A Verdi celebration

After three successful concerts dedicated to Verdi celebrations this year, Sempre Opera’s last concert of the year was on a lighter note.

Sempre Opera with the Sempre Opera Ensemble under the baton of conductor Schalk van der Merwe, presented a concert in true Viennese style at the Greenside Theatre, Johannesburg.

The programme comprised of arias, duets and ensembles from well-known operettas such as Candide (Bernstein), Die Lustige Witwe and Paganini (Lehár), Der Zigeunerbaron (Johann Strauss, Jr.), The Gondoliers and The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan) as well as La Périchole (Offenbach) and Ciboulette (Hahn).

Sempre Opera’s instrumental ensemble and the pianists Paul Ferreira, Ferdi Geyer and Eugene Joubert, accompanied the singers and played overtures from Wiener Blut and Die Fledermaus (Strauss).

Works performed included, the well-loved Vilja song and the romantic Lippen Schweigen (Lehár), the delightful Three little maids from school (Gilbert and Sullivan), Prince Orlofsky’s aria, the duet Komm mit mir zum super and the dramatic Czárdás from Die Fledermaus.