KZN Philharmonic Orchestra 2024 WINTER Symphony Season Concert 4

ABOUT

Concert 4: 27 June 2024

Playhouse Opera Theatre

Conductor: Daniel Raiskin

Soloist: Ben Schoeman (Piano)

Andree: Concert Overture

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4

Grieg: Symphony in C minor

The internationally acclaimed maestro Daniel Raiskin will be on the podium for the closing concert of the season, with an eclectic programme of works – bookended with rarities by Elfrieda Andree, and Edvard Grieg, and crowd-pleaser centrepiece by Beethoven. Performed by SA pianist, Ben Schoeman. Elfrida Andrée (1841 – 1929), was a Swedish organist, composer, and conductor. Aside from the Concert Overture heard here, her compositions include the opera Fritiofs Saga, a variety if works for orchestra including two symphonies, several chamber pieces, two Swedish masses, a choral ballade, and several art songs. 

Beethoven composed his Fourth Piano Concerto in 1805–1806. He himself was the soloist in the public premiere as part of the concert on 22 December 1808 at Vienna's Theater an der Wien. Scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of a flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings, the great work premiered in March 1807 at a private concert of the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. However, the public premiere was not until a concert on 22 December 1808 at Vienna's Theater an der Wien, when Beethoven again appeared as soloist. A review in the May 1809 edition of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung states that ‘this concerto is the most admirable, singular, artistic and complex Beethoven concerto ever’. However, after its first performance, the richly nuanced piece was neglected until 1836, when it was revived by Felix Mendelssohn. Today, the work is considered to be one of the pinnacles of the piano concerto repertoire.

Best known for his Peer Gynt and Hollberg Suites, and his exquisitely crafted piano music and songs, the rarely heard Symphony in C minor by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) closes the programme (and the season), with a rare encounter of considerable mystique – innovative programming that aims to the engage and delight our audience.