Following the success of the World Symphony Series (WSS) Summer Season, the KZN Philharmonic has announced their programme for the Winter Season. It is once again filled to the brim with an impressive line-up of front-ranking artists from the international circuit, as well as several of South Africa’s finest musicians. By subscribing now, patrons can save up to 20% on single ticket prices when booking for five or more concerts. Further good news is that prices have not increased.

Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the KZN Philharmonic, Bongani Tembe said, “It is indeed an exciting season; featuring standard works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky. But we plan to stretch your minds and senses a little with Ginastera’s Variationes Concertantes and the inventive Concerto for Orchestra by Lutoslawski. So it is a time of exploration with a season which definitely caters to all tastes”.

The season begins on May 13 with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 performed by Boris Petrushanksy who is highly acclaimed for his creativity and effervescent personality. This concerto has delighted audiences with its unusual opening and with the many surprises that the composer presents throughout. The Coriolan Overture, also by Beethoven, opens the concert and Symphony No.1 by Sibelius completes the evening’s programme. Internationally celebrated conductor Leslie B Dunner makes a welcome return to the KZNPO podium for the first three concerts of the season.

The next concert on May 20 sees Leslie teaming up with two of the KZNPO’s talented musicians, husband and wife duo Elena Kerimova and Boris Kerimov, who will perform Brahms’s profound Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. The programme also includes Wagner’s Prelude to Die Meistersinger and Rachmoninov’s majestic Third Symphony.

On May 27 the talents of the KZNPO itself will be showcased as the musicians take centre stage with four distinctive works. Bernstein’s festive Slava!, will open the concert followed by Ginastera’s virtuosic Variations Concertantes. The second half features Liszt’s engaging symphonic poem Orpheus, as well as Lutaslawski’s inventive Concerto for Orchestra which affords each section of the Orchestra the opportunity to shine!

The concert on June 3 features popular Dutch conductor Arjan Tien on the podium. Sublime Norwegian mezzo-soprano Ingebjørg Kosmo returns by popular demand to perform various arias, including highlights from Massenet’s Werther. The evening concludes with Dvořák’s thoughtful and triumphant Eighth Symphony. Arjan will not only be conducting the World Symphony Series Concert, but will also be in the limelight at the Starlight Pop Opera at the Durban Country Club on June 6.

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 Emperor opens the concert on June 10. It will be played by world-renowned South African-born pianist Anton Nel who played to great acclaim in the opening concert of the 2003 WSS Winter Season. The concert will be under the baton of the KZNPO’s accomplished resident conductor, Lykele Temmingh. Featured in the second half of the programme are Elgar’s enchanting Serenade for Strings and intriguing Falstaff.

On June 17 German conductor Bernhard Gueller, lauded for his extraordinary musicianship and marvelous ability to communicate with musicians, is on the podium. The soloist is acclaimed pianist Nikolaus Lahusen, who hails from Durban’s sister-city Bremen, performing Chopin’s elegant Piano Concerto No.2. It may be remembered that Lahusen was unable to be with the KZNPO in 2003 due to serious ill-health but the good news is that he is now thankfully recovered.

The final concert of the WSS Winter Season on June 24 features the eminent conductor and brilliant pianist Justus Frantz who takes centre stage with his accomplished pianist son, Christopher Tainton. The light and comic Overture to the Impressario is a fitting prologue to the vivacity of Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos, while Tchaikovsky’s brilliant Fourth Symphony brings the season to a triumphant close.

In a final word, Bongani Tembe said, “This final concert of the season will be repeated at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown on July 4, where we will once again be the Orchestra in residence and will be contributing significantly to the 30th Anniversary of the Festival. We will also present Bizet’s Pearl Fishers directed by Angelo Gobbato on July 1 and 3 together with the Cape Town Opera, plus we will accompany the South African Ballet Company in their performance of Giselle. We hope to see some of Durban’s music lovers there! The Danish writer and poet Hans Christian Andersen once said, where words fail, music speaks. It is my dearest wish that you will support this Orchestra by subscribing today and thus allowing the music to speak forever”.

Subscribe today by contacting the KZNPO Subscription/Sales Office on telephone 031 369 9404/369 9477 or by fax on 031 369 9559, email on kznposub@iafrica.com or visit www.kznpo.co.za Single tickets are also available at any Computicket outlet.