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Jose Carreras to sing with Faryl Smith at Hampton Court Festival
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent30.03.09
Teenage singing sensation Faryl Smith will perform a duet with one of the Three Tenors at the Hampton Court Festival, we can reveal.
The 13-year-old star finalist of Britain's Got Talent will help launch this year's festival on 2 June.
She will sing with José Carreras whom she has previously seen only in the video recording of his performance with Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo at the 1990 World Cup.
Faryl said she was honoured to be working with the tenor and that her grandmother and parents were lifelong fans.
"This is the biggest event I've done. It's very exciting," she said. The singer, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, signed a £2.3 million recording deal after the TV talent show that made her name and has just released her first, and already bestselling, album.
Carreras said: "I have many happy memories of performing at Hampton Court and I look forward to being back there this summer."
This year's festival in the palace comes on the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII to the throne.
It will also include the only London appearance of the year from Level 42 as well as a mix of popular classics, such as Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and pop performers including Beverley Knight and Lemar.
Rod Giddins, the palace's director, said: "This year's festival promises a series of magical and memorable musical performances."
Meanwhile the Southbank Centre has announced that Ornette Coleman, the legendary 79-year-old jazz saxophonist, will be the artistic director of this year's Meltdown festival.
Previously musicians including David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker and Morrissey have put together the festival but this is the first time a jazz musician will do so.
His line-up is yet to be announced but his nine-day stint in the Southbank Centre will include two concerts inspired by his most famous albums, The Shape of Jazz to Come and This Is Our Music. Meltdown takes place from 13 to 21 June.
"I hope this festival will leave us with a lot of love for all mankind.
"We will use this time to gather together and create things that we love and believe in," said Coleman, who invented the musical system originally called "free jazz" and later "harmolodics". This involves improvising without chord changes and is credited with giving players greater freedom to experiment.
For those who think they dislike jazz, Glenn Max, the Southbank Centre's producer of contemporary culture, struck a note of optimism.
"Throughout his career, Ornette has always maintained that music is music. It's not jazz or rock or classical," he said.
What's on at Hampton Court
Tuesday 2 June: José Carreras with soprano Anna Leese and special guest Faryl Smith
Wednesday 3 June: Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra with special guests including Dave Edmunds and Ruby Turner
Thursday 4 June: Russell Watson
Friday 5 June: Level 42
Saturday 6 June: Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Tuesday 9 June: Beverley Knight and Lemar
Wednesday 10 June: James Morrison
Thursday 11 June: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's Best of Broadway
Saturday 13 June: Beethoven festival finale, with violinist Chloë Hanslip and pianist Freddy Kempf
