TAG: Rudolph Mar� TAG: Rudolph Mar�
WHAT happens when a mad sea-captain, a delusional knight and a legendary lover share a stage? Bass baritone Rudolph Maré and pianist Willem Luitingh hope to answer this question in melodious fashion. Erin Hall is the so called “asylum” where you can hear tales of these men on the wrong side of sanity. Yes, the performers claim they are insane, too.
The first half of a programme titled Tall Tales by Madmen starts off with shanties of pirates and sunken treasure by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, and ghost stories by Mussorgsky. Wolf and Brahms provide a soothing respite after the interval, with a duo of delicate art songs.
Then the infamous knight Don Quixote will sing boastful songs of love and valour to his beloved Dulcinea in Ravel’s short song cycle Don Quichotte à Dulcinée. Kabalevsky provides another quixotic serenade.
Not to be outdone, Don Juan sings a song by Tchaikovsky, guaranteed to charm many a maiden out of her robes. His servant Leporello then boasts about his master’s conquests in an opera aria by Mozart. But our errant knight’s servant Sancho Panza gets the final operatic say from Massenet’s Don Quichotte.
The programme reads as C Armstrong Gibbs’ Songs of the Mad Sea-Captain, Op. 111, M Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, H Wolf’s Verborgenheit, J Brahms’ Feldeinsamkeit, Op. 86 no. 2, M Ravel’s Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, M. 84, D Kabalevsky’s Don Quixote’s Serenade, Tchaikovsky’s Don Juan’s Serenade, Op. 28 no. 1, WA Mozart’s Madamina from the opera Don Giovanni and Massenet’s Riez! Allez!, from the opera Don Quichotte.
The concert will start at 7pm this Saturday at the Erin Hall at 8 Erin Road in Rondebosch. Concert duration is approximately 90 minutes, including interval.
l Tickets: Quicket: qkt.io/Mad men. For information: bookings@rudolphmare.com, or 071 188 3564