World Symphony Series SPRING Season ~ COncert 2

American conductor Michael Repper, acclaimed on six continents, makes his KZN Philharmonic debut with a programme of English, Austrian and German classical gems. He opens with Elgar’s enchanting Serenade for Strings. In the summer of 1933, just months before his death, Elgar conducted a recording session at London’s Kingsway Hall. The pieces he recorded were both works for strings – the Elegy written in 1909, and the composer’s beloved Serenade, composed in 1892. Its first movement, with its dance-like opening theme, gives way to a central adagio, swathed in nostalgia, before the audience succumbs to the third movement’s wistful conclusion, unexpectedly coming full circle in the finale to meet up with the spirit of the opening movement’s rhythmic dance fragment.

Haydn’s joyous D major Cello Concerto, is one those works which makes the listener glad to be alive. The Norwegian cellist Sandra Lied Haga’s interpretation is eagerly awaited as she puts her stamp on its wealth of melodies and bravura passages.

The evening climaxes with Mendelssohn’s youthful First Symphony, Its London première on May 25, 1829, with the composer conducting, was reviewed in The Harmonicon. Our KZNPO concert goers will delight in the reviewer’s precise assessment of Mendelssohn’s musical prowess: ‘Though only about one or two-and-twenty years of age, he has already produced several works of magnitude, which, if at all to be compared with the present, ought, without such additional claim, to rank him among the first composers of the age. Fertility of invention and novelty of effect, are what first strike the hearers of M. Mendelssohn’s symphony; but at the same time, the melodiousness of its subjects, the vigour with which these are supported, the gracefulness of the slow movement, the playfulness of some parts, and the energy of others, are all felt. The author conducted it in person, and it was received with acclamations.’ A feat Maestro Rapper is sure to repeat.

Date: Thursday, 13 November 2025
Time: 19:00
Venue: Playhouse Opera Theatre, 231 Anton Lembede Street, Durban
Tickets: Season Tickets available through our office on 031 369 9437/8 or info@kznphil.org.za

Single tickets available online through Quicket or at the door

Book tickets for KZN Philharmonic Orchestra 2025 SPRING Symphony Season Concert 2

We look forward to sharing an evening of beautiful music with you!