The JPO's last concert for the second season was last night, and it was a trully different concert. The JPO is providing the backing music for the World Cup ceremnoies, and working with Lebo M (who is the producer). So, Lebo M performed an unscheduled song - with the full orchestra backing! The song was originally a tribute to his mom, but he changed it to a tribute to to Siphiwo Ntshebe, an opera singer who died of meningitis recently; and was intimately involved in the performance.
Schubert's unfinished symphony was the first "scheduled" performance piece; but I did not enjoy it much. And I think it was more the performance than the piece in this case :(
But the real attraction was Beethoven's 9th Symphony, with a full choir (Gauteng Choristers), and soloists from Opera Africa. The orchestrata performance was superb, and at a high tempo - with excellent choral performance. Unfortunately, the soloists were rather poor last night, with the Soprano overwhelming the other members. But the choir and orchestra made up for their lack of performance!
It seems that next season also features similar collaborative efforts - I am looking forward to it.
