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"Let thy love play upon
my voice and rest on
my silence. Let it pass
through my heart into
all my movements. Let
thy love like stars
shine in the darkness
of my sleep and dawn
in my awakening. Let
it burn in the flame
of my desires and flow
in all currents of my
own love. Let me carry
thy love in my life
as a harp does its music,
and give it back to
thee at last with my
life." |
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– Rabindrinath Tagore |
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| With
these thoughts in her mind, Elizabeth
Frandsen has devoted herself to
her music and her public. Whatever
the music or type of performance,
whether it be Oratorio from the
15th Century, Opera from the 18th
Century, a 20th Century Musical
or even Cabaret, Elizabeth gives
all her love, respect and devotion
to her art. |
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| Born in Cape Town,
South Africa, in 1974, Elizabeth received her
first musical training on the piano at the age of
four with a private teacher in the Cape. After her
Primary schooling, she went to the National School
of the Arts in Johannesburg where she studied the
piano as well as the organ and recorder. Her first
leading role in a production was for the National
School of the Arts. |
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| At 13 she played
Yum-Yum in the school production of ‘The Mikado’
by Gilbert and Sullivan! |
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| Having completed
school, her vocal training started with Joyce
Barker at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Here she performed Sally Bowles in ‘Cabaret’,
Euridice in ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’ and Lucy
in Menotti’s ‘The Telephone’. |
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| When Ms. Barker
passed away, she continued with the great Emma
Renzi who taught her for a further eight years. |
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| “I was fortunate in
receiving training from a great 'master' of
singing who had sung at La Scala in Milan. For her
inspiration and devotion to my voice I will always
be grateful.” |
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| Elizabeth’s operatic
debut was in 1997 in the role of Pamina in ‘Die
Zauberflöte’ in Windhoek. It was a collaboration
between Namibia and Austria, which included
singers and musicians from South Africa, and
Austria. |
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As Pamina in
'Die Zauberflote'
with Henk Klijnhans
as Tamino, 1997
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In 1998 she was accepted into the Opernstudio of
the Zürich Opera House in Switzerland and studied
there for two years. She had Vocal training with
the mother of Cecelia Bartoli, Mara Zampieri and
with Lodevico Zocche. I also had master classes
with Elisabeth Schwartzkopf, Vincenzo La Scola and
Maestro Nello Santi of La Scala.
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With Fransisco
Araiza in 'Die
Rose vom Liebesgarten',
Zurich Opera
House, 1999
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| “It was such an exciting time.
Learnt so much and mixed with the greatest singers
of our time, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo,
Gabriela Benačkova, Cecelia Bartoli, Thomas
Hampson, Rodney Gilfry, Agnes Baltsa, Mirella
Freni, I could go on and on. I am so fortunate!” |
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| Her debut in
Switzerland was as Madame Cortese in Rossini’s ‘Il
Viaggio a Reims’ and in “Die Rose vom
Liebesgarten’ by Hans Pfitzner, she played the
role of Schwartzhilde opposite Francisco Araiza
conducted by Franz Welser-Most. |
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| Another highlight
from her time in Switzerland was a concert for the
Countess Sonja of Sweden at the Palace of the King
of Sweden on Insel Mainau on Lake Konstanz. The
concert included the Singers of the Opera Studio
and Agnes Baltsa, the great mezzo. For my country
I sang Selika’s Aria from ‘L’Africaine’ with the
Süd-Wes Deutsche Philharmonie. |
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As Violetta in 'La Traviata'
in 2001
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| She longed for South
Africa, her home, and the support of her family
and returned to perform the role of Carolina in
“Matrimonio Segreto” by Cimarosa in 2000 – sadly,
the last opera production staged by PACT. |
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| In 2000 and 2001 she sang Mimi in
“La Boheme” and Violetta in “La Traviata” for
Pro-Musica Opera. |
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| It was during this time that I met
my husband, Wynand du Plessis. He was a violinist
in the Pro-Musica orchestra. “It was a
roller-coaster, passionate romance that led us to
the altar. He is the strength and the support I
need in my career. He is patient and understanding
and knows what a performer needs. He is also the
love of my life.” |
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| Elizabeth underwent a dramatic
change in her vocality after ‘La Traviata’. She
had a serious throat infection including quinsy on
her tonsils and the threat of nodules on her vocal
cords caused her to stop singing for almost a
year. She tenuously started again with a
performance of Rossini’s ‘Petite Messe Sollenelle’
as the soprano soloist. She was astonished to
discover that the soprano range was no longer
sustainable and as she had always had
extraordinary low notes, she had to ‘re-discover’
her voice and started singing mezzo fach. |
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| “Medicine for the voice is Baroque
Aria Antiche.” |
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| Through slow work and the excellent
technique taught to her by Emma Renzi, she brought
her voice back from the doldrums to a fully
rounded Dramatic Mezzo Soprano. |
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| “I have always had a low speaking
voice and powerful low notes, but as I was very
young, I had a very facile top range and could
easily reach top D. But I grew older and so did my
voice and finally it demanded to settle into its
natural range. Thank you, Emma Renzi for giving me
the technique that enabled me to make the change.” |
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| Many offers started coming in and
Elizabeth gradually started making her name as a
Mezzo. |
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| “My career was made possible by the
unswerving devotion and support from my parents
and family. The sacrifices they have made for me
and the love that they show and their continual
support and love has given me the strength and the
means to make my career an exciting adventure.” |
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| Her mother, Joy Frandsen, who
studied singing in her younger years, nurtured her
talent and Elizabeth’s grandmother was another
major inspiration for her. |
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| “My grandmother was
Doris Forster. In her day she was known by her
stage name Doris Kent-Rothaug. She was the leading
coloratura soprano in the Hamburg Stadtsoper
between the World Wars. She married an Art and
Antique dealer, Georg Rothaug in 1913. |
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| She sang many roles
among which were Zerbinetta in “Adriana auf Naxos”
under the baton of the composer Richard Strauss.
She also sang Violetta with Richard Tauber. Among
her colleagues were Carl Gunther, Georg Boklanoff,
Alfred Ticcaver, Frieda Leider, Lotte Lehmann and
Tito Schipa. |
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| Her first venture
onto the stage was in 1910 at the age of 16
singing in the chorus in the London Palladium
under Sir Thomas Beecham in “Tales of Hoffmann”.
Little did she know that she would be singing all
three ladies from that great opera a few years
later in Hamburg. |
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| She studied in Lubeck
with Kappelmeister Mannsteadt and in Italy with
Maestro Sessona. She auditioned for Kappelmeister
Egon Pollack and for Intendant Oewersedt for
Hamburg Stadtsoper and began a 14-year
relationship with that house. She became known as
the “Blue Lady’ of Hamburg as she favoured blue
ball gowns. |
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| Her greatest roles
included Violetta, Mimi, Rosina, Queen of the
Night, Leonora, Olympia, Martha, Zerbinetta, ‘Die
Vogel’ By Lortzing, which she premiered in Europe
and many more of the great coloratura fach.In 1930
she married my grandfather, Leslie Clive Forster
and they came to South Africa with my mother Joy
and her sister Manon and brother Raymond. |
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| My grandmother was a
major influence on my young life and having her
photographs and memorabilia around me inspired my
vision to become a performer like her. Sadly she
passed away at the age of 94 when I was 12 years
old.” |
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Doris Kent-Rothaug as
Konigin der Nacht, 'Die
Zauberflote' - Violetta,
'La Traviata' - Philine,
'Mignon'
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| After she moved to
Cape Town in 2002, Elizabeth sang with the
Camerata Tinta Barocca. A specialist Baroque
Chamber group based in Cape Town and directed by
the Violinist, Quentin Crida. |
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| “I love Baroque Opera
and Oratorio and we perform works by Vivaldi,
Handel, Pergolesi and many other Baroque and early
Classical composers.” |
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| She played the role
of Madame Giry in ‘The Phantom of the
Opera’ for the Really Useful Group and
Pieter Toerien Productions in 2004 for almost 250
performances in Cape Town and Pretoria, and in
2005 she toured to Nuremberg with Cape Town
Opera’s Production of ‘Showboat’
and then performed the role of Mrs. Fraser in
Pieter Toerien’s production of ‘Stepping
Out’. Thus ended her stint in Musical
Theatre…for the time being. |
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| She has a special
place in her heart for Oratorio and has performed
many of the great sacred works here and overseas
including the Verdi ‘Messe da Requiem’, Handel
‘Messiah’, Beethoven ‘Missa Solemnis’, Rossini
‘Stabat Mater’ and Dvorak ‘Requiem’ amongst
others. |
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| In January 2010,
Elizabeth was invited to perform the Mezzo solo
part in F.H. Hartmann’s Song of the Four Winds at
the International Mozart Festival in Johannesburg
with conductor Thomas Sanderling and baritone
Dietrich Henschel. This was the first time it was
performed since its première in the 1950’s. |
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As Madame Giry
in 'Phantom
of the Opera'
with Andre Schwarz,
2004
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Elizabeth also performs regular Lieder recitals
for the Songmaker’s Guild in Cape Town. With
pianists such as Elna van der Merwe and Albie van
Schalkwyk. She has, over the past few years,
performed cycles and lieder by Schumann, Schubert,
Borodin, Rachmaninov, Grieg, Brahms, Mahler, Liszt
and Pfitzner including the Spanisches Lieder by
Schumann, the Zigeuner Lieder by Brahms,
Des
Knaben Wunderhorn by Mahler and the famous
Frauenlieben und Leben at the Odeion Musik Fest in
Bloemfontein. |
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She performed the role of Lucilla in the Opera ‘La
Scala di Seta’ for the Richard Wagner Society in
2009, which premiered at the Suidoosterfees in
Cape Town and was performed later that year by
popular demand at Artscape. |
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| Elizabeth was cast
in the lead role as the nun Sister Helen Préjean
in Jake Heggie’s 20th century opera ‘Dead Man
Walking’ with Cape Town Opera, which was performed
to great acclaim in October 2009. |
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| Then came Annina in
Richard Strauss’ ‘Der Rosenkavalier' in May 2010
for Cape Town Opera. |
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| “I feel really
privileged to perform in a Richard Strauss Opera
and rather special as my grandmother sang under
his baton.” |
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| Her other love is
Jazz. “I work with my friend Danielle Pascal and
we have held concerts together in and around Cape
Town. She has been a friend and an inspiration to
me. I concentrate on the Jazz of the old style of
Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, and Tony Bennett. I hope
to bring this relatively new genre for me more to
the fore in future. I dream of singing with a huge
orchestra and big band in the Jazz style. Like
Bassey” |
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| Recently, she has
also branched into Afrikaans music and has
collaborated with composer, André Strijdom and
pianist, Rika Vermeulen in Afrikaans Kabaret,
including the shows, ‘Lyflied’, a collection of
poems and stories by Hennie Aucamp, Lena Spies,
Antjie Krog, Pieter Blum and André le Toit and
‘Ontvlugting’, a ‘Woordkuns Kabaret’ on the life
of Ingrid Jonker. |
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| André Strijdom, one
of South Africa’s most exciting young composers,
set all the poems of these wonderful shows to
music. They have both been performed to great
acclaim at the ‘Woordfees’ and ‘Kabaretmania’ in
Stellenbosch. ‘Lyflied’ will be performed at
‘Cultivaria’ in Paarl this year and ‘Ontvlugting’
again at the ‘Woordfees’ in 2011. |
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| Later this year, she
will be Chorus Master for Cape Town Opera’s
production of ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’. “I have had
extensive training in music and I love to share my
knowledge in many capacities, be it singing,
training a chorus, conducting, teaching and even
directing.” |
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| Thank
you for reading about me and my
emerging career. Thank you for your
time and I hope you will continue
in your support for the arts in
South Africa today!” |
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