The JPO is still under business rescue proceedings, and the documents released do not paint a rosy picture. That said, the JPO has managed to put together a smaller symphony season, with a smaller orchestra through the sponsorship of Anglo-American and Hollard. The Anglo-American sponsorship will not be sustained, and this, coupled with its big debt burden, puts further strain on the future of the orchestra itself.
This concert season has a lot of Beethoven, in support of the orchestra's Beethoven 9 Symphonies CD collection. The concert started off with Mozart's Cosi fan tutte Overture, which was quite an energetic start to proceedings. UCT Professor, Francois du Toit, was the soloist performing Piano Concerto No.3, whose 3rd and last movement is quite popular. Personally, I liked the first movement more while the second movement is quite somber. Beethoven's Symphony No.6(Pastorale) rounded off the evening; and was played expertly by the orchestra.
The JPO is a great orchestra, but ultimately orchestral music is an expensive endeavor to stage. Ultimately, for the JPO to survive, it needs a near full house, every week. I am not sure the JPO itself has explored what that means - from different times, to different music, to different venues. It's one of the fundamentals of business that having a great product is not enough - there needs to be a willing market to consume the product. Sadly, at this point in time, the JPO has a good product; but I am not sure there is a market.
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