Members of the audience can anticipate an exciting programme of opera at the Duet Gala on Tuesday 24th Oct.
The first half of the concert is themed Beaumarchais’ Characters and includes highlights from Pierre Beaumarchais’ late 18th century trilogy of Figaro plays (Le Barbier de Séville, Le Mariage de Figaro, and La Mère Coupable).
The theme of the second half is Princes, Princesses, Fairies and Magic. As CTO’s Associate Music Director Tim Murray, who will conduct the Gala, observes, “From Purcell’s Fairy Queen to Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and beyond, stories of fantasy and magic have bewitched composers into writing some of their most colourful and exotic operas.”
Levy Sekgapane, who headlines the Gala, flew into Cape Town from Vienna on Thursday 19th. He has taken a gap in his performance as Count Almaviva in Le Barbier de Séville at the Oslo Opera House to sing at the Gala and leaves Cape Town the very next day in order to appear again on stage, in Norway, on the 27th.
Mr Sekgapane is joined by eleven other superb singers, including local favourites Noluvuyiso Mpofu, Mandla Mndebele and Violina Anguelov. In addition, one of South Africa’s leading concert guitarists, James Grace, will play the guitar and mandolin with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
As entertaining as this occasion promises to be, the purpose of the Gala is to support of the fundraising efforts of The Duet Endowment Trust.
As Mr Murry says, “The 19th October was opera passion day, where companies all over the world celebrated this wonderful and important art form. Now more than ever it’s important that South Africans celebrate the abundant operatic talent in the country, and this Gala is a very good way to do that. South African singers are triumphing on international stages, and it’s thrilling to bring some of that success and energy back to Cape Town.’
We invite you to show your commitment to classical music in Cape Town and book now for this illustrious event.