My wife and I arrived in the charming town center of Breda to have a drink before the show. Yes, you guessed it, we were on our way to the famous Chasse Theatre! We found the quaint buildings, cobbled streets and magnificent church of Breda enchanting. By 8.15pm we were ensconced in our plush seats – tingling with anticipation at the thought of recapturing the verve and vitality of our youth through the music of our favourite singer – Elvis Presley.
The lights dimmed and a hush came over the packed theatre. Unfortunately, by the time we booked our tickets the only seats available were perched right up in balcony C2 – with only a bird’s eye view of the stage. The 32-member orchestra took their places and tuned up. The conductor arrived with a flourish and a twirl of his coat tails. The kettle drums rolled, the cymbals clashed and suddenly there he was. The man we had heard so much about. The man our friends had laughed at. The man with a voice like an angel. Helmut Lotti!
Waves of glorious sound crashed up on our faraway balcony like waves on the seashore. The magnificent voice reached us loud and clear. From the moment it began right through to the last finale three hours later, the concert was fantastic. Lotti was charming, he was funny. Women kept walking up to the stage to present him with gifts and flowers. For each one he went down on his knees and received the offering with three kisses. One little girl even asked him for his autograph, which he obligingly gave. He performed like the gifted professional he is, thrilling the crowd with an amazingly varied repertoire, singing in French, German, Hebrew (Hava Nagila), Spanish (Guantanamera) and Italian - as well as English.
But there was a special treat awaiting us in the second half – three songs from Africa. And this is actually how we came to know Helmut Lotti and why we bought tickets for his concert. The man has a heart for Africa. He sings superbly in several African languages, Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho, and he sounds just like an African. He wrote a song in which he says “Out of Africa comes the heartbeat of the world”. And you can tell that he really believes it. He visits Africa regularly, as a UNICEF ambassador, and does much for the children of Africa. But what moved me even more than the music was what he told the crowd: “Africa is starving. But it is not a continent that starves. It is the people of Africa, the little children, who starve.” I wish more people would care about Africa’s suffering children the way he does.
... And, by the way, he does Elvis brilliantly!
All columns by Wilf Mbanga
| Wilf Mbanga, one of the founders of the independent Zimbabwean daily newspaper "The Daily News", is currently living in Tilburg, the Netherlands. He writes about the differences between Tilburg and Harare. His column is printed weekly in "Het Brabants Dagblad". |
