Kulturzentrum Presents Opera Program in Assembly Hall

Left to right: Tserl-Ho Zin and Anja Paulus

The Lebanese-German Association for the Promotion of Culture Kulturzentrum presented an opera concert for music lovers in Assembly Hall on October 3. Offering an ensemble called "Garden of Paradise," the program featured the German soprano Anja Paulus, accompanied by Tserl-Ho Zin on the lute and the theorbo.

The concert featured songs by Italian composers from the Renaissance period, such as Francesco da Milano, Francesca Caccini, and his son Giulio Caccini. The program also included songs by Italian baroque singers and composers, namely Barbara Strozzi, Claudio Monteverdi, and organist Girolamo Frescobaldi, as well as by the composer Adam Krieger and the performing musician Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger.

Tserl-Ho Zin's lute reproduced the music in beautiful solos, adapted from the Italian composers Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger and da Milano.

Paulus's performance was intense and full of emotion, characteristic of the baroque period and corresponding with the themes of the songs, mainly love, life, death, and solitude. Most of them belonged to the Renaissance period and the classical baroque era, when the art of opera first took shape, extending approximately from 1600 until 1700.

Anja Paulus studied singing at the Academy of National University for Music and Arts in Stuttgart, Germany. She sings opera in German, Italian, and French and is known internationally. South Korean guitarist Tserl-Ho Zin obtained his diplomas in classic guitar and ancient music.

The concert at AUB was the first in a series of musical events sponsored this year by the Kulturzentrum Center and the University of Balamand.