Notes

"This album is a silent pause to support those who, like the Cape Town Opera and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, have been silenced by the pandemic. It stands in solidarity with the artists around the world who face being silenced whether that be because of Covid, or conflict, or censorship, or loss of funding. It represents the power of the arts to move us. What will be lost if they are silenced. And the opportunity to work together to save them from this fate."¹

All proceeds of this lot will be donated to The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Cape Town Opera via The Duet Endowment Trust. The Duet Endowment Trust supports the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Cape Town Opera. Both are professional classical art organisations in Cape Town, and make an important contribution to the cultural heritage of South Africa.

1. https://cwakathesilence.co.za/

The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) and Cape Town Opera (CTO) are standing up for the arts, both in their country and across the world, with the release of a new album: Cwaka. The Silence. The album features recordings of silent versions of some of their greatest works.

The release comes after the two institutions have been forced by COVID to either stop live performances altogether or to perform to extremely limited audiences for 18 months now, leading to a significant earnings loss. The funds raised in this campaign will go directly to supporting the arts in South Africa…[and] will also help to support the work these organisations do both on stage and in the local community, including discovering bright young talent from diverse, vulnerable, impoverished, at-risk and underrepresented backgrounds.

Nicholas Ackerman, Director of the Duet Endowment Trust that assists in funding the CTO and CPO, commented …“We were inspired to do two things: firstly, to raise the funds we need to keep our beloved Cape Town, South African and African classical institutions alive, but also as a rallying cry for the artists around the world being silenced. We believe the arts are at the heart of what makes us human, what brings joy and meaning to life, and that they’re worth fighting for. Yes, we are asking people to listen to our silence – and then we want them to go out and support their own local creative voices as well.”

About the Duet Endowment Trust

All donations made support Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra via the Duet Endowment Fund. The Duet Endowment Fund is a joint endowment trust, created for the advancement and preservation of Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and was established by Mrs Wendy Ackerman in 2014. Wendy Ackerman is a philanthropist and arts supporter with a focus on the UK and South Africa.

Duet aims to ensure that, while growing the capital, there is sufficient income to provide on-going injections of money to the joint beneficiaries and enable the work that Cape Town Opera and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra do both professionally and within the community. For more, please visit the website duettrust.co.za

About Cape Town Opera

Africa’s premier opera company has been a cultural ambassador for South Africa for over 21 years, showcasing the astonishing vocal talent of this country nationally and internationally. Apart from being renowned and loved for its world-class productions, the company also provides unmatched skills development and hands-on training to young artists and learners from across the country. Cape Town Opera’s Youth Development and Education department has reached over 750 000 learners in rural and township communities with their music training and music creation programmes.

About the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra

The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is the oldest and foremost orchestra in Africa, established in 1914 by the Cape Town City Council. It has a national and international reputation for excellence thanks to the high quality of its performances and artists… The CPO is also at the forefront of youth education and development with the largest training programme in the country. The aim is to transform the orchestras of the country to reflect the demographics, and with many graduates of the programme already on the CPO and other orchestras’ stages on merit the aim is being realised. The CPO prepares young musicians for careers such as arts management and arts librarianship.

The full tracklist is as follows:

Side A

1. Cwaka. The Silence. Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Cape Town Opera
2. Che gelida manina, La bohème (Silent Version) | Giacomo Puccini
3. Summertime, Porgy and Bess (Silent Version) | George Gershwin
4. Carmen Fantasie (Silent Version) | Pablo de Sarasate
5. Rallalala, Hänsel und Gretel (Silent Version) | Engelbert Humperdinck

Side B

1. L'amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera), Carmen (Silent Version) | Georges Bizet
2. The Carnival of the Animals (Silent Version) | Camille Saint-Saëns
3. Symphony No. 9 (Silent Version) | Alfred Schnittke, reconstructed by Aleksander Raskatov
4. Eine Hex’ Steinalt, Hänsel und Gretel (Silent Version) | Engelbert Humperdinck