Alex Brown
The 1998/9 Spier Summer Festival opened last week with a bit of a bang, and a bit of whimper. The bang was the sold-out amphitheatre, and the big name Spier scooped: David Helfgott, the Australian pianist on whose tormented life the film Shine was based. The whimper was some patchy play from Helfgott; and the opening night audiences having to be brave about some truly lousy weather. But that’s what live performances, open-air shows and Cape weather are all about.
Perhaps one ought to get this out of the way first: yes, David Helfgott is odd. He doesn’t speak, except to himself; and the running commentary and singing he keeps up while he plays is at times audible to those near the front. He jogs on and off the stage with a funny little stride that makes the audience go “aaah!”; and he pops up between pieces for quirky, jerky little bows, his smile delighted. And yes, indications are that a lot of those who gave him a standing ovation and brought him back time after time to play some more are not regular recital goers, but came because of this very oddness; because of Shine.
So what, I would say. Janet Jackson isn’t a sell-out because she’s a fabulous musician, but because she’s – well – Janet Jackson, with all that means in contemporary pop culture. Her major fans know the music; the rest want to see the phenomenon. To separate a celebrity performer into a “celebrity” and a “performer” is a false distinction.
Helfgott plays without music in front of him; his programme for the two Spier concerts included Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, Grieg, Grainger, Schubert, Balakirev and Ravel. Purists will find fault: he sometimes missed notes; sometimes he cut pauses short; sometimes he seemed rushed; at times, he seemed all enthusiasm and no subtlety, which, when you closed your eyes, resulted in mechanical-sounding play. There were times when nervousness was apparent, or he seemed tired, shaking his arms and hands.
At other times, though, like in his Rachmaninov, you see why he is such a phenomenon. He was confident, powerful, ravishing.
Throughout, he exhibited the most extraordinary technique: he is enormously accomplished, to the extent that he can seem almost laconic in his delivery of deeply complex, demanding fingerwork.
There was something else, something unusual, although one feels rather awkward articulating it: Helfgott plays with a lot of love. Not self-absorption, which is common; or self-consciousness, but with an apparent love for the music, for the piano. It was quite moving; and it is probably this which makes attending his performances so emotional, and gives his play such extraordinary charm.
The Spier Summer Festival runs until March. The line-up, in brief, is:
* The Celebrity Gala Concert on November 21, the whizz-bang opener of the main body of the festival, featuring opera stars Adrian Martin, George Mitchie, Virginia Davids, Angela Gilbert, Christina Farr and Fikile Mvinjelwa.
* The Bandit Beatles, an enormously popular cover band, who play Rolling Stones music (only kidding), on November 27, 28, December 2,4 and 5.
* Classic Pops on November 29 and January 24. Popular light classics played by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra under Grard Korsten and David Tidboald; and Symphonic Pops – cinema and show themes performed by the National Chamber Orchestra from Mmabatho, conducted by Michael Hankinson on March 18 to 20.
* Some Christmas stuff: Carols by Candlelight on December 15 and 16; and Brollocks and Bittergal, the first-ever indigenous pantomime (in Afrikaans) written by Hannes Muller and Liz Meiring, based on a novel by the same name by CJ Langenhovenon. Music direction is by Didi Kriel and choreography by Christopher Kindo. December 18 to 23;
* International hit Ennio Marchetto, the Italian who redefines mime and transforms himself from the Mona Lisa to Pavarotti via Elvis and Michael Jackson, with a series of brilliant, funny paper costumes, on December 26-30. Book early for this one.
* Ipi Zombi?, this year’s hit from Grahamstown by Brett Bailey, on January 8, 9, 13-16;
* Carmina Burana on January 21 to 23, presented by the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town and the Cape Town Male Voice Choir. Conducted by Barry Smith, with Andre Howard and Sanet Allen.
* Chava Alberstein, the woman billed as the first lady of Israeli Song, in South Africa for the first time on January 28 and 30.
* Stand-up comedian and mega-hit Barry Hilton on January 29.
* A Tribute to Mario Lanza by young Chilean tenor (and former racing driver) Tito Beltrn, accompanied by the Spier Festival Orchestra and soprano Angela Gilbert; He even looks like a matinee idol.
* The two operas, always highlights of the festival. Salome, February 20, 23, 26 and March 3 and 6, an opera in one act by Richard Strauss, directed and designed by Marthinus Basson, accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra under Paul Wynne Grifiths. Yes, a Full Monty is promised; and American Karen Notare is the one to watch. Fidelio, a Beethoven opera, by the same team, is on February 27, March 2, 5, 10 and 12.