Image courtesy of Cape Town Opera

Bel canto, or “beautiful singing”, is a sophisticated model of singing that evolved among practitioners of operatic and sacred music in late 17th-century Italy.

Bel canto saw its first widespread use during the heyday of opera seria, da capo aria, and the castrato voice in the 18th century. Although it wouldn’t be employed as an operatic term to distinguish the traditional Italian vocal model from more forceful, less ingratiating styles of singing until the mid-19th century.

Demanding formidable technique and wide ranges from singers, bel canto is characterised by lyricism, legato phrasing and a beautiful tone. It inspired the greatest exponents of the style to write virtuosic display arias for their leading sopranos and tenors.

It is with great pleasure that Cape Town Opera will be presenting a Bel Canto Gala Concert with American tenor Lawrence Brownlee making his Cape Town debut with South African-born soprano Sally Silver and mezzo-soprano Violina Anguelov. Jeremy Silver will conduct the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in a spectacular gala concert of bel canto showpieces.

Lawrence Brownlee has been described as the finest bel canto tenor of our time by the Washington Times and is best known for his performances in operas by Rossini and Donizetti, including Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola and La fille du régiment.

The Bel Canto Gala Concert will be taking place on 13 May 2012 at 18h00 in the opera house at the Artscape. There is also a ticket special where patrons can see both La Bohème on Friday 11 May and the Bel Canto Gala Concert on 13 May and enjoy a R100 discount on the purchase of the two tickets. Contact sales@capetownopera.co.za for more details.

Taj Cape Town provides luxury accommodation in the heart of the Mother City and is close to the Artscape Opera House and many other unique Cape Town attractions.

Image courtesy of Taste of Cape Town

The beautiful surrounds of Green Point Cricket Club is set to bring together the city’s most acclaimed restaurants tomorrow and Taj Cape Town will once more be delighting Cape Town’s taste buds with offerings from Bombay Brasserie and Mint Restaurant.

On the menu this year you will find a Shaami Shikhampuri Kebab – 6 Crowns a Pounded Lamb Kebab with a yogurt centre & mint chutney filling, Secondly a Kingklip Amritsari – 4 Crowns a Spicy battered fish with Bishop’s Weed, and thirdly a Paneer Koliwada – 4 Crowns a cottage cheese fritters with a Tamarind chutney filling at Bombay Brasserie. At Mint Restaurant you will find Crispy Calamari Chilli wild pepper with Dijonnaise – 5 Crowns.

Consistently ranking as one of the top stands at Taste of Cape Town last year, dishes from Bombay Brasserie and Mint Restaurant were such a hit that the chefs were forced to prepare extra portions for the last two days of the show after running out of food on the second evening.

Taste of Cape Town starts tommorow 19 April 2012 and continues until Sunday 22 April 2012.The standard entrance fee which includes a tasting glass is R80.

For more information about the four day food festuival check out our original Taste of Cape Town 2012 post or read more about chef Shyam Longani representing us at the festival.