Mozart Requiem on Easter Sunday (Four-hand Piano version by Carl
Czerny) Sunday 1 April 11:00 (South African Première) Wessel van Wyk
& Willem de Beer combine forces, offering you the first ever
performance of this transcription to the Gauteng Public. The four-hand
piano arrangement provided a major source of home performance and
enjoyment of large-scale compositions all the way through the 19th
century. Having unearthed this arrangement of Mozart's Requiem in D
minor, K. 626, by the still-feared-by-aspiring-pianists Carl Czerny,
Brooklyn Theatre is taking another exciting step towards educating and
entertaining our supporters with something as completely unusual as
this. This is a nice find for lovers of Romantic pianism, for it is
less a transcription than a reinterpretation of Mozart's Requiem, with
much to tell listeners about just how the early 19th century heard
Mozart in general. Truly great music holds its own, no matter in which
guise. Carl Czerny approaches each movement a bit differently (and he
arguably improves the movements completed by Mozart's student Franz
Xaver Sussmayr). There are echoes of Beethoven in the big Rex
Tremendae and elsewhere, while the Benedictus seems to resemble a song
by Schubert or, more likely, one of the lesser lieder composers. The
Dies irae gets jaggedly ornamented lines in the pianists' right hands,
with a difficulty suggesting that Czerny might have intended the work
for his own use. He was a brilliant pianist who taught Liszt among
others. Performances of other Classical-period choral works could
easily be modelled on the moods of this piece. The performance in
Brooklyn Theatre will be enhanced by projections of visuals also
including the Latin text of the Requiem translated into English.
Ticket sales: Sunday , 1 April 11:00 Block A (Adult) - R160 Block B
(Adult) - R140 Block A (Senior) - R140 Block B (Senior) - R120
Children/Student/Scholar - R120 BOOK NOW Brooklyn Theatre (012 460
6033) Greenlyn Village Centre C/o Thomas Edison and 13th Streets Menlo
Park, Gauteng, South Africa Prof Wessel van Wyk Wessel van Wyk is one
of South Africa’s most prominent classical pianists. On completion
of his music training in Vienna, Austria, having won the first prize
in the Bösendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition,
he returned to South Africa to establish himself as one of this
country’s most active and versatile musicians. In a career spanning
three decades he has become renowned as a solo performer and as a
collaborative music partner to numerous instrumentalists and singers.
In 2013, he undertakes a concert tour to Australia and New Zealand as
accompanist for contemporary singer Laurika Rauch. In April 2014, he
partners violinist Zanta Hofmeyr in a Classic FM 102.7 Soiree entitled
“Fiddler on the Screen” in Johannesburg; more recently, he
accompanies soprano Hanli Stapela in a lieder recital for the
Wellington Concert Series in the Cape. He has played concertos with
various orchestras under conductors such as Wolfgang Bothe, David de
Villiers, Stephen J Portman, Pinchas Steinberg and Vladimir Kern. In
both 2013 and 2014, he was a soloist with the UPSO & UPSW - UP
Symphony Orchestra & Symphonic Winds under the batons of Eric Rycroft
and Schalk van der Merwe respectively. In 2014, he performs Chopin’s
first Piano Concerto with the Rand Symphony Orchestra under the Polish
conductor Bernard Wozny. Wessel’s commercial recordings are played
by local radio stations frequently. His four “Piano Favourites”
CD’s have become classical best sellers with volumes 2 and 3 being
nominated for SAMA Awards. He is one of the eight pianists performing
on the popular “Piano Extravaganza” CD that was released by SALON
MUSIC under the auspices of RSG in December 2014. Wessel obtained a
DMus (Performing Arts) from UP in 2001, the first musician to receive
this degree in South Africa. He is at present an Associate Professor
in the Music Department of the University of Pretoria where he teaches
piano and chamber music and supervises post-graduate dissertations and
theses. He is frequently invited to serve as a judge for national
music competitions and he is passionate about creating performance
opportunities for young musicians. Willem de Beer Described as
“mature beyond his age” and a “… bright and shining star in
the firmament of the South African music scene,” by newspaper
Beeld.com, Willem de Beer is quickly becoming one of the foremost
South African concert pianists. Willem de Beer was the winner of
various competitions, including the largest classical music
competition in South Africa, ATKV Muziq (2014); the Wakkerstroom Music
Festival Bursary Competition (2015); the Philip H. Moore Competition
(2013); UNISA Music Scholarship Competition (2012), where Willem also
received the special prizes for the best rendering of a South African
and Romantic work; the First Atterbury Teater/Theatre National Piano
Competition (2011), during which Willem also received the prizes for
the best rendition of a Classical and South African work; and the Arts
Trust National Piano Competition (2009), where the special prizes were
awarded for Willem’s rendering of a concert etude as well as
concerto. Willem was also a main prize winner and the joint winner of
the Piano Category at UNISA’s 120th Anniversary Bursary Concert
(2014) and the runner-up at the 5th UNISA National Piano Competition
(2015). He was also a finalist in the Stellenbosch International
Chamber Music Festival Bursary Competition (2015). During 2016, Willem
competed in the 13th UNISA International Piano Competition. Willem has
performed with various orchestras: In 2009, Willem performed with both
the Free State Symphony Orchestra (conductor Christopher Dowdeswell
[RSA]) and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (conductor Arjan Tien
[NED]). During 2011, he performed with the UNISA Music Foundation
Orchestra under the baton of Jonas Alber (GER), and during 2013,
Willem performed with the Gauteng Philharmonic Orchestra (conductor
Nicolas Nicolaides [RSA]) and the University of Pretoria Symphony
Orchestra (conductor Prof E. Rycroft [RSA]). Throughout 2014, Willem
has performed with the Gauteng Philharmonic (Alexander Fokkens [RSA])
and Pretoria Symphony Orchestra (Gerben Grooten [NED]) as well as the
KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lykele Temmingh.
During 2015, he again performed with the PSO (Schalk van der Merwe
[RSA]) and CPO, working with Daniel Boico [USA]. Willem has attended
master classes with various celebrated international artists in South
Africa and abroad. These artists include Jerome Lowenthal, Ramsi
Yassa, Marian Rybicki, Petronel Malan, and Antonio Pompa-Baldi. During
2014, Willem received his BMus cum laude under the guidance of
renowned pedagogue Joseph Stanford. He graduated as one of the best
students in the whole of the Humanities Faculty. Willem is also a
member of the esteemed Golden Key Honour Society for excellence in
academics. Willem has been featured on several television programs in
South Africa and recordings of his playing are often broadcast on
radio by stations RSG and ClassicFm. Willem has also performed for
various dignitaries, most notably the King of Lesotho. Willem is
married to Reneé de Beer.
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02/04/2018 Last update