Mann fundraiser attracts two super natural women

Aretha Franklin and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice performing together with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday night?

Could two women be more opposite not only politically but also in terms of their personal styles? What could possibly bring these two together on the same stage - without a lot of practice, either? It has to be a whole lot more than mutual R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

The last time most of us saw the Queen of Soul, she was wearing that big hat with the rhinestone-trimmed bow at President Obama's inauguration. After George W. Bush left office, Rice returned to academia.

When I spoke with Franklin by phone last week, they hadn't yet rehearsed. "We will do that prior to the concert," she told me.

This is going to be a night concertgoers won't forget for a long, long time.

And politics have nothing to do with it. Franklin - a lifelong Democrat - told me that the goal of the concert is to raise money for the Mann Center's educational programming for inner-city youth.

"I would say that she [Rice] is concerned with raising some money, as am I," Franklin said. "It's just a bipartisan effort to raise some funds because of the economic downturn. People are really having a rough time with the loss of their homes, interest rates and so on."

Franklin resisted my efforts to bring up Bush administration policies. "I have no comment. This is all about raising some money. It's all about the creative aspects, in particular. Miss Rice is a consummate classical pianist, and I do the arias. So I thought that would be a great coupling to raise some money."

Franklin, acting like a high-level diplomat herself, went on to say, "There comes a time when you put certain things away. There are certain things we can do together to raise money for the good of the people."

So what will the two of them be performing?

"She is going to accompany me on 'Natural Woman,' I think, and 'I Say a Little Prayer,' and possibly one of the anthems," said Franklin, whose latest album is called "A Woman Falling Out of Love."

"She's going to do 20 minutes with [the Philadelphia Orchestra], and I am going to sing a number of arias by Handel, Puccini . . .. I'll be singing 'Respect' and 'Chain of Fools' and all of those other songs."

Rice will solo in the second (Romance) movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20. Rossen Milanov will also lead Bernstein's "Candide" Overture and Smetana's "The Moldau."

Franklin may be used to being on stage, but Rice has played on the world stage. She was U.S. national security adviser in the Bush Administration before being named Secretary of State. These days, she teaches political science at Stanford University and is also a senior fellow on public policy for Standford's Hoover Institution.

Rice is a classically trained pianist who once dreamed of performing professionally. She has played with Yo-Yo Ma and performed for Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. The New York Times once called her "the most prominent amateur musician in the world." While in office, Rice would play with a chamber music group sometimes to think about something other than politics.

"I am truly honored to share the stage with such a renowned orchestra and the Queen of Soul," Rice said in a press release. "It is truly a privilege to participate in such a unique concert whose proceeds will go toward helping the Mann Center build their educational and cultural programs for the benefit of the students and communities of greater Philadelphia."

The Mann's outreach program served 47,000 young people in 2009.

Ed Kasses, president of Princeton Entertainment, of Pennington, N.J., says that Rice and Franklin got the idea to perform together after meeting each other at an event where they were both speakers. Franklin's agent asked Kasses, who arranges programming for the Mann, for a suggestion and he came up with the idea of creating a charity benefit.

More performances may be in store for this unlikely duo.

"It will be amazing," Kasses said. "It may be a once-in-a-lifetime thing if we don't decide to do it two more times."

Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd and Parkside Avenues, 8 p.m. Tuesday, $50-$95, lawn seats $24, 215-893-1999, www.philorch.org.