Operation Opera at The Ivy

With a breather weekend between stretches of seasonal schedule madness on my hands, I headed down to The Ivy at Jumeirah Emirates Towers for a little Thursday night live music break. And specifically this one, because of a chance to witness opera being performed in a far more casual setting than is typical for the genre, as well as the combination of two talented locally-based artists: friend and vocalist Paul Bester, and pianist/composer Dale Nichols. They made a great musical combination, expertly performing a mix of contemporary and classic operatic renditions, and taking a few requests as well. I and my companion enjoyed the performance immensely, with lovely English bites and drinks from the Ivy's menu rounding off a great Thursday night.

Opera in Al Quoz with Clare and David Lesser

I found out about it literally a few hours before it was to start, but after two foiled attempts to attend in the last couple of years, I decided to do some schedule tightening and make Clare and David Lesser's opera recital at Art Sawa's Al Quoz space this time. It was worth it, for the concert was lovely. David Lesser's piano playing and Clare Lesser's soprano singing made a great combination, and clearly had been through many hours together. The songs for the evening were also selected well, with some nice German compositions among them. I would have preferred the Crumb to have been placed right after the interval, so the recital could have ended on a more classic note, but it was a great performance nonetheless.

UAENSO vocal-piano star concert at Brighton College

The UAE National Symphony Orchestra organized a special vocal-piano concert today at Brighton College Abu Dhabi, featuring the actor-singer Gretchen Hewitt performing to the skilled key work of capital-based Ioannis Potamousis ("the other Yanni").

Ioannis Potamousis

The concert, in support of The Future Centre for Special Needs, and titled "Con Anima", included guest solo and choir performances, a breathtaking classic solo by Potamousis, some established opera pieces, and a number of Hewitt originals. I think the concert had been truncated somewhere, though; some portion of the official program seemed to be missing.

Gretchen Hewitt

While I attended primarily as a piano fan -- to see the acclaimed, award-winning Potamousis in action -- I was also much entertained by Hewitt's operatic acting and soprano. Putting them together made for a great onstage pair and an awesome concert.