Spring is in the air with Songs of Love!

Sempre Opera musically celebrates spring with Canzoni d’amore (Songs of Love) in Witrivier on Sunday, 14 September 2014, 15:00 at the Casterbridge Music Academy Theatre. Based in Pretoria, Sempre Opera was established in 2011 by a group of opera singers who identified the need for a new company. In 2012, the Sempre Opera Instrumental Ensemble (SOIE) came into being and has accompanied the singers ever since. Members of this company are all classically trained musicians with various careers: From electrical engineers, lawyers, Afrikaans lecturers, art gallery owners, architects and those fortunate enough to earn a living by making and teaching music. All musicians share the dream to bring opera as an art form to the public, also as a travelling company hoping that the Mpumalanga performance will be the first of many. Members of the Sempre Opera Company, performing in this concert, include the sopranos Deirdré Blignaut-Rautenbach and Jo-Nette LeKay, mezzo-sopranos Aukse Trinkunas and Linette van der Merwe, tenors Johan Coertzen, Coert Grobbelaar and Chris Mostert, as well as the bass-baritone Rex Nigrini, who will combine their talents with the well-known Nelspruit tenor Walter Fourie and the American soprano, Erin Heisel, to treat opera lovers to a wide variety of arias, duets and ensembles by composers such as Puccini, Donizetti, Verdi, Mozart and Bizet. Theatre goers may look forward to the evergreen “Una furtiva lagrima” (Donizetti), “Madamina, il catalogo è questo” (the catalogue aria, by Mozart), “Casta Diva” (Bellini), “O mio babbino caro” (Puccini), “Celeste Aida” (Verdi) and the Rigoletto quartet (Verdi). As guest artists of Sempre Opera, Walter Fourie (Nelspruit tenor) may be heard with “Il mio tesoro” and Erin Heisel (American soprano) with the Queen of the Night aria, both well-loved works by Mozart. Tickets for the Sempre Opera concert Canzoni d’amore are available at R100 and R80 (for pensioners and learners), at Die Stoep in Nelspruit – 013 741 2551, on line at www.concertmaster.co.za or may be obtained at the theatre.

Please download the Singers Bio’s Here.

For more information, Linette van der Merwe may be contacted at 082 923 1540 or via email at info@sempreopera.co.za

With National Women’s day and Women’s month around the corner, Sempre Opera, in co-operation with Auto and General Theatre on the Square (Sandton), is delighted to pay homage with their concert Bellissima—‘very beautiful’ in Italian—to the invaluable role women have played in society.

Breath-taking arias and ensembles by Verdi, Puccini and Donizetti about, for and by women are bound to enchant all present at this concert on 17 August 2014 at 15:00. Sopranos Alexandra Wald and Deirdrè Blignaut-Rautenbach; mezzo soprano Aukse Trinkunas; tenors Johan Coertzen and Coert Grobbelaar; baritone Danie Verster and bass-baritone Thabang Senekal will be weaving the magic.

From Pucinni’s La Boheme, concert goers can look forward to Musetta’s highly popular aria “Quando me vo”; Coline’s coat-aria “Vecchia zimara senti”; and the duet between Marcello and Rudolfo, “O Mimi, tu pio non torni”.

Two bel canto arias and a duet from Donizetti’s La Favorita (“Quando le soglie patterne”) and Don Pasquale (“Bella si comme un angelo”), as well as several popular and lesser known segments from Verdi’s Ernani, Rigoletto, Aida, La forza del destino and La Traviata offer enough variety to please even the most discerning connoisseur.

The singers will be accompanied by the Sempre Opera Intrumentale Ensemble and pianists Salomè Coertzen en Rudolf Geldenhuis. Tickets for the concert will be available for R 100 and R80 (students and pensioners).

Tickets can be obtained from the Auto and General Theatre on the square between 10:30 and 16:00 at 011 883 8606 or after hours at 083 377 4969.

Sempre Opera performs together with Stéfan Louw Productions at the Roodepoort Theatre!

(click on image to go to www.stefanlouw.co.za)

On 20 June Stefan Louw Productions in association with the Roodepoort Theatre will once again present Aria! Opera for everyone.  Joining Louw on stage for this concert will be amongst others the sopranos Deirdré Blignaut and Jo-Nette le Kay, mezzo-sopranos Aukse Trinkunas and Linette van der Merwe, tenors Chris Mostert and Johan Coertzen as well as baritone Daniel Verster who are all members of the Pretoria-based, Sempre Opera.  They will perform famous arias from operas that include Carmen, Norma, Rigoletto and Turandot.  They will be joined by a small orchestra conducted by Schalk J van der Merwe and Louw’s own chorus, the Aria! Opera Chorus.

Tickets for this concert which starts at 20:00 are available at R120 per person.  To reserve your seats call the Joburg City Theatres’ central reservations at 0861 670 670 or book online at www.roodepoorttheatre.com.

Patrons can now also enjoy a delicious meal at the new Stages Restaurant at the Roodepoort Theatre before the show.  For enquiries or dinner reservations call Roel (general manager) on 079 091 1270.

Sacred Music for Easter in Nazareth House

Appropriate music for Easter range from bigger oratorios like the St. Matthew’s or St. John’s Passion by J.S. Bach to the more intimate Stabat Mater Masses, Cantatas, Seven Words and Lamentations which portrays the death of Christ thematically through music. For 2014’s Easter, Sempre Opera in cooperation with the Armonia Choir, under the baton of Gerrit Scheepers, decided to perform Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) Mass in G Major, with arias and ensembles from other oratorios, titled Concerto di Pasqua.

Schubert was 18 years old during the composition of his second Mass and his 167th musical composition in 1815. Legend has it he only took five days to complete the Mass in G Major and that it was intended for a congregation of Lichtental. This composition of Schubert with its lyrical melody and rich harmonies are regarded as one of the highlights of his oeuvre of 998 compositions. Members of Sempre Opera, the tenor Chris Mostert and soprano Linelle Wimbles, as well as the baritone Stephan Gerricke will perform this particular work together with the Armonia Choir, on Easter Sunday, 20 April 2014.

Supplementary to the Mass in G Major, arias and ensembles form other oratorios of Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Rossini can also be heard with sopranos Deirdré Blignaut-Rautenbach and Jo-Nette Lekay, mezzo-sopranos Aukse Trinkunas and Linette van der Merwe, tenors Johan Coertzen and Chris Mostert and bass-baritone and basses Thabang Senekal and Johan Scheepers. The choir and soloists are accompanied by the Sempre Opera Ensemble and pianists Ferdi Geyer and Paul Ferreira.

The concert will take place at Nazareth House (Francis Roberio Street, Pretoria), on 20 April 2014 at 15:00. Tickets for the concert are on sale for R80 and R60 (students and pensioners) by sending an email to gerrit@armonia.co.za or at the door prior to the concert. Enquiries can be directed to info@sempreopera.co.za or by telephone at 082 923 1540.

Members of the Sempre Opera Singers and Instrumental Ensemble recently returned from a short but successful tour in Namibia where they performed in the National Theatre of Namibia in Windhoek.

Herewith an excerpt from Beeld about the Concert:

Sempre Opera reis na Windhoek

Sondag 23 Februarie 2014

 Lede van Sempre Opera en die Sempre Opera-orkesensemble tree Donderdag en Vrydag op in Windhoek.

Hello All, we had a very successful concert on the 24th of November at the Greenside Theatre thanks to all of the singers, instrumentalists and guests who made the performance reach the heights it did. Thank you.

Click HERE for a wonderful wright up by Paul Boekooi, published in the Beeld newspaper on 29 November 2013.

Please go to our Facebook page HERE to have a look at some other pictures of the day.

Keep an eye on our website for the next up coming concerts.

Come and enjoy an evening of Operetta favorites with Sempre Opera and the Sempre Opera Instrumental Ensemble at the Greenside theatre.

Sempre Opera concludes 2013 in true Viennese style
After three successful concerts dedicated to Verdi celebrations in 2013, Sempre Opera’s last concert for the year will be on a lighter note. On 24 November at 16:00 Sempre Opera with the Sempre Opera Ensemble under the baton of conductor Schalk van der Merwe, will be presenting a concert in true Viennese style at the Greenside Theatre, Johannesburg. The programme comprises arias, duets and ensembles from well-known operettas such as Candide (Bernstein), Die Lustige Witwe and Paganini (Lehár), Der Zigeunerbaron and Die Fledermaus (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, will accompany the singers and play overtures from Wiener Blut and Die Fledermaus (Strauss). The singers sharing the stage are the sopranos Deirdre Blignaut-Rautenbach, Linelle Wimbles, Akiko Haldane, Sonica Bucksteg and Alexandra Wald, the mezzo-sopranos Aukse Trinkunas and Linette van der Merwe, the tenors Chris Mostert, Coert Grobbelaar, Thabo Sithole and Johan Coertzen, and the baritones Danie Verster, Johan Scheepers and Christopher Vale.
Works to be performed include, amongst other, 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
Tickets for the operetta concert will be available at the door at R130 and R100 (for pensioners) and include coffee and tea during the interval. A cash bar service will be on offer.

The Greenside Theatre is situated on the premises of the Greenside Jewish Congregation, 7A Chester Road in Greenside East. The GPS coordinates are: -26.150546 | 28.024675

For further information, contact Hannie Hefer on 011 793 2334 or Johan at the Theatre on  083 691 9032 or send an email to info@hannieheferpromotions.co.za

Online tickets availible at www.concertmaster.co.za

Please visit our Facebook Page

Sempre Opera celebrates two centuries of Verdi in Johannesburg Together with the international opera world, Sempre Opera celebrates Giuseppe Verdi’s two-hundredth birthday this year. A Verdi concert will be held on Sunday afternoon, 26 May at 15:30 in the Greenside Theatre, Johannesburg. This will be the second of three concerts in honour of one of the best-known opera composers. A selection of arias and ensembles, ranging from the time of his first opera (Oberto, 1839) to his last (Falstaff, 1893), will be performed. Giuseppe Verdi was born on 10 October 1813 in Parma, North Italy. Amongst locals he was known as the ‘swan of Busseto’, referring to the town where he lived. As noted composer of 30 Romantic operas, works such as Nabucco (1842), Rigoletto (1851 ), La Traviata (1953), Don Carlos (1867) and Otello (1887) are still frequently staged to captivate opera-lovers world-wide. Even those who claim to know nothing about opera will hum along with ‘Va pensiero’ (Nabucco), ‘La donna e mobile’ (Rigoletto) and the Anvil chorus (Il Trovatore). Sempre Opera’s second Verdi concert consists of a wide variety of arias and ensembles from his opera oeuvre. On Sunday 26 May at 15:30, audiences may look forward to excerpts from Oberto, with Aukse Trinkunas (mezzo soprano) and Chris Mostert (tenor) as well as Otello, with soprano Jo-Nette LeKay and tenor Coert Grobbelaar. Favourites from La Traviata, Rigoletto and Don Carlos may also be heard. Also on the programme are arias from Luisa Miller, Nabucco, La Forza del Destino, Un Ballo in Maschera and Falstaff with soprano Deirdré Blignaut-Rautenbach, mezzo soprano Linette van der Merwe and baritone Danie Verster. Two pianists, Ferdi Geyer and Paul Ferreira, will accompany the opera singers. Tickets for the Sempre Opera Verdi Celebration Concert of R100 and R80 (for pensioners) are available on-line at www.concertmaster.co.za from the 1st of May or may be purchased at the theatre.

Those interested may contact Hannie Hefer at 011 793 2334 or send an email to info@hannieheferpromotions.co.za.

The Wakkerstroom Music Festival was held on the weekend of 21-23 March 2013. Sempre Opera performed with “Verdi Bicentennial Concert”. Below an excerpt from a review by Paul Boekooi:

“Daar was vele ander hoogtepunte: Sempre Opera se gedenkkonsert vir Verdi (1813-1901) waarin vokale afronding en dramatiese krag in tien uittreksels tot lewe geroep is. Die toegif, “Va pensiero” uit Nabucco, was aangrypend en is ook tydens die galakonsert Saterdagaand gehoor”. (Paul Boekooi, Beeld 27 Maart 2013)

There were many other highlights: Sempre Opera performed ten excerpts in the Verdi (1813-1901) celebration concert where vocal finishing and dramatic power was brought to life. The encore, “Va Pensiero”, from Nabucco was moving and was also heard at the Saturday evening’s gala concert. (Paul Boekooi, Beeld 27 March 2013)

In Love with Opera celebrates love and the concert programme comprises of duets such as the romantic “Barcarolle” from Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) sung by Deirdre Blignaut-Rautenbach (soprano) and Linette van der Merwe (mezzo soprano) and the well-known letter duet “Sull’aria” from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro performed by the sopranos Akiko Haldane and Sonica Bücksteg. Furthermore, popular duets from Madama Butterfly (Puccini) sung by Alexandra Wald (soprano) and Coert Grobbelaar (tenor) as well as Porgy and Bess (Gershwin) featuring Thabang Senekal (bass-baritone) promise to thrill the audience.

Sempre Opera members also performing during the first half include Paulo Esteves (baritone), Johan Scheepers (bass) and Chris Mostert (tenor). The second half of the programme comprises of scenes from the operas Werther (Massenet) and, on a lighter note, L’elisir d’amore (Donizetti). The scene from Werther is known as the letter scene and features the well-known letter aria “Werther! Qui m’aurait dit” sung by Aukse Trinkunas (mezzo-soprano) as Charlotte. Stéfan Louw (tenor) sings the name role and Linelle Wimbles (soprano) will be seen as Sophie, Charlotte’s sister.

In L’elisir d’amore, Linelle Wimbles appears as Adina and Chris Mostert is Nemorino who drinks a love elixir hoping to make Adina his wife. Belcore, sung by Thabang Senekal, is Adina’s beloved and tries to thwart Nemorino’s romantic plans. Ilse Myburgh and Ferdi Geyer are the accompanists, and Elizabeth Lombaard the director for this concert. The opera scenes will be conducted by Gerben Grooten.

Tickets for In Love with Opera are available at R110. Those interested may direct inquiries to info@sempreopra.co.za or phone 082 923 1540/082 896 5018.