SOME ENCHANTED EVENING!: CAPE TOWN, 17 MARCH 2022
by Malcolm Norton
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Please note: what follows may resemble the proverbial curate’s egg [not too bad in parts], and a scrambled egg at that, owing to my confused state of mind ensuing from an out of mind and body experience. If it ever happens to you, you will understand and perhaps forgive all errors and omissions.
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How is it possible that anyone so very down to earth can make you believe, when she sings that she could have spread her wings and done a thousand things, you would feel no surprise if she took flight and soared as high as her incomparable voice? This I have said before: there is a point where a gift transcends mere talent and becomes genius, and that of a very rare order. Later I tried to tell my most admired artist so, but her modesty matching her incredible artistry she politely smiled and suppressed her incredulity. Her talent is infinite; her vanity is not only in inverse proportion but invisible.
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A pop song of 1972 has a certain relevance here, as I hope to show: ‘I went to a garden party; Everyone was there;… There was magic in the air.’ Assuredly magic WAS present at the historic scenic venue of Groot Constantia, and went as readily to my head [ahem!] as the wine that was flowing in torrents as, mercifully, the rain I had feared wasn’t.
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How and where to begin? Arriving two hours prematurely, we were greeted by sound waves issuing from a vocal wizard’s wand. Now, hours later, memory starts the electrical sensation sparking to make my spine prickle again. Other than ethereal I can think of no word that might aptly describe the effect; almost as if distance were lending enchantment to hearing. Magic indeed! I expected the audience of trees, birds and squirrels to weep, if they did not applaud. For the sake of brevity and self-restraint suffice to say that Nella Fantasia and Nearer My God To Thee may never again sound as they did then.
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The four or five numbers she was rehearsing with the orchestra are included in the list below. It is said of the most revered artist in a different field that once he had sung a song he owned it, having redefined how it might be sung; and if this is not equally true of Amira’s singing then my lifetime of musical appreciation has been entirely wasted. With a simple alteration of costume and a prop or two she redefined Maria Von Trapp and Eliza Doolittle, unforgettably; and somehow her tiny and nimble feet more than filled the much larger shoes of Julie Andrews.
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When a gloriously full and beautiful moon rose beyond the screening trees it was appropriately a brilliant orange, a silent tribute to the little Dutch luminary radiating light in the otherwise starless {until later} night. Little? Yes, despite her colossal talent and charismatic stage presence this miniature Titan is the same petite pixie she was at 14, if a little taller. Although cameras love her {so much that I suggested to the cameraman on the spot, the superman for all seasons and crises Steve Sherman, that she turns every camera into a cAmIra} – they do lie! Even the late actress Audrey Hepburn, similarly fawn-like and famously petite, was a sumo wrestler compared with Amira. {The only exaggeration I will permit myself here.} And unlike so many stars famed for their beauty, when divested of cosmetics and special lighting she is even prettier if possible. And it is!
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Under the direction of conductor and master of ceremonies the ever-delightful and humorous Richard Cock, the small but very competent orchestra swept through a wide-ranging musical menu ranging from a Strauss polka to pop songs by the recently deceased oddly-named Meatloaf {formerly Mince, according to the maestro}, Maroon 5 {whoever they are}, and Billie Eyelash. All these pieces I suspect were considerably enhanced by the orchestral treatment; but the soloist is what concerns us here, and deservedly so.
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Need I mention the grace, poise, and growing freedom of movement in little dance steps augmenting the stunning impact of the magnificence of notes that lifted not only one’s hair but threatened to slice the scalp like topping a boiled breakfast egg? The absolute control not only of her voice but of the audience? The sheer overwhelming power and splendor of the fairy figure that seemed to tower above the tall trees and shake the leaves before the fall? Probably not, but as a close encounter of the most thrilling kind it can only be described as – well, elemental as well as celestial. If you think this is also an exaggeration, well, you weren’t there.
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If her apparent robustness in photographs is an illusion, her stellar status is not! She belongs on the stages and in the hearts of the world, rather than on the greensward of an old Cape Dutch homestead, however lovely it is. Her voice is an Archimedean lever with which she can move the world to more than tears, and if this modestly majestic and humbly aristocratic supreme artist has not made herself the most famous name on the planet before she turns twenty-one {as did the late King}, then the fault must be ascribed not to her but to a world which does not deserve a phenomenon the like of which may never be seen again.
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Before ending this necessarily abbreviated and superficial account I must briefly mention the additional pleasure afforded by meeting and spending time with the wonderful fans visiting from abroad, Amira’s indispensable Girl Friday Rosa Kleyn and her husband Ben, and most of all, as an artist in her own right, Amira’s mother Frieda, who is quite as admirable, likable and lovable as her extraordinary daughter; there can be no higher praise than that. The kindness of this most gracious lady has no equal in my experience. If every child had such a mother, problem children would be an extinct species.
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THE BILL OF FARE:
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Passing over the musical introduction [theme from Star Wars] and interludes including Pirates of the Caribbean [whatever became of Penzance?] and selections from the works of Henry Mancini and Andrew Lloyd Webber to the main course and dessert:
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1, OMBC
2, Voi Che Sapete
3, All I Want Is A Room Somewhere inadvertently omitted - pardon!
4, The Rain in Spain [My Fair Lady]
5, I Could Have Danced all Night [MFL]
6, Nearer My God To Thee
7, Nella Fantasia
8, My Favourite Things [Sound of Music]
9, I Have Confidence in Me [SOM]
10, I Could Have Danced All Night MFL, reprised]
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Ma T'har
Just wonderful ..... I'm so happy for you.
Thank you so much for letting us share your great experience, described in wonderful words.
Since I also had the honor and great pleasure of meeting Amira in person, I know you absolutely did not exaggerate. Amira is unique in her own way and hard to describe with words.
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| Groot Constantia Wine Estate |
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