Durban music picks: August 27 2010

Durban is the only city in the country with a full time orchestra, and we have the classical talent to show for it.

• Durban’s longstanding independent classical music intitiative Friends of Music continues to provide world-class recitals for connoisseurs of the more intimate performance. This week pre-eminent South African ensemble Trio Hemanay apply their compelling style to works by Haydn, Damase, van Rensburg, Rutter, Piazzolla, Hofmeyr and more. Since its inception in 1997, the trio has had extraordinary success throughout South Africa and is frequently rated amongst the best chamber music ensembles in the world. Trio Hemanay has also made a name for its commitment to the performance and promotion of works by South African composers with SAMRO having commissioned several works for the group, amongst them Stefans Grové’s evocative The Soul Birds and young Stellenbosch composer Hans Huyssen’s The Cattle Have Gone Astray. Trio Hemanay are Helen Vosloo (flute); Malcolm Nay (piano) and Marian Lewin (cello). The curtain-raising Prelude Performance is by Il Dato, a trio of opera students from UKZN.
  Tuesday August 31, 7.45pm, Durban Jewish Centre, 144 Old Fort Road. Tickets are R70 from Computicket.

• Another inspired independent classical music campaigner is Pietermaritzburg’s renowned Music Revival which continues to almost single-handedly lead the renaissance of the classics in the province. A three-day mini-festival of concerts draws to a dramatic close this weekend with the performance of The Unsuitable Woman in which leading South African opera singers Bronwen Forbay and Federico Freschi (baritone) shine in a singular selection of stellar moments from the great operas of the canon. With anything more than a brief opera selection being a rare occurrence on local stages these days, this repertoire of arias, scenes and duets from four operas, all anchored around a central theme, is a rare treat indeed. On the programme are excerpts from work by Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, Mozart and Gounod.

  Friday August 27, Howard College Theatre, UKZN, 7.30pm. Tickets R60 at the door. Tel: 031 260 3353 Email [email protected].

• Described variously as ‘wistful, quirky indie rock”; ‘polished British indie”; ‘danceable retro rock”; ‘nuanced Brit-popped balladry blended with good old-fashioned melody” and ‘an homage to retro-rock and classic pop”, without having heard note one from Cape Town hopefuls The Plastics, one could be forgiven for imagining something resembling a cross between Kasabian, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. Whether or not this is what has led one critic to describe their sound as having ‘a distinctly international flavour whilst managing to maintain a proudly South African identity” remains to be seen on the strength of their debut longplayer, Shark. The album has been drawing generally favourable attention from the press and it certainly weighs in with some serious indie cred: the band brought in legendary producer Gordon Raphael to helm their recording project. Raphael is most famous for producing the preposterously brilliant Is This It by The Strokes and if he can weave the same magic for Shark then The Plastics are in business big-time. Reputed to also boast a powerhouse of a live show, judge for yourself at the band’s first ever Durban concert.

  Venue still to be confirmed, Thursday September 2. Tel: 072 424 1836 Email [email protected] Visit www.theplasticsband.com