William Berger (baritone) & Melvyn Tan (piano)
4 November 2010
Odeion
19:30

"...one of the best of our younger baritones."
Gramaphone Magazine

"…Tan's technical skill and sensibility produced a very special interpretation of the work, harmonious, and most coherent."
Kronenzeitung (Oliver Lang)

William Berger is an associate and graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. In concert William has performed with the CBSO, LPO, English Concert, Philharmonia Baroque (San Francisco), Hanover Band and Cape Town Philharmonic. Recitals include his Wigmore Hall debut and Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch (Oxford Lieder Festival) as well as two recordings: Songs of Spring and October Roses. Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers in 1999, he was also awarded a Countess of Munster Trust Scholarship, an MBF grant and the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award. William’s opera roles include roles in La Boheme (Schaunard), Don Giovanni (Masetto), Madam Butterfly (Prince Yamadori), A Hand of Bridge (David), Barber of Seville (Fiorello), The Carmelites (Monsieur Javelinot), Salome (Second Nazarene), Billy Budd (Novice’s Friend), Cosi fan tutte (Guglielmo), Zauberflüte (Papageno), Le Nozze di Figaro (Count Almaviva), The Cunning Little Vixen (Harastra) and Orfeo (Shepherd).

Melvyn Tan has lived in London (UK) since leaving his native Singapore at an early age to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. His teachers have included Nadia Boulanger, Marcel Ciampi and Vlado Perlemuter. He built a formidable international reputation during a long exploration of the precursors of the modern piano. Since returning to the modern piano in 1996, Melvyn has performed in most major festivals and concert halls throughout the world including many leading concert halls and with orchestras such as, amongst others, the London Philharmonic, the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St Martin's in the Fields, Salzburg's Camerata and Mozarteum Orchestras, New World and Melbourne Symphonies and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Chamber music and Lieder hold an important place in Melvyn's repertoire. His chamber music and Lieder collaborations are numerous and include Steven Isserlis, Anne-Sophie von Otter and the Škampa Quartet. Melvyn have recently released two CDs with, among others, Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 12 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 2

Programme:
Mahler: Selection from Das Knaben Wunderhorn
Liszt/Schubert Transcriptions: piano solo by Melvyn Tan
Schumann: Liederkreis, Op.39
Dvorak: Gypsy Songs, Op. 55
Ravel: Don Quichotte a Dulcinee
Montsalvatge: Cinco Canciones Negras

Admission:
R120 (adults)
R80 (pensioners, students and learners)
Tickets available at Computicket (at all Shoprite / Checkers shops, Mimosa Mall information desk, Izami Florist) and at the doors.

Enquiries:
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 - 401 2504)