Slater Charms Classical Music Lovers

Staff Writer | Monday August 9, 2010 00:00

 

Appropriately dubbed, 'A night of opera and music', Friday and Saturday nights turned out to be exactly nothing less. Maitisong Music Room housed the incredible collaboration whose profiles make the heart of the small and not so popular genre in Botswana.

Performing solos and duets, the deep baritone voice; Gape and the fine soprano in Tshenolo displayed what they are made of. They soothingly breathed a silk ribbon of rhythm that covered the not spacious Maitisong Music Room.  Well-dressed as per the high standards of classical music, the pair offered a range of musicals and opera. The duet offering Porgy and Bess (Bess You Is My Woman Now) headlined Friday night. Porky and Bess is a folk opera by George Gershwin, before presentation Gape informed his audience that that was a tale of a man who married a striking beauty. However, he kept on wondering why him of all men, and Bess had to constantly assure him that theirs was timeless love!

The pianist, Slater did what he knows best. With the rightful breathing technique, very essential for classical artists, Tshenolo enchanted the audience with her good voice variation.

She easily could go very high and come low, especially when performing Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas - a beautifully put dirge of a woman who vowed to leave her husband and never come back because of the bad treatment he gave her. The trio of Slater, Motswaledi and Sekgoko have a wealth of knowledge in the genre. Slater, founding director of Maitisong, continues to make invaluable contribution to the country's music. His company, David Slater Music, provides musical entertainment and grooms local talent.