We had the most wonderful ‘Christmas with Richard Cock’ concert on Sunday.
The Linder Auditorium was full to the rafters with an audience second to none – joyful, lusty singing was the order of the day – as one comment went: ‘It was a wonderful experience, uplifting – full of joy and laughter’.
The interaction between the audience and us on the stage is so important, we feed off one another and so make the concert experience extra, extra special – and of course Richard is the dynamo driving it all, getting everyone engaged, singing, and enjoying themselves, as one person said: ‘Richard is a national treasure’. I think we all agree with that!
Now – this whole over the top thrilling experience is the beauty of
LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE!
There is no way you can get it by streaming or from a CD or listening to a concert or work in any other way! It only happens in live performance! With real people making music right there in front of you – for you! Don’t deny yourself that experience –
SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCES!
Our next performance will definitely be a glorious experience too:
Johannes Brahms
Ein Deutsches Requiem
Sunday 11th February 2024 @ 3 pm
Linder Auditorium, Parktown
The Phoenix Orchestra
Conducted by Richard Cock
Soloists: Soprano Sinesipho Mnyango, Tenor Christopher Vale
Johannes Brahms (born May 7, 1833, Hamburg [Germany]—died April 3, 1897, Vienna [Austria]. German composer and pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works, choral works, and more than 200 songs. Brahms was the great master of symphonic and sonata style in the second half of the 19th century. He can be viewed as the protagonist of the Classical tradition of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in a period when the standards of this tradition were being questioned or overturned by the Romantics.
Ein Deutsches Requiem For many years Brahms had the idea of composing a Requiem, but only in 1866 did he begin serious work on it. It was completed the following year with the exception of the fifth movement, which he added later in order to achieve a more balanced structure. In its incomplete form Ein Deutsches Requiem was first heard in Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday 1868. The final version was performed the following year at Leipzig’s famous concert-hall, the Gewandhaus.
The work’s title reflects Brahms’ use of the Lutheran Bible rather than the customary Latin one. He compiled the text himself from both Old and New Testaments, and from the Apocrypha. It has little in common with the conventional Catholic Requiem Mass, parts of which Brahms left out, which meant that the title of “Requiem” has sometimes been called into question, but Brahms’ stated intention was to write a Requiem to comfort the living, not one for the souls of the dead. Consequently, the work focuses on faith in the Resurrection rather than fear of the Day of Judgement. Despite its unorthodox text, the German Requiemwas immediately recognised as a masterpiece of exceptional vision, and it finally confirmed Brahms’ reputation as a composer of international stature.
You can look forward to another wonderful concert.
So – book now to avoid disappointment – use this link:
Book tickets for Brahms’s Requiem (quicket.co.za)
On behalf of the Symphony Choir of Johannesburg,
Kate Pape