“Sea air is good for the voice,” says top international soprano Kathleen Cassello, widely known for her appearance as one of Three Sopranos. Coupled with the city’s warm weather, which is also beneficial to singers, it stands to reason that Durban should become the centre for opera in South Africa!

And who knows? That may indeed be the case in the not-too-distant future. Here to appear in tomorrow night’s concert which forms part of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra’s spring season of its World Symphony Series, Kathleen Cassello announced that she would like to set up an opera studio for singing students in Durban. She added that she was in the process of discussing the idea with Bongani Tembe, director of the KZNPO.

In the concert which starts at 19h30 in the City Hall, Kathleen Cassello will appear with distinguished young French baritone Marc Barrad in a programme titled Grand Opera conducted by German maestro Bernhard Gueller. The line-up includes well-known arias from Faust, I Pagliacci, La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Rondine and Rigoletto. The Durban Symphonic Choir and the KZN Chorale directed by Juan Burger will appear in “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Verdi’s Nabucco< and the “Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore