WATCH | Kenton's Singing Baker stuns pizzeria patrons with his opera solos

Mteto Maphoyi has had some lucky breaks and some terrible ones, but nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of being a professional performer

02 May 2021 - 00:02 By andrea nagel
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Singing Baker Mteto Maphoyi thrills patrons at the pizzeria where he works.
Singing Baker Mteto Maphoyi thrills patrons at the pizzeria where he works.
Image: Andrea Nagel

One of my grandfather's favourite songs was a playful, Italian-flavoured ditty by the great Las Vegas star Louis Prima. It went, "I eat antipasta twice, just because she is so nice, Angelina, waitress at the pizzeria."

The song came back to me with a twist last week when I was eating pizza at a quaint beach restaurant, Pizzarella, in the small Eastern Cape town of Kenton-on-Sea.

My companions and I were stopped by the pizza-making staff as we were leaving. "Stay for a song," they said. "You won't regret it."

A small speaker was placed on the bar counter and a man who, minutes before, was putting pizzas in the oven, stood ready to sing.

The music started and his voice filled the space like an airbag exploding. It was rich, clear and perfect and we all joined in for the chorus — funiculà, 'ncoppa, jamme jà, funiculì, funiculà!

Mteto Maphoyi was not planted in the restaurant that night, like those videos you see on YouTube of opera singers wowing crowds in busy grocery stores. He actually works at Pizzerella in Kenton, though he's spent most of his life busking around SA.

I'm no opera expert, but his performance was one of the best I've seen, on screen or in real life.

WATCH | Mteto Maphoyi, The Singing Baker, stuns patrons with his performances at Pizzarella in Kenton-on-Sea

"My mom was a great singer who sang in local choirs in Hermanus," he said. "I grew up listening to the opera CDs my father had given her, listening to and imitating the music I heard on them."

Maphoyi has had some lucky breaks and some terrible ones. He was offered a place at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, but his English wasn't good enough to take it up. Fans sponsored a scholarship at St Andrews for 18 months so that he could improve his language skills.

By the time he was ready for the Guildhall the headmaster had changed and he needed to submit an audition CD, but he was stabbed in the face during an altercation with his cousin and took too long to recover.

He also spent a year working with Cape Town Opera and made a documentary, The Creative, in 2010.

He's still waiting for the lucky break he needs to really pursue his passion for opera. In the meantime, he calls himself The Singing Baker — and I'd eat pizza twice just to hang out with this incredible talent.

• Look up Mteto Maphoyi on Facebook.


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