Concerts

Tickets for this concert are officially SOLD OUT - thank you for your incredible support!

Old Nectar Concerts welcomes virtuoso accordionist Stanislav (Stas) Venglevski, on the heels of his appearance at Carnegie Hall, for a surprise addition to our 2025 Concert Series at Old Nectar gardens historic wine cellar in Jonkershoek. Stas is an accordionist/bayanist, composer, conductor, arranger, entertainer, and teacher with a wide-ranging repertoire that spans classical, contemporary, and ethnic music from around the world.

Trained from his youth in the Soviet Union as a classical musician, Stas mastered the Bayan, a spectacular 20th century instrument in the accordion family. The Bayan, covering five octaves, features a complex array of buttons and switches for both hands. It excels in classical repertoire, often sounding like a cathedral pipe organ. A two-time first prize winner of a Bayan competition in his native Republic of Moldova, Stas is a graduate of the Russian Academy of Music in Moscow where he received his Masters Degree in Music under the tutelage of the famed Russian Bayanist, Friedrich Lips. In 1992 he immigrated to the United States. He has toured extensively as a soloist throughout the former Soviet Union, Canada, Europe, the Far East and the United States. Stas has done television commercials and performed in theatre productions; produced 15 acclaimed albums, including a transcription of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite for Bayan. A talented composer, Stas has recorded an album of his original compositions, and has published several books of original compositions. Stas performs with symphony orchestras throughout Europe and the United States and is in South Africa for the first time to perform with the Free State Symphony Orchestra.

Join us in experiencing the brilliant artistry and musical virtuosity of Stas in this unique concert on Sunday 2 March 2025 at 4pm. Tickets are available via Quicket for R200 per person and include selected wines from Banhoek’s renowned Oldenburg Wine Estate and finger food at interval. Student / learner tickets are offered at R50 per concert at the door. Guests are invited to come early or stay after the concert to enjoy the tranquillity of the Old Nectar gardens.

PROGRAMME

RACHMANINOFF Italian Polka
ERNESTO NAZARETH Odeon (Tango Brasileiro)
MARIANO MORES Taquito Militar (Milonga)
ERNESTO LECUONA Malaguenia; Gitanerias
ZEQUINHA DE ABREU Tico-Tico
LISZT La Campanella
ZEQUINHA DE ABREU Tico-Tico
LISZT La Campanella

Concert pianist Gustavo Romero has a stellar reputation for both the technical brilliance and interpretive depth of his playing, as well as his commitment to in-depth exploration of individual composers.

For the past fifteen years, Romero has dedicated his focus toward preparing a series of concerts featuring music of one or two composers each year. So far, at Old Nectar Concerts, he has presented the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. Globally he has presented works of Chopin, Bach, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Händel, Liszt, Debussy and Gershwin including complete piano sonata cycles of Beethoven and Mozart.

This year Old Nectar welcomes Gustavo Romero to present a series of four concerts with works by Frédéric Chopin, the 19th century compositional master and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period.

Join us for one or all the concerts of this series with concerts on Thursday 3 April, Sunday 6 April, Thursday 10 April, and Sunday 13 April. All concerts start at 4pm. Tickets are available via Quicket for R200 per person and include selected wines from Banhoek’s renowned Oldenburg Wine Estate and finger food at interval. Student / learner tickets are offered at R50 per concert at the door. Guests are invited to come early or stay after the concert to enjoy the tranquility of the Old Nectar gardens.

For more about pianist, Gustavo Romero click here

PROGRAMME

Frédéric Chopin

Concert 1: 3 April 2025, 4pm
Nocturne in B-flat Minor, Op.9, no. 1
Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op.9, no. 2 in E-flat, Op. 18
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 35 ( Funeral March)
---
Grande Valse Brillante in E-flat major, Op. 18
Mazurka in E minor Op. 41 No.2
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No.4
Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33 No.4
Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat Major, Op. 22

Concert 2: 6 April 2025, 4pm
Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, no. 1
Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2
Polonaise in C-sharp Minor, Op. 26, no. 1
Polonaise in E-flat Minor, Op. 26, no. 2
Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 20
---
Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45
Impromptu No. 1 in A-flat major, Op.29
Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38
Mazurka in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 41 No. 1
Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31

Concert 3: 10 April 2025, 4pm
Nocturne in B major, Op. 32 No.1
Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No.1
Polonaise in C Minor, Op. 40, No. 2
Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40, No. 1 (“Military Polonaise”)
Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47
Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 50 No.3
Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 39
---
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op.52
Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, Op. 44
Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major, Op. 51
Ballade No. 1 in G minor Op. 23

Concert 4: 13 April 2025, 4pm
Nocturne in E Major, Op. 62, No. 2
Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1
Polonaise-Fantasie, Op. 61
Mazurka in C minor, Op. 56 No.3
Barcarolle, Op. 60
Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, op. 54
---
Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op.58