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Soprano  Maureen Batt: This Storyteller Means Business

By Charles Geyer on 8 April 2021 Vocal

I’m always interested in what makes a storyteller a good storyteller,” says soprano Maureen Batt. “Whether we’re singing one vowel, one poem, or a whole role, there are stories to be told!” Maureen Batt has been telling musical stories professionally for the past 10 years, both through her new-works-oriented company, “Essential Opera” (co-founded with soprano Erin Bardua), and through her international recital series “Crossing Borders,” which has toured Canada, the United States and Colombia, and recently generated a new album, Breathing in the Shadows, for which Batt sings works by Iranian-Canadian composer Saman Shahi. Fireside Chat “I really hate the…

Industry News

By Arthur Kaptainis on 8 April 2021 Classical Music

Start your symphonic engines The race goes to the swift. And the lucky. The OSM promised a return to live-public programming minutes after Quebec Premier François Legault announced on March 16 that theatres and concert halls in the “red zone” would be allowed to reopen on March 26. But the Orchestre Métropolitain was the first ensemble to perform such a concert in the Maison symphonique, simply by virtue of having already booked the hall for the following day. Led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the program before an appreciative crowd of 250 included Brahms’s Second Symphony. Further live-audience concerts are promised on April 11 and 17. Nézet-Séguin…

The Devil and The Details Haunt Silenced Metropolitan Opera

By Charles Geyer on 8 April 2021 Classical Music

The ghost light standing vigil on the Metropolitan Opera’s silent stage has never burned this constantly or for so long. Even during the flu pandemic of 1918, the Met – like virtually every other theater in New York City – carried on. There has been death on the Met stage (the performance continued), suicide in the audience (which halted things that day), even a bizarre sprinkling of cremated human remains into the orchestra pit (causing cancelation of half a matinée plus that evening’s performance). But, by and large, the Met’s seasons have unfolded in regular and stately grandeur every year…

In the Premiere performance by Pierre Auguste Lamy 1875

Conducting Opera: Where Theater Meets Music

By La Scena Musicale Team on 7 April 2021 Classical Music

La Scena Musicale is pleased to present EXCERPTS from Conducting Opera: Where Theater Meets Music, a detailed discussion of operas from Mozart to Richard Strauss from the perspective of a conductor with a lifetime of experience. Joseph Rescigno, former artistic director of the Orchestre Métropolitain, approaches these masterworks with the aim of realizing what opera can uniquely achieve: a fusion of music and drama resulting in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Bel canto operas and pitch Once we have our apt dramatic interpretation along with our tasteful and stylistically appropriate vocal fireworks ready to…

Mother’s Day Celebration

By Jacqueline Vanasse on 7 April 2021 Classical Music

Because this year, in particular, we feel the need to be together, to show how much we think about and love each other, what better way to celebrate our mothers than with a song? La Scena Musicale will expand on its Singing Valentines as a weekend festival for mothers starting with a special concert on May 7 and followed by two days of personalized serenades on May 8 and 9. Personalized Serenades For a donation of $30 to $100, a singer will send a personalized serenade (by phone or via recorded video) of the chosen song to your mother or…

Orchestre classique de Montréal takes a Slavic Turn

By Arthur Kaptainis on 7 April 2021 Classical Music, Interviews, Technology

Sort of a Romeo and Juliet thing,” Taras Kulish, executive director of the Orchestre classique de Montréal, says of Mykola Lysenko’s epic 1891 opera Taras Bulba, the overture of which will be one of the highlights of the “Great Slavs” program that makes its online debut on May 18. “A love story between a Polish princess and a Ukrainian warrior,” Kulish continues. “They are destined not to be together because of the fighting. Lots of historical things in there, the Poles against the Ukrainians, who’s invading whom.” And lots of percussion in that rousing overture as it was orchestrated after…

Julia Haferkorn on Livestreams: How do we make it pay?

By Jacqueline Vanasse on 7 April 2021 Classical Music, Interviews, Technology

During the first lockdown in the U.K., which started on March 21, 2020, Julia Haferkorn, senior lecturer in music business and arts management at Middlesex University in London, became aware that many musicians were going to struggle financially. “I became very interested in the question of music streaming and started to think of how it could help musicians make at least some income,” she said. “But, at the same time, what happened, especially during the first lockdown in U.K. and Europe, is that many started to livestream from home but did so for free. It is absolutely understandable that they did…

Valentins chantants 2021: Un festival d’amour

By La Scena Musicale Team on 7 April 2021 Classical Music

Pour la 11e année consécutive, La Scena Musicale présentait ses Valentins chantants en février dernier. Le principe de la campagne est simple : moyennant un don, un chanteur livrera une chanson personnalisée à la personne de votre choix. Malgré la pandémie , notre campagne des Valentins chantants a été remplie de positif et s’est transformée en un véritable festival de l’amour. Cette année, notre effectif est passé de six à quinze musiciens, incluant le violoniste Marc-André Gautier. Parmi les artistes les plus en demande figurent Raphaëlle Paquette, Marie-Andrée Mathieu, Valérie Poisson, Don Adriano et Marc-Antoine d’Aragon. Au fil des années, La…

Merkin Hall, New York City

CMIM 2021: A competition like no other

By Arthur Kaptainis on 7 April 2021 Music Competition, Piano

It’s the biggest logistical challenge of my career,” Christiane LeBlanc, executive and artistic director of the Concours musical international de Montréal, said about the prospect of organizing a competition from the end of April through the middle of May.   This statement might seem odd, since none of the contestants or jurors have to be flown to Montreal and suitably housed. Nor is there any need to book the Maison symphonique or the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The competition this year, devoted to the piano, is entirely solo and entirely online. And available free to enthusiasts around the world. The 26…

Summer Camps

By La Scena Musicale Team on 7 April 2021 Classical Music

En raison du contexte sanitaire, plusieurs camps pourraient ne pas avoir lieu en personne.  Veuillez vous en assurer auprès des organisateurs. Due to the health regulations, some camps could be canceled, postponed, or no longer take place in person. Please check with the organizers. NEWFOUNDLAND Vinland Music Camp Online, August 8 to 29  | www.soundbone.ca MONTRÉAL Arti-Culture, camps multi-arts et spécialisés Laval, 21 juin au 27 août 450-662-9564 | www.articulture.org Camp Livingstone Magog, 28 juin au 13 août 819-843-2019 | www.camplivingstone.ca Camp Sainte-Anne Lachine, 28 juin au 20 août 514-637-3571 x632 | www.campsainteanne.ca Camps de jour en arts de la scène…