A historic building in the town of Hastings, 24 Cambridge Road, TN34 1DJ, now houses Opus theatre with extraordinary acoustics. It is a horseshoe auditorium and can seat 700 people. Saturday November 17 was the last performance of the international concert season and it was wonderful. Oliver Poole, artist in residence, accompanied the Iranian tenor, Ramtin Ghazavi, on the piano.
Ramtin studied in Austria, Milan and Italy. He made his debut at La Scala in the role of “Ein Soldat in Wozzeck”. He has an intense concert programme ahead, collaborating with several festivals and opera seasons. He has a beautiful voice, gentle as well as powerful depending on the songs, adjusted to the lyrics in Italian, Arabic and French. The enthusiastic audience showed how much they appreciated his performance, enhanced by Oliver Poole on the piano. His playing was seamless, expressive in his passion, whether it needed a gentle or wild touch. It was riveting.
Oliver believes like Ramtin that music can make the world a better place, that it crosses borders and unites. He has wowed audiences across the world and was called by bbc.com “a master of his instruments”. He has performed in Moscow, London and for charities including UNESCO. It was visible how much both musicians respected and admired each other and the warm friendship between them.
Friday December 7 offers a Christmas concert with Tenors Unlimited, “the rat pack of opera”. It starts at 7:30pm and should be a great evening.
Image Credits: Heidi Foster .