La Vergine Degli Angeli - Amira Willighagen - 2020

La Vergine Degli Angeli is an aria from the 1862 Italian opera La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi. It is sung here by 16 year old Dutch-South-African soprano Amira Willighagen as part of her 2020 streaming concert "African Christmas with Amira and Friends." The full concert is available both on CD and DVD as "Streaming Shows of 2020" exclusively at Amira's website https://www.gelukskinders.org/en/store/. The concert was recorded in Pretoria, South Africa in late November 2020 and premiered December 23, 2020. Amira is accompanied by a men's choir compiled for the occasion by Christo Burger and a string orchestra. Piano and musical arrangement by Professor Charl du Plessis.

For an intelligent and fascinating discussion of this unique performance by Amira, I recommend the reaction by Grammy-nominated singer, voice actor & stage director William Morris.    • AMIRA Willighagen- Is she sent from Heaven?  

The story of the opera and the roll Amira is performing in Italian:
Amira plays the character Leonora, a young beautiful girl. Leonora is in love with Don Alvaro over the objections of her family. In a confrontation Alvaro's father is accidentally shot by Alvaro’s pistol. The lovers flee, pursued by Leonora’s brother, Don Carlo, who intends to kill them both in order to avenge his father’s death and restore the family honor.

Sometime between Act I and Act II, Leonora and Alvaro are separated, each apparently believing the other to have died. Unable to return home, Leonora decides to seek sanctuary at the monastery of Madonna degli Angeli. After questioning her on the matter, the abbot agrees to shelter her in the monastery’s hermitage, instructing his brother monks never to reveal her presence there. In a magnificent set-piece that concludes Act II Leonora is formally accepted into the monastery. The monks pronounce a curse on anyone who betrays her, and then a blessing:

May Our Lady of the Angels
cover you in Her mantle,
and the Holy Angel of God
keep vigil to protect you.

The words Leonora then sings translate into English as:

The Virgin of the Angels
Covers me with her mantle,
And protects me vigilantly
Sacred angel of God.
The Virgin of the Angels
May Our Lady of the Angels
cover me in Her mantle,
and the Holy Angel of God
keep vigil to protect me.

The song is considered the “crown jewel” of the entire opera.

Fellow fan Jorge Chaves has described the remarkable ensemble that was brought together to make this amazing performance possible:

"This is a spectacular gathering of rare talent. First, the choir, made up of experienced, dedicated, passionate and talented singers, is phenomenal and produces beautiful and transcendent harmonies. Second, the choir conductor, in the right-center with gray hair, is the acclaimed Christo Burger, who has participated in master classes at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, USA, and also at the Royal College of Music in London, UK. Third, the exceptional instrumentalists, selected from the Classics Symphonic Orchestra, who always play in the editions of Classics is Groot, in which Amira has participated since she was a child. Fourth, the refined and award-winning pianist Charl du Plessis, Steinway ambassador. He personally went to Germany to choose this Steinway Model C Piano. He also was the music director for this concert. He played with Amira numerous times. Amira's rehearsals are basically just her and Charl du Plessis. And finally, Amira's heavenly voice, with its beautiful and unique tone. Who sings like that? Amira's natural voice and posture are unmatched by any classical singer today. Amira, combining her prodigious intelligence with her firm determination, ease of learning, courage to apply, perfectionism and faith, continues her unavoidable path of becoming the greatest singer of all time."

Amira Willighagen was discovered on a Dutch television show when she was just 9 years old. Today Amira is considered by many to be one of the finest sopranos in the world. She was an incredible 16 years old when she gave this performance at the Atterbury Theater in Pretoria, South Africa in November 2020 during Covid lockdowns (there was no audience present due to restrictions). In the words of Grammy nominated opera singer and voice coach William Morris, this performance stands alongside those of the greats such as Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi.

This is the only true 1080p High Definition version of this video currently online.

Amira Willighagen's official YouTube channel:    / nederlanderpeet  
Amira's Foundation website: https://www.gelukskinders.org/en/
Web store: https://www.gelukskinders.org/en/store/
Amira on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amira_W...
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