Family friendly

KZN Philharmonic Orchestra World Symphony Series Winter Season Concert 1

Thu Jun 2, 19:00 - Thu Jun 2, 21:00

Playhouse Opera Theatre

ABOUT

Beethoven: Prometheus Overture

Mozart: Concerto for Flute No. 2, K.314 in D Major

Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen for Flute and Orchestra, Op. 20, “Gypsy Airs”

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 in A Major, “Italian”


In 1800, the 29-year-old Beethoven received a major commission to write his first work for the stage, a ballet based on the Prometheus myth. The première of The Creatures of Prometheus took place on March 28, 1801, and the work was repeated 23 times in that and the following year.


It was an important success for Beethoven, leading eventually to the commission for his opera Fidelio. The complete music for the ballet consisted of an overture, introduction and sixteen numbers, but, since the overture was, for a time, the only overture that Beethoven had written, he often performed it separately to open concerts of his music. It has long been a staple of the concert repertoire, and it serves here to usher onstage this evening’s soloist. The brilliant young Venezuelan virtuoso Joidy Blanco, a laureate of national and international flute competitions, shows her paces to fine effect in two highly contrasting works: The rococo elegance of Mozart’s Flute Concerto K.314, with its beguiling air of innocence, is boldly offset by the lustrous gypsy swagger of Sarasate’s famous Zigeunerweisen.


After intermission, maestro Boico and his KZN Philharmonic players visit the Italian peninsular, courtesy of Felix Mendelssohn. The German composer travelled through Italy in October 1830. The trip lasted ten months; he started in Venice and worked his way south to Naples before returning back north. His impressions were captured memorably in his “Italian” Symphony. While there is nothing particularly Italian about the lovely piece - until its final movement - it strives to convey a series of impressions of the country; Mediterranean sunshine, religious solemnity, monumental art and architecture, and open countryside. In the finale, however, Mendelssohn uses the raucous Neapolitan saltarello to telling effect, deploying the dance as the basis of the movement, which hurtles to a close with a minor-key reiteration of the first movement’s opening theme

DIRECTIONS

KZN Philharmonic Orchestra World Symphony Series Winter Season Concert 1
Playhouse Opera Theatre
231 Smith St, Durban Central, Durban, 4001
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