Saint-Saëns Oratorio de Noel, Sempre Opera, Recording at Voortrekker Monument

ABOUT

Please note that you will be attending a recording of our production, which will air over Christmas. We will stop between movements and repetition of certain sections are possible. We hope you enjoy the recording process with us.

Classical Christmas Music echoes in the Voortrekker Monument

Sempre Opera, in collaboration with the Capital Chamber Orchestra and the Symphony Choir of Pretoria,

under the baton of conductor Schalk van der Merwe will be breaking the classical music drought of 2020,

in the spirit of the festive season, with a performance of the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio de Noël on

Monday 7 December, 18:30 in the Heldesaal (Hall of Heroes) of the Voortrekker Monument. The live

performance will also be recorded to be broadcasted online over the festive season. A percentage of the

ticket sales for the live concert as well as the online concert will be donated towards the Rebuild the

Monument fund.

Camille Saint-Saëns completed the Oratorium de Noël/Christmas Oratorio in 1858 in eleven days. The

work is written for five soloists, choir, harp, organ and string orchestra, and based on texts from the Old

and New Testament, Psalms and the gospels as well as Catholic Christmas liturgy. The chamber music

styled instrumentation and lyrical parts create a romantic pastoral atmosphere which emphasises the

message of hope and expectation. The soloists performing during this concert is Deirdré Blignaut-

Rautenbach (soprano), Aukse Trinkunas (mezzo-soprano), Linette van der Merwe (mezzo-soprano), Chris

Mostert (tenor) and Danie Verster (bariton).

To comply with Covid-19 regulations only a limited number of tickets are available for the concert on 7

December at 18:30 at the Voortrekker Monument and audience members will be required to wear masks.

Tickets are R150 and can be booked at www.quicket.co.za. Tickets will also be available at the doors. Keep

an eye on Sempre Opera and Capital Chamber Orchestra's social media pages for more details on the

online performance that will be virtually available from December 23, 2020 to January 7, 2021. Interested

parties can direct further inquiries by sending an email to [email protected].

DIRECTIONS