3rd May 2011
On Sunday, 15 May, Port Elizabethans will be treated to an afternoon of Russian Jewels, performed by soprano Liske Potgieter and pianist Mariel Illusorio. The programme will include such well-known favourites as the sparkling Russian Nightingale composed by Alexander Alabieff and the poignant Rachmaninoff Vocalise. Rachmaninoff’s songs for voice and piano are a true musical treasure, and count amongst his most hearfelt and beautiful compositions. The duo will add two more of these to the programme: the elegiac Oh, never sing to me again, set to a poem by Alexander Pushkin, and The Answer, set to a poem by Victor Hugo. Also included will be works less often heard, such as Prokovieff’s The Ugly Duckling, a musical rendition of the famous fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, wherein the composer’s flair for musical narrative, famous through works such as Peter and the Wolf, is markedly evident. Reinhold Glière’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra, here to be performed with a piano reduction of the orchestral part, is a glorious celebration of the multi-facted, sheer sonic spectacle of the human voice. In the course of its two movements it runs the gamut of musical expression, from its sultry Slavic-influenced Andante beginnings, through passionate developments and emphatic reprises, and closing with a second Allegro movement reminiscent of the light-heartedeness and frivolity of Strauss’ Vienna.
Under the tutelage of Lionel van Zyl, Liske Potgieter is currently a third-year music student at NMMU who has begun to make a name for herself both locally and further afield. Last year she performed on invitation and to great acclaim the soprano role in Bach’s St John’s Passion in Cape Town and Stellenbosch, in Unisa’s Grade 8 Bursary Competition in Pretoria, and toured Germany, France and Switzerland as soloist with the Eastern Cape Children’s Choir. Earlier this year she shared the stage with acclaimed South African tenor Stefan Louw in Aria, a celebration of operatic aria and chorus hosted by the Port Elizabeth Oratorio Choir.
Currently based in Grahamstown, pianist Mariel Illusorio is no stranger to Port Elizabeth audiences, and her exceptional technical and musical finesse has delighted audiences all over the world. Illusorio is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York, the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio, and the Hanover State Academy in Germany where she obtained both a masters’ and a doctoral degree in piano performance. In 2000 she won first prize in the 9th Carlo Soliva International Music Competition in Italy.
The concert will take place at the NMMU South Campus Auditorium in Summerstrand on Sunday 15 May, and is set to commence at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Tickets may be bought at the venue on the day of the concert, at R40 for adults and R10 for pensioners and scholars. Enquiries may be directed to NMMU Music Department secretary, Mrs Nicky Bosman, at 041-504 2250 or at nicky.bosman@nmmu.ac.za.
