Nicholas Chalmers to lead Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra concerts in April

The performances are scheduled for 9 and 16 April. The first concert will feature South African pianist Roelof Temmingh Jnr as soloist, performing his father’s Piano Concerto.

Chalmers said he had developed a musical connection with the pianist in recent years. “I have long been an admirer of the musicianship and intellect of Roelof and we have been sharing music since we connected during the Covid lockdown. I am sure the audience sense the friendship and musical bond between us,” he said.

Temmingh described the concerto as technically demanding. “When I first performed this concerto I thought it would be an emotional experience. But there was no time for emotion. The music, though rhythmically spiky with exciting harmonies and counterpoint, is in fact very hard. But it is lovely to get to know my father through his unique voice in this concerto,” he said.

The 9 April programme will also include Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten and Symphony No. 6 in B minor (Pathétique) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The second concert on 16 April will open with the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Wind Ensemble, conducted by Charlene Verster, performing River of Life by Steven Reineke.

Chalmers will then conduct Egmont Overture by Ludwig van Beethoven and the Viola Concerto by Béla Bartók, with the orchestra’s principal viola Petrus Coetzee as soloist. The programme will conclude with Lobgesang by Felix Mendelssohn, featuring sopranos Nobulumko Mngxekeza and Siphamandla Moyake, and tenor Thando Mjandana, alongside the AfriArts Chorus and VOX Cape Town.

Chalmers said the Mendelssohn work would receive additional rehearsal time. “This is a majestic symphonic cantata commissioned by the city of Leipzig to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the movable-type printing press. Blending orchestral writing with choral passages and solo voices, the work culminates in a finale that has resonated with audiences for generations,” he said.

The 16 April concert is sponsored by the City of Cape Town.

In addition to the two performances, Chalmers will lead rehearsals with the orchestra ahead of its final concert of the season on 30 April.

Both concerts will begin at 7.30 p.m. and will be preceded by pre-concert talks at 6.45 p.m. Dress rehearsals are scheduled for 11 a.m. on 9 April and 7.30 p.m. on 15 April.