Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major

There has been a welcome increase in concert activity in Johannesburg over the past few months. This episode is about a new chamber music forum in the city, as well as what you can expect from the JPO's upcoming Winter Season 2023.

Fauré's Pélleas and Mélisande concert suite was extracted from music he wrote for a performance of Maurice Maeterlinck's play. It showcases Fauré's ear for beautiful melodies and his knack for expressing deeply felt emotions in music that's powerful and yet at the same time, restrained.

Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto has been popular ever since it's premier in 1868. Its combination of arresting melodies, warmth and dazzling piano parts has charmed audiences around the world. In this episode Deano Maduramuthu gives background to Grieg's journey into Norwegian nationalism, the encouragement he received from Franz Liszt and…

A public performance of Rhapsody in Blue was advertised before Gershwin had even thought of composing it! This episode explains how the Rhapsody came into being and how Gershwin infused 'jazz vocabulary' into a piece of classical music.

South Africa once again has a national orchestra - the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra. It's the first national orchestra since the NSO was disbanded. I attended the launch where orchestra CEO Bongani Tembe spoke about the purpose of the Mzansi NPO and dealt with some of the criticism levelled against…