GEORGE NEWS - There were plenty of magical moments during Fancourt's Delightful Musical Moments on Friday 27 November at Fancourt with four acclaimed Cape Town Opera soloists performing songs from Mozart to Rogers and Hammerstein. The performances by Cape Town Opera soloists Siphamandla Yakupa (soprano), Fikile Mthetwa (mezzo soprano), Mandla Mndebele (baritone) and Lukhanyo Moyake (tenor) were superb.
The matinee performance was attended by local schools as part of Fancourt's outreach programme. The George Trio, with Elize Munro (clarinet), Calvin Steyn (violin) and Anne-Maré Bucholz (piano), set the mood with Wolfgang Mozart's Parto! ma tu ben mio from La Clemenza di Tito K. 621.
The performance was repeated in the evening with Georgians getting the full glamour of poignant songs like Franz Lehàr's Dich sehe ich ... Wer hat die liebe uns ins Herz gesenkt from Das Land Des Lächelns. There were duets Stranger in Paradise from Kismet (Alexander Borodin) and a solo by Mandla Mndebele (baritone) that brought nostalgia with They call the wind Maria from Paint your Wagon.
A suitable way to end the afternoon of excellence was with a Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein quartet You'll never Walk alone from Carousel and for encore Tula Tula Baba.
South Africa's premier opera company has had a busy year with concerts abroad and here totalling 154 performances, attended by 115 666 audience members worldwide. It is quite miraculous that while opera companies abroad are struggling to survive our own company has spent R675 415 on training and skills development and generated R25-million in foreign direct investment as well as R18-million paid in remuneration to SA artists. Lovers of the classics will be well advised not to miss the next Fancourt Classic Concert titled Delightful, Romantic Moments with the Charl du Plessis Trio on 11 February 2016 at 19:00 with The Gershwin Songbook.
Members of the Cape Town Opera Company also performed in Oudtshoorn during the Klein Karoo Klassique this year. The concert was orchestrated by Ronell van Aswegen (artistic director), Adriaan Louw (production manager) and Monique Zürich (stage manager).
A memorable moment when local school children posed with Cape Town Opera soloists and role players in the classical concert Delightful Musical Moments given at Fancourt on Friday, where the matinee was part of Fancourt's outreach programme for schools. Photo: Pauline Lourens.
The Delightful Musical Moments Classic Concert was brought to the stage by Fancourt, during which Lukhanyo Moyake (tenor), Fikile Mthetwa (mezzo soprano), Mandla Mndebele (baritone) and Siphamandla Yakupa (soprano) take a bow on Friday at the outstanding matinee concert. Photo: Pauline Lourens
ARTICLE AND PHOTOS: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD - JOURNALIST
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