Seatavern

The Cape Town Concert Series 2025 celebrates 70 years of music making with a special gala solo recital on Saturday 18 January featuring award winning pianist George Harliono.

His programme features pieces by Rameau, Chopin (Ballades 1 & 2) Beethoven’s “ Moonlight” Sonata, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. The concert is made possible through a collaboration with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and all proceeds go towards to the future of the Concert Series - hopefully for another 70 years!

The concert starts at 11am in the Cape Town City Hall
This recital presents four composers who were each some of the great keyboard innovators of their time. Rameau pushed the boundaries of the harpsichord and provides rich grounds for re-inventions on modern pianos. Chopin defined romanticism in his exquisite melodies and is viewed as “The Poet of the Piano”, but the larger works reveal the more fiery side of his personality. Beethoven again pushed the boundaries of the piano – famously breaking strings in concerts and complaining about the weakness of the early pianos. Similarly, Stravinsky created a unique musical idiom with pianistic writing of dazzling complexity. Each composer reflects their cultural heritage in their music, even as they transcend those boundaries, to become the cornerstones of our musical history.