Our own Divas

The unpacking is getting there, slowly but surely! I enjoy my little Hi-fi system which I unpacked on Thursday and did the connection of the wiring yesterday.

The CD of 'Our own Divas' was in one of the CD boxes already unpacked!

They are, from top Left: Amanda Strydom, Rina Hugo, we were born the same year and attended the same school, Janita Claassen, passed away a few years ago after a terrible suffering from cancer, Nianell, who became mother of triplets just over a year ago, and

Mimi Coertze, whom I?m sure the more senior blippers will know, she was a world famous opera singer. She was born on 12 June 1932 and left South Africa in September 1953 for London, made her debut in January 1955 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. On 17 March 1956 she made her debut at the Vienna State Opera House as the Queen or the Night in ?Die Zauberflöte? by Mozart and remained there for two decades until 1978 and sang with Fritz Wunderlich in several operas during this time.

Her repertoire also includes either the lead or a big part in: Il Seraglio (Mozart), Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss), Rigoletto (Verdi), Tales of Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach), Carmen (Bizet), La Traviata (Verdi) Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss), Don Giovanni, La Boheme, and many more. She sang at the Staatsoper a total of 469 times in 27 different roles.

She received several big awards from the Austrian Government, e g the highest accolade an artist can receive: the Oesterreichishe Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst and from the Austrian Government: Kammersängerin, a most prestigious title. From the South African Government she received a medal of honour, the Decoration of Meritorious Service, the D.Phil (hc) from the University of Pretoria, etc.

She returned to South Africa when she retired and has launched several big projects to enable promising young singers to be trained officially. She has donated bursaries carrying her name, since 1959, to enable young singers to study overseas!A very young black girl, the daughter of a cleaning lady in Bloemfontein, was invited to sing at one of Mimi?s concerts, she studying at the University in Potchefstroom at the moment, and won bursaries to study abroad.

Bottom Left is Helene Bester, Laurika Rauch and Dana Winner, who is not really a South African, a Flemish singer, she is very fond of our country, and visits só often, she feels like she is one of us!;-)