Top artists pay tribute to Gé Korsten

This year marks the 20th year since the legendary voice of South Africa’s first true superstar, Gé Korsten, fell silent forever, and his life, career and phenomenal talent are celebrated in Frans Swart’s tribute production, Gé Sing: Hoor My Lied!

This elegant production will take place on August 31 in the Big Top Arena at Carnival City.

Frans Swart, director of Gé Sing: Hoor My Lied!, says it is a great privilege for him to pay tribute to this iconic singer and artist.

“If there was ever a superstar in South Africa, it was Gé, ” he said.

“I was privileged to know Gé personally because as a young cameraman at SABC TV, I worked on a few seasons of his popular TV programme, Gé Sing.

“We became very good friends and I developed the most incredible respect for this artist.

“Not only was he a singer, but he was a mentor to so many people in the industry.

“He was a family man, administrator, friend, actor, singer, orator, fighter for the opera and legend.”

Top artists such as André Schwartz, Louis Loock, Arina de Witt, Jannie Moolman, the PJ Twins and Tasché from The Voice SA pays tribute to Gé Korsten with audio-visual archival material projected against a giant screen to give the audience an overview of his work, as well as provide insights on Korsten as an artist, a man and a father.

His musical legacy is reinterpreted in a fresh way by some of the country’s leading artists and a full orchestra.

Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on December 6, 1927, as the youngest of eight children, Korsten and his family immigrated to South Africa when he was nine years old.

From the age of 20, Gé started singing in choirs, and received his first formal vocal training in 1952 when he was well into his 20s, studying under Adelheid Armhold at the South African College of Music.

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In 1955, he moved to Pretoria, where he was one of the founder members of the Pretoria opera company.

In 1956, he debuted as Canio in Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

Korsten won a bursary to study in Vienna in 1962, where he received tuition under Judith Hellwig.

During this period, he had the opportunity to perform in Vienna and Munich, but he never sang professionally outside South Africa, mainly due to family considerations.

It was only in 1970 that Korsten sold his business to devote himself to full-time singing.

In the course of his operatic career, Korsten appeared on stage more than 3 000 times, playing 23 roles in most of the major operas.

In 1965, Korsten started his career in light music, with his album Gé Korsten Sing Uit Die Hart, and soon became a best-selling recording artist, with a career spanning 40 years.

Nine of his 58 albums achieved gold status.

Most of his recorded work is light Afrikaans music, including the song Liefling.

His popularity as a singer also led to lead roles in films, such as Hoor My Lied, Lied In My Hart and A New Life, all of which included singing scenes.

He received six Sarie awards and, in 1979, an ARTES Award for his TV programme Gé Sing.

In his later life, Korsten was well known for his role as family patriarch Walt Vorster in the long-running South African soap opera Egoli: Place of Gold.

Gé Sing: Hoor My Lied! promises an evening of elegant entertainment for the whole family, while bringing the legacy of one of our musical pioneers into focus again.

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