Review: CPO gala concerts 2020, online Jan 2021

Review: The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra community spectacular gala (two concerts), filmed October 2020; streamed online January 2021

“I don’t know where you are sitting. I don’t know where you are. We miss you…”, reflects Marc Lottering in the opening of CPO Spectacular Pops 2020. He says: “We are living in a time when we can’t do hand hakes and hugs but we can still make music and an orchestra is part of a city’s soul…”  Music can lift our souls. I started watching CPO Spectacular Pops 2020, in the lead up to our president’s update on lockdown tonight, January 11. I paused the concert briefly to find out about the state of Rona and continued. Anxious times. We are all very afraid and agitated. We need music and the CPO is the tonic of the moment. The CPO Spectacular Pops 2020 calmed me down considerably with a varied programme headed up by The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra–masked up – except for the wind players. There is a mix of classical and contemporary music, dance and comedy with MC Marc Lottering. See programme, in box below.  CPO Spectacular Pops 2020 is a poignant and uplifting concert which showcases our city’s orchestra and pairs the CPO with soloists like Nombulelo Yende and Lynelle Kenned; Tarryn Lamb and Kyle Seconna.  Jazzart Dance Theatre does Jerusalema. It is spectacular.

CPO Spectacular Pops 2020 is bundled with the CPO Community Classics 2020 concert. The two concerts are available on Quicket: R80 each or R130, to watch both. In ‘normal’ times, the CPO puts on an annual gala community concert which usually takes place at Artscape, in June. Of course, that could not happen last year – 2020. When lockdown was eased and it became possible to film, a plan was made. The concerts were filmed at Artscape in October 2020. It was very much working against the clock, says Stefan Lombard. He is musical director, concert arranger and plays the piano. He says that they were limited with number of cameras and had to work fast– within curfew and other regulations. I was impressed with the camera work (Justus Villiers of 339 South) and the shifting views of the artists. Lighting designer Faheem Bardien has created magic – as he always does – and that comes across beautifully on screen.

The CPO Spectacular Pops 2020 evokes a sense of ‘live’; being at a concert. At the moment, it is not ‘safe’ to commune in a confined space and watching on the digital screen is a potent way to keep music alive and support our city orchestra. The streams are available until Thursday – January 14, 2021- through Quicket, so this is a quickie review. Do not miss out. I will watch the CPO Community Classics 2020 and update this review. I loved watching these extraordinary artists who have kept going – practicing, working at their craft – and ultimately delivering music to lift us out of our anxiety and fear. We need that. A shout-out to producer, Louis Heynemann for making these concerts a reality and for steering the CPO through the time of Corona.

Images: Supplied.