Autumn Cyber Symphonies Concert 1

Mahler Rückert-Lieder Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Conductor Bernhard Gueller Soloist William Berger (baritone) Concertmaster Farida Bacharova

Recorded at the Cape Town City Hall on April 15, 2021 Streaming May 20 –24, 2021

This concert is generously supported by

BERNHARD GUELLER Conductor

Principal guest conductor of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of Symphony Nova Scotia in Canada, Bernhard Gueller continues to be acclaimed for his interpretations and phrasing, and the excitement he brings to the podium. “He is a favoured conductor, both of players and audiences, undoubtedly because of his carefully prepared but always musically rewarding performances” (WeekendSpecial.co.za).

He is acclaimed by musicians, critics and audiences for his musical purity, and continually garners praise for the fresh approach he applies under his “amazingly suggestive baton”.

Having stepped down in 2018 after 16 years as music director of Symphony Nova Scotia, Gueller took up a new role as Music Director Laureate and in the last two years, prior to the advent of Covid-19 returned to both SNS and British Columbia’s Victoria Symphony where he was also principal guest conductor. He also made his debut with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in New Jersey in 2019 and returned to Halifax to conduct the Scotia Festival of Music again. He has conducted many other orchestras in Canada including the Edmonton and Calgary Philharmonic orchestras and is a frequent guest conductor with the KZN Philharmonic and the Johannesburg Philharmonic.

Gueller has had many high-level collaborations with internationally acclaimed soloists, including Canadian violinist James Ehnes and pianists Jan Lisiecki, Janina Fialkowska, Anton Kuerti, Jon Kimura Parker and Marc Andre-Hamelin, along with pianist Lars Vogt, violinist Joshua Bell, and Metropolitan Opera singers Pretty Yende, Elza van den Heever and the late Johan Botha, as well as soprano Pumeza Matshikiza.

Beginning his career as a cellist, Gueller won the United German Radios Conducting Competition in 1979 and for nearly 20 years ran tandem careers, deputing for the legendary conductor Sergiu Celibidache, who regarded Gueller as his best “pupil”. Gueller also attracted the attention of the renowned arts administrator Ernest Fleischman who "was deeply impressed by his extraordinary musicianship, his marvellous ability to communicate with the musicians, and his charismatic impact on the audience".

He has also been music director in Nuremberg and his career has taken him to many top concert halls, from America and Australia to Canada, Russia, Japan, China (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong), Korea, South Africa and Brazil, as well as countries in Europe such as Spain, Italy, France, Norway, Bulgaria, Italy and Sweden, and his native Germany where he, for instance, conducted the Stuttgart Radio Symphony and the Munich Philharmonic.

He has conducted in festivals internationally, including the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the International Festival of the Canary Islands, the Schwetzinger Festival in Germany, the Scotia Festival in Halifax, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival and National Arts Festival in South Africa.

Gueller has made many recordings for national and international broadcast and several acclaimed CDs including two with the CPO - with South African mezzo soprano Hanneli Rupert and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and the concerti of Vieuxtemps and Saint-Saëns with cellist Peter Martens. Others include two with contemporary Canadian composer, Christos Hatzis, one of contemporary Canadian works by Tim Brady which won an East Coast Music award, and a CD of orchestrated lieder by Schumann, all with Symphony Nova Scotia. His latest CD with Symphony Nova Scotia with songstress Sarah Slean was nominated for a Juno Award in 2021. He has also recorded CDs with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, German Brass and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Gueller was awarded a doctorate by Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for his service to music.

WILLIAM BERGER Soloist

South African baritone William Berger was a member of the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir and the inaugural recipient of the Deon van der Walt UNISA/SAMRO bursary at age 17, before commencing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London supported by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Award. Winner of the Lucerne Festival Prize at the Ernst Haefliger Competition in Switzerland, William has distinguished himself as an artist on the international stage, having made both his Royal Opera House London and Kennedy Center Washington D.C. debuts in 2019.

Opera appearances include Marcello (La bohème) for Opera Vlaanderen, Opéra Rouen Normandie and Cape Town Opera, Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) for the Liceu Barcelona, Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride) for the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Lisbon, Escamillo (Carmen) for Cape Town Opera and Luzerner Theater, Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) for Opéra de Toulon and the title role of Imeneo for the Göttingen International Handel Festival, for which he was nominated Opernwelt Opera Singer of the Year in 2017.

Concert appearances include Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall, Mozart's Requiem with the Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem at deSingel Antwerp, Handel's Joshua with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra San Francisco, Mendelssohns' Die Erste Walpurgisnacht with the Orchestre de Chambre Fribourgeois in Switzerland, Durufle's Requiem with the Pacific Symphony California, Faure’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with the Bournemouth, Seattle, St. Louis, Phoenix and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.

His discography includes two solo albums “Insomnia: A Nocturnal Voyage in Song” and “Hommage à Trois” (Linn) with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Other selected recordings include Handel's Samson (Carus), Alexander's Feast and The Triumph of Time and Truth with Ludus Baroque (Delphian), and Admeto (Unitel Classics DVD).

A former Principal Artist at English National Opera, William Berger was awarded the honour "Associate of the Royal Academy of Music" in 2009.

Gustav Mahler (1869-1911) Rückert-Lieder

1. Ich atmet' einen linden Duft 2. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder 3. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen 4. Liebst du um Schönheit 5. Um Mitternacht

Gustav Mahler set a total of 10 poems by the German Romantic poet, Friedrich Rückert, to music as orchestral Lieder. A cycle of five of these poems is known as the Kindertotenlieder and the remaining five, known as the Rückert-Lieder, form part of the Sieben Lieder aus letzte Zeit. (The remaining two of the seven lieder are based on texts from a volume entitled Des Knaben Wunderhorn.)

Both cycles were composed from 1901-1904 in Vienna and published in 1905. The first performance of these orchestral Lieder, with Mahler conducting, took place at a concert of the Verein schaffender Tonkünstler in Vienna on January 29, 1905. Bruno Walter, who later came to own the Kindertotenlieder manuscript, was also a member of this association. In his review of the concert, Walter mentioned the high regard in which young composers such as Schoenberg and Zimlinsky held Mahler. Anton von Webern, who had been introduced to Mahler that evening, wrote with admiration in his diary of his conversation with Mahler.

These two ethereal Lieder cycles, with their soulful Rückert texts, stand in stark contrast to the grandly orchestrated and expansive symphonies of the “realistic opera director and commander of mighty orchestral troops”, in the words of Kurt Blaukopf. They document the yearning to withdraw from the clamorous world. Escape from this world of love and grief is the underlying motif, as expressed in the song Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I became lost to the world), a motif that played an important role in Mahler’s earlier works.

There is a melodic relationship between this song and the Adagietto of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Indeed, as Constantin Floros points out, apart from the Adagietto, the Andante moderato of the Sixth Symphony and the Andante amoroso of the Seventh Symphony can in a sense be regarded as the symphonic equivalents of Mahler’s Rückert compositions.

These orchestral Lieder freed themselves from the piano. Every nuance of the text is expressed through sensitive and individualized instrumental parts, and the voice at times is involved in remarkably fine contrapuntal textures.

1. Ich atmet' einen linden Duft

Ich atmet' einen linden Duft Im Zimmer stand Ein Zweig der Linde, Ein Angebinde Von lieber Hand Wie lieblich war der Lindenduft!

Wie lieblich ist der Lindenduft! Das Lindenreis Brachst du gelinde; Ich atme leis Im Duft der Linde Der Liebe linden Duft

1. I breathed a gentle fragrance

I breathed a gentle fragrance in the room there was a branch of the lime tree, a gift of a dear hand How lovely was the lime fragrance!

How lovely was the lime fragrance, the sprig of the lime tree you plucked gently; softly I breathed in the fragrance of the lime tree the gentle fragrance of love.

2. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder Meine Augen schlag’ ich nieder, Wie ertappt auf bõser Tat. Selber darf ich nicht getrauen, Ihrem Wachsen zuzuschauen: Deine Neugier ist Verrat! Bienen, wenn sie Zellen bauen, Lassen auch nicht zu sich schauen, Schauen selbst auch nicht zu. Wenn die reichen Honigwaben Sie zu Tag gefõrdert haben, Dann vor allen nasche du!

2. Do not look at my songs!

Do not look at my songs! I lower my eyes as if I were caught in a crime. Even I do not dare to watch them as they grow – your curiosity is a betrayal. Bees, too, when they build their cells, let no-one watch, nor do they watch themselves. When they have carried the rich honeycombs to the light of day, then you shall taste them first!

3. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben; Sie hat zu lange nichts von mir vernomment, Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben! Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen, Ob sie mich für gestorben hālt. Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen, Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt. Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel Und ruh’in einem stillen Gebiet. Ich leb’ allein in meinem Himmel, In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied.

3. I have lost touch with the world

I have lost touch with the world Where I once wasted too much of my time. Nothing has been heard of me for so long that they may well think me dead. Indeed, I hardly care If the world thinks I am dead Neither can I deny it, for I am truly dead to the world. I am dead to the bustle of the world and repose in tranquil realms. I live alone in my heaven, in my devotion, in my song.

4. Liebst du um Schönheit

Liebst du um Schönheit, o nicht mich liebe! Liebe die Sonne, sie trāgt ein goldnes Haar! Liebst du um Jugend, o nicht mich liebe! Liebe den Frühling, der jung ist jedes Jahr! Liebst du um Schātze, o nicht mich liebe! Liebe die Meerfrau, sie hat viel Perlen klar! Liebst du um Liebe, oh ja … mich liebe! Liebe mich immer, dich lieb ich immerdar!

4. If you love for beauty

If you love for beauty, do not love me! Love the son with its golden hair. If you love me for youth, do not love me! Love the spring which is young every year. If you love for treasure, do not love me! Love the mermaid with her many bright pearls. If you love for love, then love me! Love me always as I will always love you!

5. Um Mitternacht

Um Mitternacht Hab’ich gewacht Und aufgeblickt zum Himmel; Kein Stern vom Sterngewimmel Hat mir gelacht Um Mitternacht.

Um Mitternacht Hab’ ich gedacht Hinaus in dunkle Schranken. Es hat kein Lichtgedanken Mir Trost gebracht Um Mitternacht.

Um Mitternacht Nahm ich in acht Die Schlāge meines Herzens; Ein einz’ger Puls des Schmerzens War angefacht Um Mitternacht.

Um Mitternacht Kāmpt’ ich die Schlacht, O Menschheit, deiner Leiden; Nicht konnt’ ich sie entscheiden Mit meiner Macht Um Mitternacht.

Um Mitternacht Hab’ ich die Macht In Deine hand gegeben, Herr über Tod und Leben, Du hālst die Wacht Um Mitternacht!

5. At Midnight

At midnight I awoke and looked up to the heavens; no star in the teeming firmament smiled upon me at night.

At midnight my thoughts stretched out beyond dark boundaries. No image of light brought me consolation at midnight.

At midnight I heeded the beat of my heart; a single throb of pain was roused at midnight.

At midnight I fought the battle, O humanity, of your suffering; I could not resolve it with my might At midnight.

At midnight I yielded all might into your hand; Lord over death and life, You stand guard at midnight.

NOTE FROM THE CD with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra / Hanneli Rupert/Bernhard Gueller by Reino Otterman.

Johannes Brahms (1833- 1897)

Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op. 98

1. Allegro non troppo 2. Andante moderato 3. Allegro giocoso 4. Allegro energico e passionato

We must always remember that Brahms had a comprehensive knowledge of the Renaissance and Baroque periods in music and in fact it was a cantata by Bach that was the inspiration for the extraordinary finale of his Fourth Symphony. In many of his works, he strove to combine the strict architecture of the baroque with what the writer Malcolm MacDonald has described as “the supercharged passion of the romantic era in which he lived”. The Symphony No 4, completed in 1885, is a spectacular example of Brahms’s genius in this regard.

The two falling and two rising phrases on the strings which open the symphony seem as though they’ve been in existence for ever and that we are “tuning in”, so to speak. This is the first subject without any introduction. The theme develops into a powerful statement and orchestral fanfares announce the arrival of the second theme on the cellos and horns. With this material Brahms creates a fascinating development sequence and his return to the recapitulation is shrouded in mystery with swirling strings and hints of themes. The movement is driven to a powerful coda of tremendous drama, underlining the troubled atmosphere of the movement.

The slow movement is one of Brahms’s most eloquently beautiful. A sombre march, which someone once likened to a group of pilgrims passing across the distant horizon, opens the movement. In fact, here, Brahms is using an ancient church mode, the Phrygian mode, in which to couch his theme. Later on, the second theme appears on the cellos and must surely be one of the more heart-felt themes in the symphonic repertoire.

The third movement is a wild and almost uncontrolled scherzo of which Beethoven would have been proud. The themes are bold and exciting and Brahms adds a piccolo and triangle to the instrumentation to underline the brightness of this music.

The finale is a masterpiece of composition. It is based on a chorus from the Cantata no 150 by Bach that we hear at the outset on the brass. There follows an extraordinary set of 30 variations on this theme creating a brilliant example of a passacaglia in music – where a repeated “ground bass” forms the basis of a set of variations over it. The momentum and drama increase with only one or two moments of repose before the music is driven headlong to the close. The effect is exhilarating. Sir Donald Francis Tovey wrote that at its end, this symphony, “the greatest since Beethoven, storms to its tragic close”.

PROGRAMME NOTE: CTSO PROGRAMME BANK/RODNEY TRUDGEON.

CAPE TOWN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Principal Guest Conductor: Bernhard Gueller Resident Conductor: Brandon Phillips supported by RMB Starlight Classics Guest Concertmasters: Farida Bacharova; Suzanne Martens Deputy Concertmaster: Philip Martens

In alphabetical order

First Violins Farida Bacharova (guest concertmaster) Piet de Beer ^ Bonolo Kgaile # Joshua Louis ^ Emina Lukin * Philip Martens (deputy concertmaster) Refiloe Olifant Jane Price ^ Annien Shaw ^ Maretha Uys

Second Violins Ruby Ayliffe ^ Shannon Cook ^ Miroslawa Domagala Samantha Durrant * Claudia Gõttert ^ Tomasz Kita # Matthew Stead Milena Toma Renée van der Westhuizen ^

Violas Petrus Coetzee * Emile de Roubaix ^ Azra Isaacs # Renette Swart Maja van Dyk Martia van Niekerk

Cellos Dane Coetzee Pearl Jung ^ Nwuko Sunday Kelechi ^ Peter Martens * Edward McLean # Nastassja Pretorius ^

Double Basses Zanelle Britz Frances Levenderis ^ Donat Pellei # Kyle Smith ^ Roxane Steffen *

Flutes Garreth Cederes ^ Gabriele von Dürckheim *

Oboes Carin Bam # Lisa White *

Oboes d’Amore John Rojas ^

Bassoons Simon Ball ** Liesl Jobson ^ Brandon Phillips *

Horns Lieze Nel ^ Mark Osman Shannon Thebus ^ Conrad van der Westhuizen

Trumpets Paul Chandler Pierre Schuster # David Thompson *

Trombones William Haubrich ^ Slavomir Mrazik * Ryan van der Rheede #

Bass Trombone David Langford #

Tuba Shaun Williams *

Timpani Christoph Müller *

Percussion Eugene Trofimcyzk *

Harp Kobie du Plessis ^

Keyboard Stefan Lombard ^

Principal * / Associate Principal ** / Sub Principal # / Ad hoc ^ / On leave ■

Orchestra Attendants Lucien Faro ^ Rudi Makwana^

Drivers Craig Wildeman ^ Derrick Wildeman ^ CPO MANAGEMENT

Chief executive officer Louis Heyneman

General manager Ivan Christian

Business development and fundraising executive Suzanne Aucamp

Marketing and communications executive Shirley de Kock Gueller

Fundraising / office administrator Mary MacGregor-Frew

Youth development and education co-ordinator Marvin Weavers

Education manager: Masidlale and CP Music Academy Odile Burden

Librarian Daniel Neal

Assistant orchestra manager and Covid officer Milena Toma

CPO PATRONS Wendy Ackerman; Ton Vosloo

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Wendy Ackerman; Derek Auret (chair); Dennis Davis; Elita de Klerk; Louis Heyneman; Edmund Jeneker; Nisaar Pangarker; Christoff Pauw; Felicia Lesch; Christo van der Rheede

ADVISORY BOARD Ruth Allen; Ben Rabinowitz; Ton Vosloo