can promise you our next performance will be equally fantastic:
Giuseppe Verdi’s
Requiem
Soloists:
Andiswa Makana: Soprano, Voilina Anguelov: Mezzo, Kanalelo Sihau: Tenor, Bongani Khubeka: Bass
Sunday 22nd June 2025 @ 3pm
Linder Auditorium, Parktown
The Phoenix Orchestra
Conducted by Richard Cock
Giuseppe Verdi (9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron, Antonio Barezzi. From age four Verdi was given private lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi, and at six he attended the local school. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents provided him with a spinet. Verdi’s gift for music was already apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy, and taking organ lessons. After Baistrocchi’s death, Verdi, at the age of eight, became the official paid organist. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, and Gaetano Donizetti, whose works significantly influenced him.
Verdi was a master of conveying drama and emotion in his operas. He had always wanted to write a Requiem, and finally in 1874 his Requiem appeared. It is scored for operatic forces but is by no means an “opera in ecclesiastical dress” (the words in which Hans von Bülow condemned it before even hearing it). Although in the Requiem Verdi puts to use many of the techniques he learned in opera, its musical forms and emotions are not those of the stage. Verdi’s tone painting at the opening of the Requiem is vividly described by the Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti, writing in 1941: “in [the words] murmured by an invisible crowd over the slow swaying of a few simple chords, you straightaway sense the fear and sadness of a vast multitude before the mystery of death. In the [following] Et lux perpetuum the melody spreads it wings…before falling back on itself…you hear a sigh for consolation and eternal peace.”
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear this garndiose Requiem – quite different from all others.
Book now to avoid disappointment – use this link
https://www.quicket.co.za/events/302067-verdi-requiem/