Try to imagine that the world is a bouquet of flowers, and between the roses in

Vienna, it is the heart of the world

Kathmandu:

It was definitely an evening with difference. Dignitaries, corporate honchos and celebrities had turned up in their best at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom for the one of a kind event of the Valley. The star-studded evening of February 22 was made memorable by the opera the United Nation Women’s Organisation (UNWO) had organised to give something culturally new to the guests present. The show was organised to raise funds for the various projects UNWO has been running around the nation for needy women and children.

The hall was filled with people in their formal wear. The glam and glitz made the place look like a page out of a fairy tale as the ladies were decked in their finest jewellery and flowing dresses, whereas most of the men were in formal blacks. Cute little schoolgirls ran around selling raffle tickets, which all bought with great interest.

Emcee Kathy Shrestha, teacher at Lincoln School, welcomed all by saying hello in all different languages and ending it with Yo which made all the guests present to burst into laughter.

As soon as Karin Leitner (flute), Astrid Wilhelmsen (Soprano) and Gerhard Löffler (guitar) took to the the stage, a comfortable silence took over the hall as people paid attention to the performer. Leitner and Wilhelmsen did look beautiful in their blue gowns. The strumming of the guitar and soulful melodies from the flute filled the air. It was amazing how Wilhelmsen’s voice, even without the microphone, was loud and clear. Despite the fact that most of the audience did not understand the language was able to enjoy the show because of the singer’s ability to make the songs enjoyable with her expressions.

“Try to imagine that the world is a bouquet of flowers and between the roses in Vienna, it is the heart of the world,” said Wilhelmsen.

And through her performance she convinced all what she was trying to say. Most of the songs were happy and in fast tempo, the sound of the flute gave the impression of springtime, people walking through the wild humming to themselves, smelling the flowers and enjoying the sunny afternoon and the wilderness.

A brief introduction to the song before performance helped a lot to understand the mood. Presenting one of the sad songs Wilhelmsen said, “This is a song about lost love. The guy here is in love, and in the beginning he was very happy to find the love of his life, but now his love has left him and he is saying ‘I can’t hear the birds and I don’t smell the flowers’.”

They performed 15 compositions — classics of GF Händel, WA Mozart, F Schubert, and A piazzolla among others, the trio was successful in keeping the audience spell bound.

It was an evening with something different to offer, and unlike in other programmes, everyone had their cell phones in the silent mode.