A member of ASO
The Accra Symphony Orchestra (ASO) together with Lumina will on Saturday October 6 perform masterpieces in classical music, opera and operatic pop at the National Theatre in Accra.
The concert will feature an abridged version of the opera Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi, which is considered to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi’s career.
The tragic story revolves around The Duke of Mantua, his hunchback court jester Rigoletto and Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda.
A curse was placed on both The Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter was seduced by The Duke with Rigoletto’s encouragement.
The curse comes into fruition when Gilda falls in love with The Duke and sacrifices her life to save him from assassins hired by her father to kill him.
The operatic pop will feature the latest re-arranged pieces from various composers on the African continent. These include Nana Danso Abiam, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and others whose works have mesmerized the continent and beyond.
ASO’s repertoire includes neoclassical African music, western symphonic music and works in opera and operatic pop. It also employs the techniques of Western symphonic music in the re-arrangement of the music of the African masters such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Manu Dibango, Osibisa and others.
Lumina and ASO was created under the patronage of Pastor Mensa Otabil of the International Central Gospel Church. It is currently the orchestra and cultural ambassador of the city of Accra and assists in positioning the city as a cultural metropolis of international standing.