Cape Town Opera and UCT Opera School to Present POSTCARD FROM MOROCCO, 19-23 Nov

Cape Town Opera in collaboration with the UCT Opera School will present Dominick Argento's POSTCARD FROM MOROCCO. This exotic, colourful one act opera by Pulitzer-prize and Grammy Award winning composer Argento makes its South African debut at the Artscape Theatre this November.

Set in the waiting room at a train station, a small group of strangers with their pieces of luggage in varying shapes and sizes become distracted. As conversations begin, secrets remain well hidden but dreams are revealed, making for an amusing musical drama.

Mixing Viennese operetta and Wagnerian themes with cabaret, coloratura cadenzas and the blues, this unusual, absurdist opera is not about destinations or journeys: it is about people and the baggage they carry with them through life, providing a rare platform for South Africa's next young soloists-in-the-making to shine.

Alan Swerdlow directs POSTCARDS FROM MOROCCO, with costumes and set design by Michael Mitchell, lighting by Faheem Bardien and choreography Sean Bovim.

Swerdlow discusses why working on the production has been so exciting for him: "For a start, it's a South African premiere and that's always exciting, bringing something unknown to the stage without having to fight any preconceptions or traditions. It's also an absurdist drama in its own right, and we don't get to see much in the way of that style on our shores, so there's a further gain. Then we have all these wonderful emerging talents who are performing in POSTCARD, and they are the great voices of the future. The score is eclectic and unexpected and very often glorious. We go from Romantic Wagnerian to jazz and the blues very comfortably in a story that is mysterious, off-beat, surprising and often both funny and moving at the same time."

The Cape Town Pops Orchestra, under the baton of acclaimed international conductor, Maestro Philip Brunelle will accompany this production's talented cast. Maestro Brunelle conducted the world premiere of the opera on October 14, 1971, at the Cedar Village Theater Minneapolis, Minnesota. Of that occasion, Brunelle says, "This was my first Argento opera to conduct. He had been a professor of mine at the University of Minnesota so this was quite a dramatic moment for me. Dominick has a wonderful way with setting words and POSTCARD is no exception. The marvelous way in which each of the characters has a musical style, the way he knows how to pace an opera and his amazing sense of color in writing for a chamber ensemble - these are all marvelous. There are very few composers that are skilled at both composing for the voice and for the orchestra - Dominick is one of these. Each of the characters in the opera has such a definite character and Argento gives each one a fantastic aria to sing. He also composed glorious ensembles where each of them can shine. Another sign of his genius."

POSTCARDS FROM MOROCCO concludes CTO's 2014 season and its fifteenth anniversary year. After successful productions of AFRICAN ANGELS in Cologne and The Netherlands; Bryn Terfel concerts in Cape Town; SHOW BOAT in Cape Town and a tour of the United Kingdom for which it received a UK Theatre Award nomination for Best Touring Production; MANDELA TRIGLOGY performed in Munich and PORGY AND BESS in Bordeaux and Barcelona. Locally, Cape Town Opera's successful 2014 season featured productions of IL VIAGIO A REIMS and THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, with Africa's leading opera company hoping to continue their legacy into 2015 and beyond.

POSTCARDS FROM MOROCCO runs for five performances only from 19 to 23 November, with tickets costing R160. Also on offer is a special opera and dinner combo at R200 per person which includes an opera ticket, a Moroccan inspired dinner and a glass of wine sponsored by Jordan wines. Both options are on sale at Computicket. For further information visit www.capetownopera.co.za or follow Cape Town Opera on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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