On Sunday, 19 September, the internationally-acclaimed South African operatic tenor, Stéfan Louw from Parys, challenged the status quo of opera in South Africa by including a sign language interpreter at his concert at the Pierneef Theatre in Pretoria. Nearly a quarter of the audience had hearing impairments.
“Opera for the deaf is not something new. Several opera companies in America and Europe perform for the hearing impaired. But, to the best of my knowledge,” says Louw, “it was the first time a sign language interpreter had translated an opera production for a hearing-impaired audience in South Africa.”
Louw, who made his operatic debut in 1998 when he was 25 years old, has since had more than 1 000 perfor- mances in SA, Namibia, Mozambique, America and Europe. He founded two of Gauteng’s opera companies and, recently, a third in the Free State. In 2001, he quit his day job as a retail salesperson and launched a series of concerts called Aria! Opera for Every-one. He started including a narrator to engage the audience and explain the story behind each aria.
“This way,” he explains, “no one can say they do not understand opera. The narration is in simple English and delivered in a fun and humorous manner.” Louw says he constantly looks for ways to keep opera alive in SA by educating and building new audiences.
“One of my regular supporters’ daughter was born deaf. When I heard they had planned to attend the concert at the Pierneef Theatre, the idea of including a sign language interpreter popped into my head.” Although deaf people do not hear the sound in their ears, they still feel the vibration from the sound waves. If you’ve ever attended a rock concert or stood in front of a loudspeaker, you would have felt the sound waves pulsating through your body.
Pastor Dirk Venter, the founder of Deaf Friendly, who interpreted the opera arias, says: “People with hearing impairments have a heightened sense of body language and facial expressions. In addition to sensing the music’s vibrations, they can also enjoy music by watching the performers.
Opera is such an expressive art form and, therefore, it is feasible to make opera accessible to the deaf.”
The artists with the group of deaf people who attended the concert
Ernest Mhlongo, his daughter Raeesa Mhlongo, Stéfan Louw, and Pastor Dirk Venter
Louw invited Raeesa Mhlongo (24) onto the stage to stand near him with her hand on his throat so she could experience the strong vibrations of an opera singer’s voice. “While Stéfan sang Freunde das Leben ist Lebenswert! from Franz Lehár’s opera, Giuditta, the audience witnessed a touching moment,” says Jopie Koen, the Pierneef Theatre’s owner. “It was heartwarmingly beautiful, and I had to wipe away a few tears throughout the aria.” When we spoke to Raeesa after the concert, she said, using sign language: “It was a wonderful experience! I want to thank Stéfan for what he did for deaf people tonight. Neither I nor any of the other deaf people here tonight have ever experienced anything like this before!”
From left to right: Eugene Joubert (pianist), Stéfan Louw (tenor), Werner van Coller (baritone), Corniël Calitz (bass-baritone), and Pastor Dirk Venter (sign language interpreter)
