Soprano, harp, flute
Everyone was raving about the delicate, crystal-clear voice of soprano Lissa Meyvis. With a master's degree in Economics under her belt, she began five years of Classical Singing at the Antwerp Conservatory in 2011. There she obtained her master's degree 'magna cum laude'. She sings what she can and wherever she can: classical, chanson, cabaret, musical, jazzy tunes, operetta. So she is looking forward to another performance for the International Robert Stolz Club. A tribute to Toon Hermans, Kurt Weill and Charles Aznavour (with the great Hans Peter Janssens and pianist Lester Van Loock) are not beneath her. Roles in Mozart operas, in Orff's 'Carmina Burana' and in Janáček's 'Jenufa' (according to Sylvia Broeckaert of Klara "a very beautiful role debut") brought her before the large audience of the National Opera Amsterdam and Opera Ballet Flanders. Klassiek-Centraal colleague Viviane Redant praises Lissa as "a natural beauty, whose voice capers like the song of a lark".Mary's Day, Mother's Day
This 15th harvest was entirely dedicated to Mary. And to the collaboration of Lissa Meyvis with flutist and movement instructor Raf De Groote, at home in our major orchestras and active in chamber music and voice control, and with the Polish-Belgian Hanna Grociak. From the Conservatory and the Philharmonic of Poznan, she moved to the Brussels Conservatory, where she perfected herself in the harp class of Suzanna Mildonian and in the chamber music class of Arie Van Lysebeth. Actually, Hanna Grociak is our Anneleen Lenaerts 'avant la lettre' and active at home and abroad.The program of this trio included remarkable surprises.
Of course there was the inescapable 'Ellens Gesang III' by Schubert, which also inspired Gounod. But Caccini – were it not for Vavilov – Piazzolla and Gómez also made the 'Ave Maria' a moving plea. Impressive was the 'Ave Maria' by guitar virtuoso, student of Narcisso Yepes, teacher and composer William Gómez (Gibraltar, 1939-2000) with its exquisite emotional directness and spiritual depth: a wonder you can never get enough of!
A feather in the cap for Hanna Grociak, who also took care of the musical coordination and had other discoveries in store. Such as the Norwegian Rolf Løvland (1955), who gained more fame with two successful songs for the Eurovision Song Festival of 1985 and 1995 than with his so accessible 'Hymne to Hope'. Or undiscovered pearls such as the ethereal 'Morceau de concours' by Gabriel Fauré and the poetic 'Une flûte invisible' by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Flemish devotion
Our Flemish Marian devotion rounded off the program. August De Boeck, 'Gebed', continues to surprise with its directness, its melodic expression and its personal 'griffe'. Staf Nees with the simplicity of his 'Marialied'. And Bruno Svoboda with a disarming 'Lieve Vrouwke, ik kom niet om te bidden...'. What seems like a typically Flemish prayer has international allures. The text comes from Paul Claudel's poem 'La Vierge à midi'. The music is by Bruno Svoboda, born in 1919 in the former Czechoslovakia, who in 1941 via Rome ended up with the Premonstratensians in Tongerlo and was active both as a collaborator of Father Werenfried Van Straaten at Aid to the Church in Need and as an organist and composer. Reflective texts by Fernand Verreth, Mrs. Van Praet and two young people and a summer reception in the Rectory garden made this celebration a beneficial experience that will resonate for a long time and for which all those who worked with the Basilica team deserve thanks.
