Melanie Verwoerd attended a private viewing in the Denzille Cinema on Thursday afternoon of The Mandela Suite, a nine-minute music composition inspired by the life of Nelson Mandela. It was composed by her friend John Hughes, the manager of the Corrs.
Verwoerd told me that “Nelson Mandela loves the Corrs”. When she was South African ambassador to Ireland he asked her if she could get them to sing at his birthday. Hughes asked Verwoerd if Mandela would agree to do a recording of inspirational words he had heard him speak at the South African Freedom Day concert in London in 2001.
She begged Mandela for almost four years to do it, and eventually he agreed.
The Mandela quote (“Music is a great blessing. It has the power to elevate and liberate us, it sets people free to dream, it can unite us to sing with one voice. Such is the value of music.”) was recorded in South Africa. The full piece features 11 South African languages and includes lyrics by composer Anna Rice.
Who we spotted Hot Pressmagazine's Niall Stokes, The Corrs' agent Barry Gaster and representatives from Universal Music
What we drankChampagne
What we ateLunch afterwards at Il Segreto
