Incredible ukulele player mixes Carmen melody with Phantom of the Opera in virtuosic mash-up

21 October 2021, 17:53

Incredible young ukulele player mixes Carmen with Phantom of the Opera

One ukulelist, two great melodies. Watch in awe...

Taimane, a Hawaiian ukulele player, is going viral for her incredible mash-up of music from the worlds of opera and musical theatre.

She mixes the opening melody of ‘Habanera’ from Bizet’s opera Carmen with the main theme from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, with plenty of Spanish guitar vibes in between.

“So, when you hear this, it’s the cue that we’re going to go into Phantom,” says Taimane, moving from the ‘Habanera’ melody into a Spanish Tárrega-esque improvisational passage.

Ukulele mash-up of 'Carmen' and 'Phantom of the Opera'
Ukulele mash-up of 'Carmen' and 'Phantom of the Opera'. Picture: Taimane/YouTube

Then, using a bit of soft guitar backing and harmonised vocals, she creates a beautiful vocalised passage of the main melody from Phantom. Her hand pretty much turns into a blur by the end.

“Amazing... the [instrument] is a continuation of her body!” said one user, while another called her performance “ridiculously amazing”.

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