It was ‘S wonderful to be at Gershwin in the Park, with Cape Town Opera on February 15, 2026. This was a once off concert, presented by the Maynardville Open-Air Festival. It was a beautiful, balmy night; no wind. The concert was sold out.
Cape Town Opera put on a night to remember on the Valentine’s weekend, with CTO soloists: Brittany Smith, Nonhlanhla Yende, Lukhanyo Moyake and Conroy Scott; CTO Judith Neilson Young Artists: Khayakazi Madlala, Sisikelelwe Mngenela, Nica Reinke, Rethabile Khaile, Dumisa Masoka, Thandolwethu Longo and Thabo Mabuse and the CTO Vocal Ensemble. Jan Hugo was musical director and pianist and he played Rhapsody in Blue, as a rapturous finish to this beautiful concert. The singers looked gorgeous in glittering ball gowns.
Greg King’s Italian villa/garden set for Twelfth Night (on until March 8), was the perfect setting for the evening of romance and song, under the stars. Oliver Hauser’s lighting heightened each set, with increasingly saturated hues as the dark set in, in the gardens. It was magical. See https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Gc25SWQ7n/ and https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUyxPELD3ro/ for the finale on the night.
The last concerts for Maynardville 2026 is The Great American Songbook, this weekend February 22 and next weekend March 1. The concerts feature the Paul Roos Orchestra under the baton of Wessel Odendaal. The lineup includes jazz vocalists: Katlego Maboe, Tankiso Mamabolo and Amy Campbell. The programme will showcase “fully orchestrated renditions of favourites such as Get Happy, Cry Me a River, In the Mood, and Someone to Watch Over Me“. Book at Quicket. See www.maynardville.co.za
❇ Gershwin in the Park, with Cape Town Opera on February 15, 2026, at the Maynardville Open-Air Festival. Pic: Robyn Cohen/TheCapeRobyn.
