Stapelberg's career highlights include singing the lead in operas across South Africa and Europe; sharing the stage with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Johnny Clegg; and winning the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music. Tagg, who on this CD takes Stapelberg's signature Spanish songs and places them alongside instrumental tangos to create original arrangements, has made her home in New York for the past 11 years. Her performances across Europe and Asia (as well in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Broadway's Sondheim Theater) have earned her many awards and critical acclaim.
The album, in production since July, is a recorded version of the live show that toured South Africa earlier this year:
"An exhilarating sonic journey, Soul of Fire more than explores the music of Spain and Latin America; it enters into the vortex of the style." - CUE Magazine (South African National Arts Festival)
"An untamable and unforgettable venture." - What's On in Cape Town
"Their art drowns their audiences in deluges of sound and emotion, as they wage war against the musical predictability that would corrode their work and extinguish the blaze of their souls." - Darren Taylor, Voice of America
The "Soul Of Fire" launch takes place at Cape Town's Fugard Theatre on 13 and 14 December. Tickets are available from Computicket or from the Fugard Theatre box office on +27 (0)21 461 4554. Generous discounts are available for Friends of the Fugard, which you can sign up for by calling the box office or by going to www.thefugard.com.
