The concert in which the South Cape Symphony Orchestra participated under the baton of Niall Jack, revealed that music is alive in schools. There is no denying that the main conductor, well-known Richard Cock, is hugely enthusiastic about both conducting and getting the audience to respond.
The George-Suid Laerskool choir is well trained and produce a beautiful tone with no forcing of the young voices. Highlights of the first-half were Lord of the Dance and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The audience participated enthusiastically in these items.
The concert was a bit of a Pandora's box of two distinct halves, so let me get the few bad bits over with. Clearly the humid conditions affected the brass instruments intonation, while the rest of the orchestra suffered from the same affliction at times.
This is a keen group of instrumentalists but they need to listen to themselves and each other all the time. Sousa's Semper Fidelis gave us a resounding start to the concert. In the Bach Air on the G string the balance was not good - not enough treble and too much of the ground bass.The orchestra's rendition of the first movement of the Finlandia symphony by Sibelius was an ambitious choice which didn't really come off. Again, the brass players were the culprits. However, when it was accompanying the choirs the players acquitted themselves much better.
The second half was a totally different affair. In the Holy City the accompanist and conductor swapped parts.
Irene Louw has a very good voice with true top notes and this performance was a good example of everyone working together successfully. The two African language songs Ukuthula and Masithi amen were beautiful and the two soloists performed very professionally. These two songs were followed by Massenet's Meditation from the opera 'Thais'.
Here the leader of the orchestra, Ypie Kingma, teamed up with Olga Schoeman at the Harp and ably supported by the orchestra, they gave a very sympathetic performance of this lovely piece.
The surprise of the afternoon was As the Mountains by Joan Musto who resides in Wilderness. Sue Cock's transcription for the orchestra was simple but effective. Joan teamed up with the conductor and their voices blended perfectly. A most satisfactory item on the programme. The concert ended with a resounding rendition of Handel's Hallelujah chorus. This concert was clearly a family and friends affair and was supported by a big audience who really enjoyed their Sunday afternoon.
George-Suid Laerskool together with Irene Louw, Richard Cock and Helinathe Smit.
Richard Cock is able to elicit the audience's enthusiastic participation in his concert.
