British singers Matilda and Cecilia Noble held a concert ‘with a touch of Shakespeare’ at the Haferland Festival, an inclusive event which celebrates 800 years of Saxon traditions in Transylvania.
The Noble sisters, the daughters of Andrew Noble, the former British Ambassador, now an ambassador for Haferland, sang Pie Jesu from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem and a classical rendition of Chess’ I know him so well. The latter drew loud applause from the audience at the Crit 18th century Evangelische Fortified Church and murmurs of “When are they going to bring out a CD?”
They were accompanied by the pianist Adina Cocargeanu, of the Ion Dacian National Opereta, whom they have previously performed with, and share a good rapport.
Soprano Matilda, 21, dressed in a vivid green dress, delighted the audience with Mi parea (the Willow song) from Verdi’s Otello. The dozens of guests seated in the church with a restored organ and low small pale blue pews included Haferland patron, Michael Schmidt and his wife, Veronica, German ambassador Peer Gebauer, Dutch ambassador Willemijn van Haaften and Romania’s ambassador to Austria, Emil Hurezeanu.
Prince Alexander, oldest son of Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein, and his wife Princess Astrid who offer patronage to the event were at the one-hour concert as was Sofia Folbert, a local Saxon woman of 102.
Matilda and Cecilia (Mezzo Soprano) ended the concert__part modern, part classical laced with religious overtones, with John Rutter’s The Lord Bless you and Keep you and Abend will ich schlafen geh’ n, a nod to the German roots and language of the Transylvanian Saxons.
Thousands of Romanians, Transylvanian Saxons and foreign tourists attended the three-day Haferland event, which took place in ten villages in the region known as the Land of Oats (Haferland): Archita, Saschiz, Homorod, Rupea, Criț, Roadeș, Meșendorf, Cloașterf, Bunești and Viscri.
Thousands expected at the popular Haferland Week Festival to celebrate Saxon traditions
