This week the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) performed as I have never heard those musicians perform before! While having dinner before the concert I said to my companion "Oh well, it is Schubert and Beethoven again but, at least, we have the world premiere of Phelelani Mnomiya’s Afroverture that will be new.” 
It is at the very moment when life and its pleasures seem to have become jaded that one is about to be surprised. And, not only was I in for a most satisfying surprise but, also for an experience of intense awe and majesty! By the end of the evening one had become acutely aware that the sound that came from that stage had filled one’s being with a rare wonder and a sense of godliness.
But, before I tell you about the entirely “new” Schubert and Beethoven that came to fill my senses during the course of the evening, it may be good rather to “start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!”
This unforgettable concert opened with Mnomiya’s Afroverture – an absolutely beautiful work with incredibly complex rhythms and melody lines super-imposed one upon the other like onion skins. I was so proud of being South African and being able to listen to such genius.
This is the first stand-alone overture that Mnomiya has written and the composer describes it as a piece of “absolute” music. While the title can lead one to assume that the work comprises a fusion of styles the composer says: “Afroverture has more to do with where I am as a composer, than being a stylistic tag.” That may be so and I agree that the work has way more in common with Bernstein than the African continent. But there is present in the composition an undeniable suggestion of African singing styles and rhythmic patterns which are skillfully woven throughout the dense orchestration.
This overture was written and orchestrated earlier this year on a commission from the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO). Congratulations to the JPO for performing new home-woven works! Now it remains for the work to receive the exposure it merits from being available on CD and of being cast on our radio waves.
Let us now talk about Simon Wright.
Firstly, I am saddened by the fact that Maestro Wright is in the country only to conduct this week’s three concerts of the same programme. Wright is a musician in every sense of the word and he managed to tease from that orchestra sensitivity rarely heard on any concert stage anywhere in the world.
Respected by all as a musician of the utmost integrity, Wright has stood in front of many orchestras greater than the JPO but, he managed to elicit from one of a handful of African orchestras the kind of sound you would expect from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on one of their best nights.
After the performance I went to talk to him he towered above my 1.88 metres!
Simon Wright is both a physical and intellectual giant. He does not use a podium – he does not need one as he towers above even the harp and double bases! Despite his bodily bulk, he is sensitive in the extreme and conducts the orchestra in an unusually controlled fashion, giving the audience access to the full range of nuance and colour that a performance of Schubert should contain.
My blasé attitude of “I had heard it all before”, very soon dissipated as Maestro Wright, delicately, lead the listener into the first movement of the Schubert Symphony No. 3. I soon realised that I had in fact never heard or understood Schubert before. Wright made all four the movements sound like world premiere experiences.
And, it was only on hearing the Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto (The Emperor) - after the interval - that then I fully understood why there was this break with the convention of the symphony being the last offering of the evening. Like the Schubert, Beethoven became a heavenly rendition and very much indicative of a collaboration of the gods: Conductor, orchestra and pianist cooperated in a musical conspiracy that resulted in a “godly first time” experience for most of the audience. There was no way that one could have listened to any other music once the thunderous applause following the piano concerto had died down.
The Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto is a warhorse of many notes and played to death everywhere that one goes, but, the Du Toit/ Wright/ JPO alliance in this instance gave the Johannesburg audience a rare “virgin” moment.
Francois du Toit is one of the finest pianists that I have ever heard. For him it is more than sheer technique and fireworks: It is also about soul, sincerity and the utmost respect for music. His playing is reflected in his admirabel sense of occasion, his impeccable style of dress and his neat, lean and fit body. When he walked, confidently, onto that stage dressed in his tails, white tie, crisp white shirt and off-white cumber band, you already knew that the offering on hand wiould be the best that that anyone could ever give.
I can continue many hours discussing the gracious way in which piano and orchestra fused into one entity; how this performance transcended to be piano concerto and symphony all at the same time; how Du Toit didn’t smudge a single note; how the arpeggios sparkled like ice cold champagne bubbles; how the huge chords sunk into a bed of warm orchestral sound. All I need say is that if a true music lover missed this concert it can only be regarded as a tragedy for him or her.
The first concert of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s Fourth Season for 2011 was an once-in-a-lifetime experience and, unless I can have my Schubert and Beethoven stirred up this way in future, I really am not interested.
In conclusion, I bow to conductor, pianist and orchestra and I say: “Your Majesties, for the first time in my life Beethoven did not only march through my brain – his music also danced on in the most pleasant of music-induced dreams for the remainder of the night! Even now, as I write, I continue to hear the heavenly ring of divine sound! Thank you.”
It is at the very moment when life and its pleasures seem to have become jaded that one is about to be surprised. And, not only was I in for a most satisfying surprise but, also for an experience of intense awe and majesty! By the end of the evening one had become acutely aware that the sound that came from that stage had filled one’s being with a rare wonder and a sense of godliness.But, before I tell you about the entirely “new” Schubert and Beethoven that came to fill my senses during the course of the evening, it may be good rather to “start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!”
This unforgettable concert opened with Mnomiya’s Afroverture – an absolutely beautiful work with incredibly complex rhythms and melody lines super-imposed one upon the other like onion skins. I was so proud of being South African and being able to listen to such genius.
This is the first stand-alone overture that Mnomiya has written and the composer describes it as a piece of “absolute” music. While the title can lead one to assume that the work comprises a fusion of styles the composer says: “Afroverture has more to do with where I am as a composer, than being a stylistic tag.” That may be so and I agree that the work has way more in common with Bernstein than the African continent. But there is present in the composition an undeniable suggestion of African singing styles and rhythmic patterns which are skillfully woven throughout the dense orchestration.This overture was written and orchestrated earlier this year on a commission from the South African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO). Congratulations to the JPO for performing new home-woven works! Now it remains for the work to receive the exposure it merits from being available on CD and of being cast on our radio waves.
Let us now talk about Simon Wright.
Firstly, I am saddened by the fact that Maestro Wright is in the country only to conduct this week’s three concerts of the same programme. Wright is a musician in every sense of the word and he managed to tease from that orchestra sensitivity rarely heard on any concert stage anywhere in the world.Respected by all as a musician of the utmost integrity, Wright has stood in front of many orchestras greater than the JPO but, he managed to elicit from one of a handful of African orchestras the kind of sound you would expect from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on one of their best nights.
After the performance I went to talk to him he towered above my 1.88 metres!
Simon Wright is both a physical and intellectual giant. He does not use a podium – he does not need one as he towers above even the harp and double bases! Despite his bodily bulk, he is sensitive in the extreme and conducts the orchestra in an unusually controlled fashion, giving the audience access to the full range of nuance and colour that a performance of Schubert should contain.
My blasé attitude of “I had heard it all before”, very soon dissipated as Maestro Wright, delicately, lead the listener into the first movement of the Schubert Symphony No. 3. I soon realised that I had in fact never heard or understood Schubert before. Wright made all four the movements sound like world premiere experiences.
And, it was only on hearing the Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto (The Emperor) - after the interval - that then I fully understood why there was this break with the convention of the symphony being the last offering of the evening. Like the Schubert, Beethoven became a heavenly rendition and very much indicative of a collaboration of the gods: Conductor, orchestra and pianist cooperated in a musical conspiracy that resulted in a “godly first time” experience for most of the audience. There was no way that one could have listened to any other music once the thunderous applause following the piano concerto had died down.
The Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto is a warhorse of many notes and played to death everywhere that one goes, but, the Du Toit/ Wright/ JPO alliance in this instance gave the Johannesburg audience a rare “virgin” moment.
Francois du Toit is one of the finest pianists that I have ever heard. For him it is more than sheer technique and fireworks: It is also about soul, sincerity and the utmost respect for music. His playing is reflected in his admirabel sense of occasion, his impeccable style of dress and his neat, lean and fit body. When he walked, confidently, onto that stage dressed in his tails, white tie, crisp white shirt and off-white cumber band, you already knew that the offering on hand wiould be the best that that anyone could ever give.I can continue many hours discussing the gracious way in which piano and orchestra fused into one entity; how this performance transcended to be piano concerto and symphony all at the same time; how Du Toit didn’t smudge a single note; how the arpeggios sparkled like ice cold champagne bubbles; how the huge chords sunk into a bed of warm orchestral sound. All I need say is that if a true music lover missed this concert it can only be regarded as a tragedy for him or her.
The first concert of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s Fourth Season for 2011 was an once-in-a-lifetime experience and, unless I can have my Schubert and Beethoven stirred up this way in future, I really am not interested.
In conclusion, I bow to conductor, pianist and orchestra and I say: “Your Majesties, for the first time in my life Beethoven did not only march through my brain – his music also danced on in the most pleasant of music-induced dreams for the remainder of the night! Even now, as I write, I continue to hear the heavenly ring of divine sound! Thank you.”
The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra’s concerts on 16 and 17 March 2011 will feature a special “curtain-raiser” by the JPO Academy Orchestra.
