UAE’s Opera-pop’s first concert: blending classical opera with pop

Opera Pop: Wim Hoste, Guzel Teymoor and Muratti. Courtesy Opera Pop

It’s quite a mash-up: Elvis Presley’s smash hits with arias by the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. On Wednesday night the UAE-based Opera-Pop Group will be staging their first full-length concert, blending classical opera with pop tracks that the organisers say will appeal to “the young and old”.

The 90-minute show will be the first in a series of concerts featuring the tenors Muratti, who is from Turkey, and Wim Hoste, from Belgium, the soprano Guzel Teymoor from Russia, and the mezzo-­soprano Jin-soo Young from South Korea.

“We are promoting opera but in a light style,” says Hoste, adding that the singing remains operatic, but is set to “an upbeat tempo”.

The artists will perform Baroque music in the first half of the show, while the second half will be dedicated to contemporary and crossover ­music.

The artists will also perform pieces by Bocelli, Sarah Brightman, Presley and Frank Sinatra.

“We have broken up the concert, offering different possibilities to the audience,” says Hoste.

“There will be pure opera, but the arias will be simple and even those who’ve never heard opera music will understand it.

“Then there will be ­opera-pop and a crossover with contemporary music.”