OPERA PERFORMANCES/SCENES
Idomeneo (scenes) Idamnte Salzburg Voice Festival, Austria 2014 La Liberazione di Ruggiero (Caccini) Alcina Accademia d’Amore, Seattle 2011. Le Nozze (scene) Countess Gutenstein, Austria 2007 Alcina (scene) Morgana Gutenstein, Austria 2007 La Traviata (scene) Violetta, University of Cape Town (UCT) 2007 Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia, UCT 2007 Don Giovanni (scene) Zerlina, Port Elizabeth, South Africa (RSA) 2006 PERFORMANCES ORATORIO/CONCERT … Remember to also check under the “Interview and Articles Section” for recent updates and under “Deo4 Performance Highlights” and “News Deo4” for recent updates.
https://deo4music.com/?page_id=68
https://deo4music.com/?page_id=64
https://deo4music.com/?page_id=359
THE RARITY OF MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS – THE MARVELS OF THAUMATURGY OF MARIA – ELIZABETH BEZUIDENHOUT.
According to Wikipedia; a practitioner of thaumaturgy is a “thaumaturge”, “thaumaturgist”, “thaumaturgus”, “miracle worker”, or “wonderworker”.
Maria – Elizabeth Bezuidenhout is a gifted composer of music amongst other talents. Jean-Benjamin de Laborde (1780, 2:12): said ‘composition consists in two things only. The first is the ordering and disposing of several sounds…in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. This is what the Ancients called melody. The second is the rendering audible of two or more simultaneous sounds in such a manner that their combination is pleasant. This is what we call harmony and it alone merits the name of composition.’ (Wikipedia)
The only part of her musical compositions left to the aleatorial is what she hears via the impartation of the Holy Spirit, whom she credits, with downloading the music to her.
Her music has a classical touch; her orchestrating/ choosing the instruments of the music ensemble, the accompaniment in different parts etc., involved in every part of composing the music notation, the song, the lyrics and more – makes her a rare find. Her musical compositions then exhibits an exceptional degree of closeness to God, whom she is always careful to credit with both her ability and musical produce.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_composition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumaturgy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleatoric_music
Picture credit and copyright: Maria – Elizabeth Bezuidenhout @ Deo4Music.com – Completion of a musical composition.
OPERA FROM SCRATCH, 20 August, 2017
GALA CONCERT – St. Matthews United Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The Second Sight Libretto by Jessie Downs There are shadows in the woods.
Composer: Jessie Downs
Soprano: Maria Bezuidenhout
Video: VOCALYPSE production – Janice Jackson, Artistic Director,
It has been said that many Nova Scotians are endowed with a clairvoyant ability to see into the future – what the Celts call ‘the Second Sight.’ This opera by the same name portrays a fictional Nova Scotian woman whose empathy with the spirit world empowers her to defy fate.
The Second Sight Libretto by Jessie Downs There are shadows in the woods.
See them dancing! See them shine! Voices ringing through the trees say these melodies are mine. When a clearing calls me, I can’t help but answer. But when a spirit calls me, I yearn for silence, silence. … There are shadows in the woods… I see them dance, see them shine… Voices ringing through the trees… Are these ancient visions now mine? … There are shadows here. They sing a song – not just speak, but sing! Their song – it draws me in. I see a vision. A wandering woman. A baby fast to sleep. A song, here then gone! … Oh, a mother’s love is felt years away, and the pain of love with a place doth stay. As clear as she will feel it then, so do I today! … There are shadows in the woods. Some of them sing songs to me. Not of stories long ago, but of tales yet to be. As by the mist around me I know a storm is coming, by the shroud all around this babe, I see! I know we need shelter. I sing for shelter… … The land of spirits. The land of sense and senses. Each shines a different hue. My view is blended. As many spirits here as fill the chapel dear! Only through the water might we pass clear. Oh, Rain, rain!
Video: Andrew David Terris
DOPO NOTTE, ARIODANTE – Handel – Capetown, 2014
Ariodante (HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 4, 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Each act contains opportunities for dance, originally composed for dancer Marie Sallé and her company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariodante
Act 3. The duelling ground, the King on his throne
Polinesso and Lurcanio fight, Lurcanio mortally wounds Polinesso who is carried away by Odaordo. A new champion appears with his visor down. He reveals himself as Ariodante, to the astonishment of all, and declares Ginevra innocent. Dalinda admits her part in the plot. Odoardo returns with the news that Polinesso, as he died, also admitted his guilt. The King pardons Dalinda and goes to find his daughter. Ariodante jubilantly hails a new bright day dawning after nights of darkness (Aria: Dopo notte).
OPERA PERFORMANCES/SCENES
Idomeneo (scenes)
Idamnte
Salzburg Voice Festival, Austria
2014
La Liberazione di Ruggiero (Caccini)
Alcina
Accademia d’Amore, Seattle
2011
Le Nozze (scene)
Countess
Gutenstein, Austria
2007
Alcina (scene)
Morgana
Gutenstein, Austria
2007
La Traviata (scene)
Violetta
University of Cape Town (UCT)
2007
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia
UCT
2007
Don Giovanni (scene)
Zerlina
Port Elizabeth, South Africa (RSA)
2006
II PADRE ADORATO,IDOMENEO, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Capetown, 2014
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante (Italian for Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante; usually referred to simply as Idomeneo, K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, based on a 1705 play by Crébillion père, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712. Mozart and Varesco were commissioned in 1780 by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria for a court carnival. He probably chose the subject, though it may have been Mozart. The work premiered on 29 January 1781 at the Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, Germany.
Act 1. “Il padre adorato” (“My beloved father”), Idamante
Island of Crete, shortly after the Trojan War. Ilia, daughter of the defeated Trojan King Priam, has been taken to Crete after the war. She loves Prince Idamante, son of the Cretan King Idomeneo, but hesitates to acknowledge her love. Idamante frees the Trojan prisoners in a gesture of good will. He tells Ilia, who is rejecting his love, that it is not his fault that their fathers were enemies. Trojans and Cretans together welcome the return of peace, but Electra, daughter of the Greek King Agamemnon, is jealous of Ilia and does not approve of Idamante’s clemency toward the enemy prisoners. Arbace, the king’s confidant, brings news that Idomeneo has been lost at sea while returning to Crete from Troy. Electra, fearing that Ilia, a Trojan, will soon become Queen of Crete, feels the furies of the underworld rise up in her heart (aria: “Tutte nel cor vi sento, furie del crudo averno” – “I feel you all in my heart, furies of the cruel underworld”).
Idomeneo is saved by Neptune (god of the sea) and is washed up on a Cretan beach. There he recalls the vow he made to Neptune: to sacrifice, if he should arrive safely on land, the first living creature he should meet. Idamante approaches him, but because the two have not seen each other for a long time, recognition is difficult. When Idomeneo finally realizes the youth that he must sacrifice for the sake of his vow is his own child, he orders Idamante never to seek him out again. Grief-stricken by his father’s rejection, Idamante runs off. Cretan troops disembarking from Idomeneo’s ship are met by their wives, and all praise
Live performance (audience recording), Leopoldskron, Salzburg.
“PARTO, PARTO, LA CLEMENZA DI TITO” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. It was started after most of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), the last of Mozart’s principal operas, had already been written. The work premiered on 6 September 1791 at the Estates Theatre in Prague.
Place and time: Ancient Rome, in the year 79.
Vitellia, daughter of the late emperor Vitellius (who had been deposed by Tito’s father Vespasian), wants revenge against Tito. She stirs up Tito’s vacillating friend Sesto, who is in love with her, to act against him (duet “Come ti piace, imponi”). But when she hears word that Tito has sent Berenice of Cilicia, of whom she was jealous, back to Jerusalem, Vitellia tells Sesto to delay carrying out her wishes, hoping Tito will choose her (Vitellia) as his empress (aria “Deh, se piacer mi vuoi”).
Tito, however, decides to choose Sesto’s sister Servilia to be his empress, and orders Annio (Sesto’s friend) to bear the message to Servilia (aria “Del più sublime soglio”). Since Annio and Servilia, unbeknownst to Tito, are in love, this news is very unwelcome to both (duet “Ah, perdona al primo affetto”). Servilia decides to tell Tito the truth but also says that if Tito still insists on marrying her, she will obey. Tito thanks the gods for Servilia’s truthfulness, and immediately forswears the idea of coming between her and Annio (aria “Ah, se fosse intorno al trono”).
In the meantime, however, Vitellia has heard the news about Tito’s interest in Servilia and is again boiling with jealousy. She urges Sesto to assassinate Tito. He agrees, singing one of the opera’s most famous arias (“Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio” with basset clarinet obbligato). Almost as soon as he leaves, Annio and the guard Publio arrive to escort Vitellia to Tito, who has now chosen her as his empress. She is torn with feelings of guilt and worry over what she has sent Sesto to do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_clemenza_di_Tito
Sesto, meanwhile, is at the Capitol wrestling with his conscience (recitativo “Oh Dei, che smania è questa”), as he and his accomplices go about to burn it down. The other characters (except Tito) enter severally and react with horror to the burning Capitol. Sesto reenters and announces that he saw Tito slain, but Vitellia stops him from incriminating himself as the assassin. The others lament Tito in a slow, mournful conclusion to act one.
Background
PERFORMANCES ORATORIO/CONCERT SOLOIST
…Concert “Simply Mozart” (arias)
Goodnow Classical Festival, Wellington
2016
…Voice, organ and oboe recital (Bach)
St Francis, Muizenberg
2016
…Concert “South African Flavours”
IDRS, Atlanta, GA
2016
…Concert “Visit thro’Centuries”
Casa Labia, Muizenberg
2016
…Voice and oboe arias
Christmas Celebrations, Durbanville
2015
…Lauridsen Morton arias
50th Anniversary Travato, Wynberg
2015
…Aridante arias
Curro Auditorium, Durbanville
2015
Recital (organ, voice, oboe d’amore)
Claremont, Cape Town
2015
Bach cantatas (oboe & voice)
Claremont, Cape Town
2015
Recital (woodwinds & voice)
Helderberg Music Society, Somerset West
2015
Arias and Lieder
Bishops Court, Cape Town
2014
Stabat Mater (Pergolesi & Rossini)
Tamboerskloof, Cape Town
2014
Messiah
Cape Town Philharmonic, Cape Town
2013
Morten Lauridsen (voice & organ)
Tamboerskloof, Cape Town
2012
Messiah
Kwazulu Natal Symphony, RSA
2011
Vespers of 1610 (Monteverdi)
Baroque Perf. Institute, Cleveland, OH
2011
Cantata BWV 75, Die Elenden sollen Essen
Con Spirito, Bellville, RSA
2010
Cantata BWV 36, Schwingt freudig (Bach)
Helderberg Village Music Soc., RSA
2010
Saxophany III : Douglas Masek (UCLA)
Tafelberg Recital Hall, Cape Town, RSA
2010
Composizioni da Camera (Verdi)
Mooi Kelder Wine Estate, Paarl, RSA
2009
Frauenlebe und Leben op 42 (Schumann
Bellville Art Gallery, Cape Town, RSA
2009
Exultate Jubilate
Bellville Civic Center, Cape Town, RSA
2009
Weinachtslieder, op 8 (Cornelius)
Wynberg&Table View Dutch Ref. Church
2008
Gloria (Vivaldi)
Groote Kerk, Cape Town, RSA
2008
St John Passion (Bach)
Con Spirito Symphony,Welgemoed, RSA
2008
Misa Criolla (Ramirez) – televised
DFMalan High, SABC Broadcast, J’Burg
2007
Mass no 2 (Schubert)
Mass Choir, Western Cape, RSA
2006
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Il Leo Slezak Internat,Singing Competition Semi-finalist, Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg 2014
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Drama (opera workshops), Lucija Dedic
Palais Ausgarten, Vienna
2014
Grand Voci, Salzburg Festival
Oper im Berg, Kavernen , Salzburg
2013
Accademia d’Amore (Baroque Opera)
Kerry Hall, Seattle, WA
2011
Baroque Performance Institute
Oberlin Conservatoire, Cleveland, OH
2010
Internat. Musik-Meisterklassen für Gesang,
Niederösterreich von Kammersänger Wicus Slabbert
2007
MMus, vocal performance (distinction)
University of Cape Town
2007
Voice teachers:
Marita Napier, KS Wicus Slabbert (Vienna), Marisa Marcio (Cape Town)
Vocal coaches:
Kamal Khan Kamal Khan – Conductor and Vocal Coach (mediterraneanoperafestival.com), Rosalie Conrad, Chi-bun Jimmy Chang (Vienna)
USA coaching sessions:
Martha Gerhart, Bill Neill, Nancy Zylstra
Directors:
Angelo Gobbato, Christine Crouse, Kenneth Slowik, Steven Stubbs
Anne Mansbridge, Roger Hyams, Lucija Dedic,
Conductors:
Brian Priestman Brian Priestman – Wikipedia, Naum Rousine, Rynhardt Schwartz, Brandon Phillips
Related skills:
Classical Ballet (Cecchetti) 15 yrs; arranger/pianist/accompanist/speaks German
(Photos copyrighted by DEO4MUSIC)