Conducted by Tibor Bogányi
Soloist: Jérôme Pernoo

PROGRAMME

Otto Nicolai The Merry Wives of Windsor: Overture (1810-1849)
The overture to Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor is the composer’s best-known work. Based on Shakespeare’s eponymous play, the overture is a classic of German comic opera, eliciting the characters and mood of the play with lighthearted grace.

Jacques Offenbach Concerto for cello in G Major “Concerto Militaire” (1819-1880) Allegro Maestoso
Andante
Rondo
Andante
Prelude Lento; Allegro maestoso
Intermezzo Andantion con moto
Introduction Andante; Rondo Allegro vivace

Jacques Offenbach was the seventh child of a Cologne synagogue cantor. The whole family was musical and often played chamber music together. Offenbach trained at the Paris Conservatoire and later became a cellist in the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique. This was followed by a successful early career as a virtuoso on the instrument, for which he wrote a number of works, the huge Concerto Militaire being by far the most substantial and important. He continued a successful career devoted largely to operetta and opera  comiques until his death in 1880. Of nearly a hundred lighter pieces Offenbach composed for the stage, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus of the Underworld) is best known, in particular for its famous can-can.

INTERVAL

Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D Major Op. 73 (1833-1897)              Allegro no troppo
Adagio non troppo
Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino)
Allegro con spirito

Brahms’s D major symphony has no title but surely its nature and vernal loveliness is like that of Spring. The opening, with the four notes of the cellos and basses and the reply of the dusky horn, is the emotional as well as the musical key of the composition. The melodies that stream and intermingle in the orchestra, the lusty power of certain contrasting passages, and the coda, in which the magical horn is heard again, haunting forever the memory – all this is Spring herself, her dreaming eyes, her wayward glance. The second movement, grave and poetic, is Brahms in a brown study. Here he thinks aloud fearlessly
in self-expression. The third movement, with its delicious modulations and capricious changes of rhythms, is all built on the pastoral melody that the oboe sings over the strings pizzicato. The finale begins with  a kind of theme that is a hallmark of Brahms’ style motive played in unison by many instruments, which creeps mysteriously through the low registers of the orchestra before its brilliant proclamation by the full orchestra. Later the violins take up a new song, having for its bass a motive from the opening theme of the movement, which later, flung out by the trumpets, brings the glorious conclusion.

Tibor Bogányi has established himself as one of the most interesting and skilled conductors and cellists of his generation. At the age of 28 this gifted Hungarian-born artist was appointed Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, holding this position between 2003 and 2006. In Finland he has conducted all the leading professional orchestras; he has also conducted several Finnish youth orchestras, and was the Artistic Director of VIVO Youth Symphony Orchestra for three years.

Bongányi has also ppeared internationally with orchestras such as the Staats Philharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, Macao Symphonic Orhestra, the St. Petersburg National Symphony Orchestra and many others. His repertoire extends from symphonic music through large-scale choral works to opera and ballet. He has conducted successful performances of Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s Tosca, Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Don Giovanni and Verdi’s La Traviata. Bogányi planned and conducted a unique series of Bela Bartók’s music which included, among other works, Bluebeard’s Castle, The Miraculous Mandarin, The Wooden Prince, Concerto for Orchestra, Dance Suite, Violin Concerto and Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2.

After completing his diploma in cello performance, Bogányi went on to study with Professor Jorma Panula and Professor Leif Segerstam at the Sibelius Academy. His diploma examination in conducting was the world première of the ballet Hobbit by Aulis Sallinen at the Finnish National Opera. Bogányi has also studied with Professor Janos Fürst at the Paris Conservatoire. He has further developed his conducting skills with Sir Colin Davies and Yuri Simonov. Tibor Bogányi won second place in Professor Jorma Panula’s International Conducting Contest in 1999. As a cellist he won the Leo Weiner Competition in 1996 and the Kuhmo International Trio Competition in 1999.

Born in Nantes, Jérôme Pernoo studied with Germaine Fleury before moving to the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris where he studied under Xavier Gagnepain and Philippe Muller. In 1994 he was a prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow as well as at the Rostropovitch Competition in Paris, and in 1996 he won the Unisa Strings Competition in Pretoria.

Jérôme Pernoo has performed with most of the major French symphony orchestras as well as with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Wiener Symphoniker, Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich, the Orchestra of the Zurich Opera House, Symphony Orchestra of the Teatro Regio in Torino, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and the National Orchestra of Spain in Madrid to name but a few. He appears in recital with the pianist Jérôme Ducros on some of the world’s most renowned stages: the Wigmore Hall in London, the Florence Gould Hall in New York, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. An open-minded and eclectic musician who plays both the modern and baroque cello, Jérôme Pernoo is also sensitive to the diversity of artistic inventiveness and participates in less traditional projects. For instance, he has collaborated with the choreographer
Régine Chopinot in a staged production of Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, which toured worldwide.

In the 2008/09 season a highlight was the world première of the cello concerto composer Guillaume Connesson dedicated to him which he performed with the Orchestre of the Rouen Opera, in Rouen and Paris. In 2011 he will perform this masterwork in France and at the Enescu Festival in Rumania. Further plans include Schumann’s cello concerto with the Ensemble Matheus and Jean-Christophe Spinosi as well as the world première of a cello concerto by Jérémie Rhorer. Jérôme Pernoo is founder and artistic director of the music festival
Les vacances de Monsieru Haydn held in La Roche Posay, which first took place in 2005. He plays a baroque cello and a piccolo cello. Both instruments are Italian and were built in the 18th century by the Milanese School. He also plays a modern cello made for him by Franck Ravatin. A virtuoso beyond comparison and a magician of colour and expression, Jérôme enchants his public by inviting them to share his passion for music. His devotion, high standards and his
deep respect for the art form can be sensed over and over again.

Bongani Tembe is the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra's Chief Executive and Artistic Director. The KZN Philharmonic Orchestra is a professional orchestra of 70 musicians from around the world. The orchestra enjoys a reputation for excellence and innovation among South African orchestras, resulting in a loyal support base from the local community, regular concert subscribers and visitors to the province. The orchestra was founded in 1983 as part of the Natal Performing Arts Council (later Playhouse Company). In April 1998 the KZN Philharmonic was restructured as an independent viable entity according to the new South African Arts and Culture dispensation policy. The orchestra is primarily funded by grants from eThekwini Municipality, the KZN Government and the National Government. The remainder of its income is derived from sponsorships, donations and box office income. The World Symphony Series (WSS), which features world-renowned artists, such as Renée Fleming and
Zuben Mehta, as well as top South African musicians, forms an integral part of the orchestra’s annual programme. The KZN Philharmonic’s dynamic approach to its responsibilities in Education and Development (E&D) has resulted in the growth of vibrant community-centred programmes.