The dazzling Duet Gala Concert is back! After a Covid-enforced break of two years, Cape Town Opera (CTO) and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) are thrilled to announce this one-night-only event of glamour, conducted by sought-after Polish-German conductor Adam Szmidt and directed by the popular and experienced Christine Crouse.
The Gala takes place on 11 June 2022 at 18:00 at the Artscape Opera House, with the goal of raising awareness and funds for the Duet Endowment Trust, an endowment set up by Wendy Ackerman to ensure ongoing support for CPO and CTO.
The audience can look forward to a glittering line-up of South African talent, featuring leading soloists such as Nobulumko Mngxekeza, Megan Kahts, Nonhlanhla Yende, Lukhanyo Moyake and William Berger, as well as rising star Khayakazi Madlala. They will be joined by the award-winning Cape Town Opera Chorus.
The programme promises a diverse showcase: you can expect beloved arias and orchestral pieces from Bizet, Charpentier, Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner, the Polonaise and Lensky’s aria from Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) as well as Song to the Moon from Rusalka (Dvořák). Other treasures include Adele’s Aria from Die Fledermaus(Johann Strauss), the final trio from Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss) and arias by Korngold and Rossini.
Cape Town Opera’s Artistic Director, Magdalene Minnaar, says: “For this concert, my first Duet collaboration with the CPO, and together with Maestro Szmidt, we created a glorious programme of well-known repertoire not often performed in South Africa. With the emphasis on the larger repertoire, it is a celebration of the fabulous singers and musicians we have in South Africa, a thank you to our patron Wendy Ackerman, and a night we hope the audience will remember for a long time.”
The Duet Gala Concert is made possible with the generous support of the Judith Neilson Head Trust, Rupert Music Foundation, Western Cape Government Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, and the German Consulate General Cape Town.
Tickets for the concert are available here:
