Full Newsletter: Thursday’s stars, music lessons, FMR is 20 and the Ayrshire Fiddle Orchestra
Charlier finds the future of music in China
Christina McEwan
Cape Times June 18, 2016
Catching up with Olivier Charlier, the French violinist who is going to play the Mozart Violin Concerto no 3 (“Strasbourg”) with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra on Thursday, June 18, at 20:00 at the Cape Town City Hall, meant a Skype call to China. And a discussion of what he is doing there, apart from performing.
Charlier, who has played several times in Cape Town since his first tour more than 25 years ago, is a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, and so teaching in China has become par for the course on his annual trips there. “For one thing, there are millions of really talented students there. For another, they want to learn from foreign teachers to get other opinions on their performance, and perhaps most importantly they want to learn. My students in Paris are, like most of those in the west, the product of parents who want to see the evolution of their children, their individual expression and their freedom. Chinese students have much more discipline, they have the ability to concentrate and practice, and they listen to their parents who still can tell them what to do. Why do you think so many western orchestras are being populated by young talented Asian musicians?
Charlier says, generally speaking, that Chinese children are quick to learn the technical aspects and have a precision that is quite remarkable. “In the future, you will see that Chinese soloists in particular will most likely dominate the world stages.
“They are grateful for the music and express something personal that comes from their hearts. They strive to reach the right style, the correct way to play, a beautiful sonority and always have something they want to learn from the music. We don’t hear or play music today the way it was played 100 years ago. We have different sensibilities. I think that Asian influences will affect the evolution of classical music. I love being involved in this, though my influence is limited but there is a very definite place for ‘foreign’ teachers. I have I have learned a lot from them – how the talented musicians get where there are going.” Having said that about Chinese musicians and their parents, Charlier laughs. “My father, an engineer in a sugar factory, an amateur violinist and son of an amateur cellist, decided that I would play the violin. Actually, he decided that my two sisters and I would play the violin which he would teach us and the fact that two of us, my sister Clair and me, became professional musicians, speaks a lot for his teaching!” His grounding at home was deepened by the fact that his mother, an amateur pianist, taught the three children solfège.
“I was five when I first started playing and we lived in the country far from a conservatoire. I wasn’t happy with his choice at the time, but within five years I knew that I would make music my future and, while we knew it was risky, I dedicated my life to it. At the age of 10 I was enrolled at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.” At the age of 16, he played his first concerto with Orchestre des Prix du Conservatoire, and at 17 he won his first international competition in Munich (he was the youngest contestant in competitions for years) and then he was on a role … he won prizes in Montreal, Sibelius in Helsinki, Jacques Thibaud in Paris and Indianapolis and benefited from the wisdom of luminaries such as Nadia Boulanger, Yehudi Menuhin and Henryk Szeryng.
Charlier says he benefited from hugely from master classes over his career and likes to do them himself, passing back what he was given. While here, he hopes to help with some good violinists in the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Not only has he played with this orchestra twice before in the last 5 years, both times Mozart concerti, but he toured South Africa in 1999 with the Orchestre National de France and played with the CTSO as well. He also remembers with great fondness playing with Lamar Crowson at the SA College of Music at UCT.
Charlier’s two boys aged 25 and 22 play the violin but they make a living in the world of computers, and his wife is a harpist. She keeps the home going, since he spends between four and five months a year on the road. After Beijing it was home for a few days, then Cape Town, then back to Paris, Sweden and around France. He has reached that stage of maturity in his career when he can choose. “I love chamber music, recitals and playing concerto. My musical life keeps evolving, from the time as a young competition winner when my prizes were always concerti with top orchestras to playing all the lesser known and maybe not even the most brilliant trios and quartets, a challenge I enjoy.”
He has also recorded widely. Charlier is looking forward to playing this Mozart concerto. “This piece is one of his best, a really marvellous piece of music. “
At the concert, which will be conducted by Victor Yampolsky, the CPO will also play the overture to Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar, and the Scriabin Symphony no 1 with the New Apostolic Church Choir and soloists Elizabeth Frandsen (mezzo) and Esewu Nobela (tenor). Tickets Computicket 0861 915 8000 www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695.
Yampolsky still going strong
Christina McEwan
Cape Times June 17, 2015
It was in May 1984 that Victor Yampolsky made his debut with the then Cape Town Symphony Orchestra and he’s still going strong, conducting in the city on an almost annual basis, and loving every minute of it. He will be here on June 18 and 25 to conduct the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in two concerts … and coach young conductors in the preliminary rounds of the Third triannual Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition, and all this on top of the fact that he is visiting “his favourite place on earth.” Yampolsky, who was a violin student of the legendary David Oistrakh, moved from the Soviet Union to America in 1973 and soon after joined the Boston Symphony orchestra as a violinist. Conducting began to take over his life (he studied with Professor Rabinovich at the Leningrad Conservatoire) and he joined Northwestern University in Chicago in 1984 to direct the orchestral programme.
Education is in his blood – and he was involved in the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra from the early days, giving master classes from 2005 to young people like Brandon Phillips, who went on to win the 1st Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition in 2010 and take up the prize – the spring quarter at Yampolsky’s School with intensive classes. The second part of the prize is a month at the Philadelphia Orchestra. Yampolsky is proud of Phillips, and also of the second competition winner, Xavier Cloete, both of whom are very gifted and have lots to offer South Africa.
While here, he will do master classes with 16 young entrants in the Third Len van Zyl Conducting Competition, some of whom will go on to the semi-finals and finals in February where Yampolsky will be joined by Bernhard Gueller, Richard Cock and Brandon Phillips to choose the overall winner. Exciting times, he says, for “I love sharing and when I see how passionate they are I become even more passionate myself.” He says he was so elated when Phillips came to his university!
“After all these years of going to South Africa and being part of the music scene, it is important for me to see how they succeed in their own country. I feel very close to some of them – I rehearsed them in the youth orchestra. I feel so lucky that I have been part of the whole development programme, so proud to see that some of them have grown up to be professional musicians, and so happy to be their uncle!”
The second winner, Xavier Cloete, is another source of pride. “I had given him several conducting classes over the years and knew him well and he was a great winner, too.” The South African music scene is quite small, so these young conductors need to create their own opportunities and I know they will.
Yampolsky has a busy year. He has 8 or 10 programmes at the University. He arrives having just completed one with a premiere of a work called Silent Voices, written to honour the musicians and artists lost in the Holocaust and then a couple of weeks later, ironically and part of life in the world of music, Roses and Thorns in Love, works by two composers linked to the Nazi philosophy, Wagner and Strauss. He also made his debut with the Hawaii Symphony, a reawakening of the Honolulu Symphony which folded, like the JPO, a few years ago. “it’s coming to life slowly, he says, with just 14 weeks of concerts a year at the start.”
He leaves us to conduct at two festivals in Virginia – Lorin Maazel’s Castleton where he will give conducting master classes – and Wintergreen, where he will be a guest conductor. Then, in August, he will direct his Peninsula Festival, a summer festival he has been running for 30 years.
With all this behind him, what’s to come? He can and will stay on at the Northwestern University for the rest of his life, so his skills will never be lost, and return to South Africa as a guest conductor, be the focal point of the Len van Zyl Conductors’ Competition, and entertain the musicians and those lucky enough to spend time with him personally with his raconteur skills.
The June 18 concert features the overture to Glinka’s A Life for the Tzar, French violinist Olivier Charlier in Mozart Violin Concerto no 3, “Strasbourg”, and the Symphony no 1 in E by Scriabin, with soloists Elizabeth Frandsen (mezzo) and Esewu Nobela (tenor) and the New Apostolic Church Choir. The concert of June 25 is a celebration of the 70th birthday of Peter Klatzow, and features Three Paintings by Irma Stern, The Healing Melody, Klatzow’s orchestration of the Brahms Quintet for Strings, Opus 111, and his Double Concerto for Flute, Marimba and Strings with Liesl Stoltz (flute) and Frank Mallows (marimba). More information from luvuyo@cpo.org.za ; Tickets Computicket 0861 915 8000 www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695.
Last Grové piece for CPO premiere
Christina McEwan
This article appeared in the Cape Times on June 8, 2015
Having a piece dedicated to one is always special, but to have the last piece completed by the late South African composer Stefans Grové dedicated to one is extraordinary! For pianist Ben Schoeman and cellist Anzel Gerber, when they give the world premiere of Bushman Prayers for Cello, Piano, Narrator and Orchestra at the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra concert on Thursday, June 11, it will be an emotional experience, for they both knew Grové well and the conductor, Yasuo Shinozaki, spent time with Grové discussing the first movement.
Schoeman and Gerber have been working together as duo for several years, and it was after winning the Ibla Grand Prize Competition in Italy in 2012 that the idea of this concerto took hold. Gerber, now a lecturer in cello at the Conservatoire at the University of Stellenbosch, was a friend of Grové for many years. She mentioned casually to him how interesting this combination would be – at the time, there wasn’t another work for the two instruments but soon after one for Martha Argerich (piano) and Mischa Maisky (cello) composed by Rodion Schedrin had its first outing! Schoeman had met Grové in 2004, when he played a prescribed Grové piece in the Unisa International Piano Competition (a competition he won in 2008). Grové later wrote a piece, My Seasons (2012), specially for Schoeman, who recently completed his doctoral thesis on Grové’s music at the City University London.
Says Gerber: “The idea gelled with him, and soon after he told us he wanted to write a double concerto for us. He was concerned about the plight of the Bushmen and interested in their culture and traditions. Three poems, in the form of prayers featured in a compilation by W H Bleek, served as inspiration for the Double Concerto — to the sun, the moon, and the brightest star in the sky.” Rodney Trudgeon will narrate the poems. Ironically, says Gerber, Grové moved in the last year of his life – to Bushman Street in Pretoria!
According to Schoeman, “Grové is one of the most distinguished South African composers and he often integrated indigenous African musical elements into his works. He had a vivid imagination and demonstrated a unique approach to sound colour. Grové composed relatively quickly … he was very prolific at the age of 90! The Double Concerto was his last completed work – he was also working on a viola concerto when he passed away last year.
“His sense of tradition – he was an expert of Baroque music and historical performance – and his knowledge of JS Bach were considerable; there is wonderful polyphonic interplay between instruments. This piece is more like a concerto for orchestra and it beautifully illustrates the colours of the various instruments. The CPO woodwind section will really shine. He has used interesting percussion instruments and I am rather curious to see how the combination of vibraphone and bongo will crystallise!”
Schoeman and Gerber share the same love of the Russian school, and have been playing together since 2009. She studied in Moscow, and he studied in Italy with Russian teachers. According to Schoeman, “we never have to rehearse long before we have reached agreement. We really enjoy working together.”
The duo made an acclaimed appearance at Carnegie Hall last year, and will give Cape Town concertgoers the opportunity to hear them in recital. Its CD of the Rachmaninov and Rubinstein sonatas at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria is being released this year.
Schoeman studied at the University of Pretoria, the International Piano Academy in Imola and thee Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence, and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London. He has recently performed concertos by Tchaikovsky and Ravel at the Barbican Centre and gave acclaimed performances at the Wigmore Hall in London. Schoeman’s album with music of Franz Liszt has been released by TwoPianists Records. He is a Steinway Artist.
Ms Gerber, who received her PhD in Music (Performance) from Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 2008, presented master classes at the Music Conservatory in Beijing as well as in Cremona, Italy, where she served on the faculty and was a member of the jury for the International Music Academy and Competition. She studied in Russia, Spain and the UK.
The CPO concert on June 11 features the Hussite Overture by Dvorak, the Tchaikovsky Pezzo Capriccioso for cello, Africa for piano by Saint-Saens, and the Sibelius Symphony no 1. Schoeman and Ms Gerber will give a chamber music recital for the Cape Town Concert Series on Saturday, June 13, in a matinee concert at 15:00 at the Baxter Concert Hall. The pair will perform Beethoven Sonata No. 4 in C for Cello and Piano; Britten Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 65; Chopin Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 65; and
Schumann Adagio and Allegro for Cello and Piano, Op. 70.
Tickets Computicket 0861 915 8000 www.computicket.com or Artscape Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695.
Deon Irish’s review
SYMPHONY CONCERT, Thurs 11th, City Hall; CTPO conducted by Yasuo Shinozaki, soloists Anzel Gerber and Ben Schoeman; Dvorák: Hussite Overture; Tchaikovsky: Pezzo Capriccioso for Cello and Orchestra; Saint-Saëns: Africa: Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, Op 69;
Grové: Bushman Prayers: Concerto for Cello, Piano and Orchestra; Sibelius: Symphony No 1 in E minor, Op 39.
The wintry chill did not deter concert goers from filling the City Hall for an intriguing programme of two distinct halves: a pre-interval collection of disparate works, ranging from three lesser known pieces by popular Romantic composers, to the last composition of a notable South African neo-Classicist who died just last year.
Dvorák, Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns are regularly found in concert programmes the world over; yet there remain a slew of orchestral works by each of them which enjoy far less currency. This is not because of inferior quality: programme choices are governed by factors such as the length of a work, the forces needed (and thus cost) for its performance, and its suitability in the musical context. Both Tchaikovsky’s cello showpiece and Saint-Saëns’ piano confection suffer from being too short to fill a concerto slot and justify the engagement of a soloist; and, in the case of the Tchaikovsky piece, it is a mite too virtuosic to be assigned even to many orchestral principal cellists.
One commends the CTPO for finding a neat solution to the problem: by programming a relatively short work that required the engagement of both piano and cello soloists, the opportunity was created to assign to each of those instrumentalists another short solo piece.
In the case of the overture, its rarity is more curious, since it does fit ideally into the conventional opening item mould. And, as boldly conducted as Shinozaki did, it’s an appealing work, with a strong melodic interest derived from two Hussite hymns, one being the St Wenceslas Chorale, employed during the piece and used to bring the overtly nationalistic work to a rousing conclusion. It remains a popular Czech hymn and perhaps it is this overt religiosity that makes it less appealing in an increasingly secular world.
Tchaikovsky wrote his piece in 1887 for the Russian cellist Anatoly Brandukov, then residing in Paris. As can be expected in a piece written for a Moscow Conservatoire gold medallist, the writing is demanding – particularly in the moto perpetuo D major central episode (which reappears at the end of the work in truncated form as a coda).
Brandukov was known both for his passionate, rich sound and for his technical wizardry. I should like to report that Gerber proved his equal, but the performance was lacking in some crucial aspects: her sound frequently lacked adequate projection in the large venue; and the demi-semiquavers of the central episode did not create crotchets at the specified same tempo as the preceding section. The lyrical episodes were lovely but the soaring harmonics failed to carry. Nevertheless, good to hear.
Schoeman then tossed off the “Africa” fantasy with alacrity. It’s a delicious little confection; conceived whilst on a trip to Egypt, the work has obvious references to the exotic sounds of North Africa, although the very prevalent syncopations make it a vehicle for a more widely encountered African music signature.
It’s also another vehicle for a display of virtuosity (the composer was, after all, a virtuoso keyboard player), the often light accompaniment leaving the field open to the soloist to dazzle with a parade of frequently flashy but always exhilarating piano episodes. Schoeman had more than opportunity to create magic with rapid fire broken chords, double octaves, arpeggios, chromatic scales and every other utensil in the cooking battery. Shinozaki and the orchestra scampered along as dutiful cohorts,
achieving a neatly precise accompaniment. Marvellous!
The first half ended with Stefan Grové’s “Bushman Prayers”, a double concerto whose three movements reflect the essence of three poems, each read before its movement: the Sun as the giver of life and well-being; the moon, as the constant promise of rebirth; the brightest star as the gifter of pinpoint accuracy of the hunt.
Grové’s synthesis of Western and African musical elements was an on-going endeavour for the last thirty-odd years and, with the admixture of the oral tradition in this score, he might be considered to have achieved something of an apogee. I was intrigued by the work and by the fluent performance it received (with Aviva Pelham a last-minute substitution as reader for the indisposed Rodney Trudgeon.) But there are some flaws, too.
Firstly, the translation of the poems of the incarcerated Dia |Kwain had far too much of the elocuted elegance of Belgravia about it, as if one were discussing the agony of hunger over the cucumber sandwiches. I recall the use of this material by Pippa Skotnes in what I remember as a far earthier translation, surely more appropriate both to words and Grove’s music?
The second criticism is of the orchestration which – in the outer two movements – is occasionally somewhat heavy in accompaniment and accordingly overshadowing of the solo lines.
That having been said, the work is undoubtedly atmospheric; a concentrated thesis on each poem, with lovely colouring and idiomatic pulses. The soloists performed with seeming distinction and Shinozaki led the orchestra in a clearly carefully-rehearsed and smoothly delivered performance.
The concert ended with a fine account of Sibelius’s first symphony, beautifully conceived by Shinozaki and with fine instrumental contributions – notably by timpanist Muller.
CPO legacy and bequest strengthened by legacy from Erica Manning
The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra is deeply honoured to have been chosen as a beneficiary of the estate of the late Erica Manning. By leaving a generous legacy gift to the CPO, Mr Manning has left an indelible mark not only on the orchestra in the centenary year of orchestras in Cape Town but also on classical music more broadly.
This bounty is especially welcome at a time when funding is a problem and the lottery has reduced its irregular grant to fund specific concerts like one of indigenous music and the outreach projects.
Mrs Manning, who died in May, was born in Canada and then married Liam Manning, an Anglican Church minister. After living in Europe, they moved to Cape Town and then to George where her husband became Bishop of the diocese. They later moved back to Cape Town where they lived for the rest of their lives.
Erica Manning was a woman of great charm and intellect who read and travelled widely. She had a great interest in and love for the performing arts, including the orchestra, ballet and opera.
In 2014 she made a seed donation which lead to the formation of The Cape Town City Ballet Endowment Trust. On her death, she became a major benefactor to the performing arts in Cape Town, a legacy which will be of lasting and significant value to the orchestra and also to opera and ballet.
Mrs Manning’s generosity is key to helping the CPO develop further into a diverse and growing orchestra maintaining not only international standards but also striving to be representative of South Africa’s multicultural society and live its vision to be an Orchestra for All Seasons.
The CPO has to date won accolades across the continent and globally with performances traversing a wide repertoire. As the backbone to the Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Ballet, the orchestra’s contribution to the arts is unrivalled. Young and emerging talent is also nurtured through the CPO’s Outreach & Education programme that takes classical music education to impoverished schools and communities on a no-fee basis.
The CPO requires continuous support from private donors, corporates and other benefactors to continue to perform in excess of 140 performances per year, in addition to deepening its commitment to promoting music education across the country’s various communities.
By leaving a legacy gift or bequest in your will, you will make a vital difference to the long-term success of the CPO. Contributions to the CPO legacy and bequest programme can be made at any age and in ways that suit individual circumstances. Please contact Zohra Dawood on 021-410 9809 or email zohra@cpo.org.za for more detail.
Dane Coetzee’s passion is not a pastime
Someone one asked cellist Dane Coetzee about his love of music – was it his passion or pastime and by then there was no doubt. He knew, thanks to playing with the CPYO, that there was a career in music and out the window went his other options – being a doctor or a psychologist!
Dane, 27, began to play recorder in the environment of the New Apostolic Church and when the church bought some other instruments the cello became the instrument of choice by default, since he suffered from asthma which put the clarinet out of the running.
In 2004, he saw the advertisement for the CPYO which was just being established, applied quite casually, auditioned and won not only a place in the cello section but the first place, becoming principal cello and remaining that until 2013. This was his first taste of orchestra and he was hooked. He also then played in the church orchestra. He was scared, he says, when he made his first public appearance leading the celli in the CPYO’s first ever concert, at the Joseph Stone in Athlone. But not as scared, he says, as when he, at 22, was chosen to play in the CPO as an ad hoc on the orchestra’s tour of the US in 2011.
“If it wasn’t for Danny Neal, another ad hoc cello and now CPO music librarian, I wouldn’t have made it. Danny was a mentor to me, calming me, telling me I could do it.” That he did is clear, because he is a constant ad hoc with the CPO to the day. Dane also pays tribute to the CPO’s principal cello Kristyan Chernev and the rest of the section which make him feel comfortable. “It’s a good environment.”
The CPO made it possible for him to study at Beau Soleil, and also to attend several Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festivals where he gained much experience playing under the direction of international conductors. He passed his Grade 7 Royal Schools of Music exam with the encouragement of teachers Barbara Kennedy and Mahja Gaertner and the CPYO’s Henriette Weber, then outreach manager. And then knowing that music was to be his life, he applied to both Stellenbosch and Cape Town universities to study music. Both accepted him and he entered UCT in 2007, where he graduated in 2010, and then entered the Stellenbosch Conservatoire where he completed an Advanced Diploma in 2013.
Dane has played as a soloist with the CPYO and also, in the Western Cape Music Festival, with the CPO. He has won several prizes, and has had master classes with cellists such as Maria Kliegel and Julian Lloyd Webber, both soloists with the CPO. He was also principal and associate principal in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival Orchestras, the UCT Symphony Orchestra, the Miagi Youth Orchestra, the University of Stellenbosch Symphony Orchestra and choir conductor and conductor of the New Apostolic Church Orchestra.
He has also been a member of the Stellenbosch University String Quartet – joining the quartet at the Festival of Music in Santa Catalina in Brazil, the first African musicians to be selected, and the Haifa Festival of Music, and winning the National Ensemble Competition – and given concerts on the Peace Quartet instruments (named for the four South African Nobel laureates). The Peace Quartet gave him a bursary to study at Stellenbosch. He has taught at Beau Soleil Music Centre and conducted the string ensemble at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre. He became the cello coach of the CPYO in 2014.
“The CPYO showed me that music could be a career,” he says, “and I am always learning about my instrument. I love the orchestra and the function of the orchestra, and I have the CPYO to thank for that.” When his close friend Brandon Phillips came back from America where he had studied in Philadelphia and Chicago, thanks to the prize won at the Len van Zyl 1st Conductors’ Competition and started a conducting studio, Dane was in.
“Conducting has developed me as a musician. I have learned to read a full score which makes it easier for me to read music; it has also made it easier to follow a conductor. I now conduct the CPYO string ensemble and my biggest reward will be if I know that I have inspired just one of the youngsters playing in it to make music a career.”