Condoleezza Rice plays piano and Aretha Franklin sings at the Mann Centre in Philadelphia last night as they raised money for urban children. Photograph: Bill Mccay/Bill McCay/WireImage.com It was an unlikely pairing. Stage left, Condoleezza Rice, the former Republican darling, a classically trained pianist and academic perhaps better known as George Bush's enforcer. Stage right, Aretha Franklin the Queen of Soul, the voice of black emancipation and a performer at the inauguration of Barack Obama. The former US secretary of state and Franklin took the stage last night at Philadelphia's Mann Music Centre in a rare duet. Their aim was to raise money for urban children and awareness for music and the arts. Their appearance in the three-hour concert before an estimated crowd of 8,000 overflowed with Franklin's catalogue of hits and arias from the world of opera and classical music. "We decided to give it a try," Franklin said. "So here we are, in the city of Brotherly – and Sisterly – Love." Rice played piano while Franklin sang her hit I Say A Little Prayer as well as My Country, 'Tis of Thee. Earlier in the programme, Rice performed a selection from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor with the orchestra, a piece she said she practised furiously. Franklin even tickled the ivories a few times, including for a song from her new album A Woman Falling Out of Love, which will be released later this year. She also sang a duet – The Way We Were – with surprise guest Ronald Isley. The critics weren't convinced by the combination but applauded the cause. The Washington Post said putting the two together on the stage "had a kind of goofy brilliance". While Franklin still gives "a heck of a show", Rice's performance was more circumspect. "Her playing may have been a little foursquare, a little obedient, but that really wasn't the point," the paper said. The Philadelphia Inquirer felt that "history of a sort was in the making". Rice, it noted, was "diplomat first, pianist second", and this showed in her opening Mozart offering: "She wasn't able to voice effectively in the stormier middle section so that the more important material could be heard. On the whole it wasn't an artistic statement as much as an exercise in survival, and, heard from that point of view, she achieved what she set out to do. "Rice got a nice, mostly polite reception, but after intermission, the star power intensified exponentially with the arrival of Aretha Franklin. Listeners roared, and she gave them what they came for – Respect, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, Think, and more," the Inquirer wrote. Rice has played with big names in the past, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma. But, she said this was "the first time I've played with an orchestra since I was 18." When she learned that Rice played classical music, Franklin sent for one of her recordings "to hear what she sounded like". Previously, she said, "all I had seen of Dr. Rice was in a political atmosphere. It just seemed foreign that she would be a classical pianist." Franklin was surprised. "She really does play," Franklin said. "She's formidable."

http://www.guardian.co.uk...nklin-duet