World Symphony Series Winter Season ~ COncert 2
19h00 ~ Thursday 18 June 2026 ~ Playhouse opera theatre
Conductor: Alexandra Arrieche Soloist: Federico Colli – Piano
PROGRAMME:
Curnow: Fanfare and Flourishes Mozart: Symphony No 25 1st Movement Brahms: Hungarian Dances No. 5 Lortz. A Matador’s tale
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 ‘Scottish
Conductor Lykele Temmingh, at the helm of the KZN Youth Orchestra, performs a brilliantly curated ‘curtain-raiser’ guaranteed to set the audience’s pulses racing. First up is James Curnow’s spectacular Fanfare and Flourishes; Mozart’s ‘Little G Minor Symphony’ First Movement, offering a thrilling glimpse into the mind of a teenage genius finding his own passionate voice – was the electrifying opening music in Miloš Forman’s 1984 film Amadeus; the extremes of dynamics, pace and rhythm are explored to the full in Brahms’s exhilarating Hungarian Dance No 5; and Mark Lortz’s A Matador’s Tale conjures the teaming energy of a bullfight in all its visceral spectacle.
Brazilian-born maestra Alexandra Arrieche then takes the podium with mainstream repertoire by Schumann and Mendelssohn. Schumann’s A Minor Piano Concerto is the perfect blending of solo instrument and orchestra. This principle of fusion gives the concerto a decidedly symphonic character. After a protracted gestation, which began in 1841 as a one-movement Fantasy, often seen as a love letter to his bride, Clara Wieck, Schumann included an Intermezzo and a Finale.
The premiere took place in 1845 with Clara as the soloist. The 20-year old Mendelssohn visited Scotland in 1829, and was deeply moved by the wild landscapes, romantic ruins, and dramatic history. In a letter describing his visit to the ruins of Holyrood Palace — the home of Mary, Queen of Scots — he wrote, ‘Everything round is broken, and mouldering and the bright sky shines in. I believe I have today found in that old chapel the beginning of my Scottish Symphony’. Despite this early inspiration, Mendelssohn struggled with the development for over a decade. While his travels heavily inspire the work, it is not a literal musical travelogue, but rather, a piece of absolute music that evokes the atmosphere of the North—a ‘sombre and moody’ recollection of his Scottish journey.
Date: Thursday, 18 June 2026
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
We look forward to sharing an evening of beautiful music with you!
