A night at the opera with SA’s finest
TWO of South Africa’s leading cultural luminaries, the internationally acclaimed soprano Pumeza Matshikiza and multiple award-winning baritone Njabulo Madlala will give a joint concert, A Night at the Opera, in Cape Town on February 24.
Hosted by Diemersfontein Wine and Country Estate in support of Voices of South Africa Trust, this fundraising event takes place at Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre, Picton Street, Parow, at 7pm.
Hailed as “one of today’s most exciting new operatic voices” (The Independent), Pumeza Matshikiza has enjoyed ecstatic press in the past few seasons for her work on the opera stage, concert platform and recording studio. An exclusive Decca recording artist, she has been hailed as “shining with radiant promise”.
The sheer beauty of the young singer’s vocal timbre, married to her sophisticated musicality and technical accomplishment, have heralded the arrival of a major classical star.
South African music lovers will welcome the chance to hear Matshikiza, one of the most distinguished alumni of the University of Cape Town’s college of music, performing on home soil with the multi-talented Durbanborn operatic baritone Madlala. Aside from his own illustrious professional accomplishments in British and European music circles over the past two decades, London-based Madlala has won wide respect for his unstinting work in fostering young South African classical singers abroad.
Announced at home as the Standard Bank Young Artist for Music in 2014, Madlala’s achievements in Britain include scooping the 2010 Kathleen Ferrier Award in London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as reaching the final round of the Royal Overseas League Competition in 2012, and being awarded the Lorna Viol Memorial Prize, the Royal Overseas League Trophy for the most outstanding musician from overseas.
The two will be joined by friends in an evening of beautiful music featuring arias, duets and excerpts from operas by Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet and more. The artists will be accompanied by celebrated British pianist David Gowland.
Book for A Night at the Opera concert on February 24 via Webtickets at selected Pick n Pay stores or online at www.webtickets.co.za. Tickets, R200-R400, include the concert and drinks at interval.
This event will be preceded by a select performance of the same programme on February 17 at 6.30pm, also in aid of Opera Voices of SA Trust. This exclusive evening kicks off with a wine reception hosted by and presented at Diemersfontein Wine and Country Estate, Jan Van Riebeek Drive, Newton in Wellington, Western Cape. Tickets costing R425 include the concert as well as welcome and interval drinks. Tickets at R800 include this as well as a post-performance wine-tasting and dinner (accommodation at reduced rates on request). Booking for the Wellington event is via Hazel Kelly at email: Marketing2@ diemersfontein.co.za.
Madlala, introducing his Voices of SA initiative and this month’s events involving young singers, says: “I have selected 25 young singers who will take part in master classes to be run from February 15 to 23, and the singing contest at the end of the 10 days. Opera master classes will happen daily at Diemersfontein Wine and Country Estate, which have generously provided the facilities to hold the classes, which are open to the public who want to come and watch.
“The Royal Opera House (ROH), English National Opera (ENO) and Opera North (ON) in the UK have all agreed to support this year’s master classes by sending five of their highly experienced and soughtafter vocal coaches to lead the workshops and select a small number of singers to bring over to their programmes in the UK. This is a new partnership between Voices of Africa Trust and these opera companies. The public final for the competition will be held from 3pm on Sunday, February 25, at the Hugo Lambrechts theatre.
For more information, see http://www. capetown.travel/calendar/voices-of-south-africainternational-competition. Apart from hearing the singers involved with the competition, ROH, ENO and ON will hold a full day of opera auditions for all singers who are not in the competition on the February 26.