Audiences were taken on an emotional musical journey through love, longing, hope, loss and excitement when bass-baritone Christiaan Snyman and pianist Annika Burke performed at Theatre on the Square on September 11.

The performance, titled ‘Love, Longing and Broadway’, formed part of the venue’s Friday Lunch Hour Music Concert series and brought together music from a range of genres, including German lieder, opera, film and Broadway musicals.

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Exploring a broad spectrum of emotions

Snyman said the theme allowed the performers to explore a broad spectrum of emotions through different musical styles.

“The theme covers a broad spectrum of emotions, carried by a variety of musical styles,” he said.

The programme included deeply nuanced German lieder, opera arias, songs from movies and numbers from Broadway musicals, with Snyman explaining that the pieces were selected because they connected to the central theme either directly or indirectly.

“I love bringing together songs from different genres to give the audience a more nuanced experience and to colour the theme with a wider palette,” he said.

For Snyman, the selection also provided an opportunity to showcase music with a warmer and darker tone, alongside dramatic build-ups. He said there were pieces from both classical art song and opera, older movies and the Golden Age of Broadway that were particularly special to him.

The emotional range of the programme was intended to make the performance relatable to audiences of different ages, genders and cultures.

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“Some pieces talk of being changed by love, some speak of hope, others of longing for a better life and striving for it by any means,” Snyman said.

His hope was that audiences would leave the theatre with a smile after being “transported to a less stressful world for a few minutes”, while perhaps discovering lesser-known works along the way.

A musical reunion on stage

The concert also marked a reunion for Snyman and Burke, who worked together when Snyman was younger, before he left for Germany.

He described Burke as having “an incredible feel for style and musical movement”, adding that her playing gave him the space to interpret the text and melody.

Burke said she enjoyed working with singers and was particularly pleased to collaborate with Snyman again.

She described working with a bass-baritone as challenging for a pianist because of the larger stretches required in some of the music, but said Snyman made the collaboration easy.

“It’s easy when a singer knows what he wants to do. Then you can listen and follow,” she said.

Although Burke has a strong preference for classical music, she said she enjoyed musicals and was happy to include some of the programme’s broader musical styles.

“I just love performing. I love performing with singers,” she said.

For Snyman, performing during the Friday lunch hour brings its own demands, as audiences are often fitting the concert into a busy day.

“In a lunch-hour concert, people are taking a quick break from their busy days. One has to be more concise and get straight to the point,” he said.

The performance offered audiences a chance to pause from the pace of the day and experience a programme that crossed musical genres while exploring some of life’s most universal emotions.

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