Piano and Cello recital in Kloof

CELLIST, Aristide du Plessis, joins pianist, Christopher Duigan, in this month’s Music Revival concert in Kloof, performing the titanic Sonata for Cello and Piano by Rachmaninoff.

Their programme titled, Ave Maria: The Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata, will be presented in Kloof at St Agnes Church on Tuesday, 27 February at 7.30pm.

Tickets are R100 each and booking is via Music Revival Booking Line 083 417 4473 (WhatsApp and sms only) or booking@musicrevival.co.za.

Tickets are also available at the door. For more info and additional performances visit www.musicrevival.co.za.

The programme’s centrepiece is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s magnificent Sonate for Cello and Piano Op 19.

This will be coupled with a selection on instrumental settings of Ave Maria – by Bach/Gounod, Giulio Caccini, Franz Schubert and the Argentine tango composer, Astor Piazzolla.

This unusual coupling can be seen as an acknowledgment of the lyrical and deeply religious chant-like melodies in Rachmaninoff’s music.

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One of the composer’s most popular works, the cello sonata, was composed at the same time as his celebrated Piano Concerto No 2 Op 18 and Two Piano Suite, shortly after he had suffered a major breakdown from depression.

The process of composing these works proved to be cathartic and pivotal in the composer’s recovery. It is widely seen as one of the greatest compositional outpourings in history of music.

Currently co-principal Cellist of the KZNPO, Du Plessis was heard to great acclaim in the Symphony Season playing the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto last November. Duigan, a Steinway Artist, is regarded as one is South Africa’s foremost concert pianists and maintains a busy schedule of recital and concerts performances across South Africa.

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