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Ninety-nine percent of ticket-buyers in Quebec will return to theatres and concert halls – eventually

By Arthur Kaptainis on 4 May 2020 Arts Industry, Classical Music

A poll by the Léger firm indicates that an overwhelming majority of Quebecers who bought tickets during the past year will resume attending “shows and other cultural activities” after the coronavirus pandemic subsides. Only one percent said they would “never” again attend such presentations. The survey consulted 1,002 adults in various parts of the province between April 24 and 26. Results are sorted by age, sex, education, income, family status and geographical region. Seventy-seven percent of respondents were francophone and 41 percent were 55 years old or over. Half were from the Montreal metropolitan region. Sexes were divided approximately in…

CORONA Serenades Concert Week 2 “Divas Spotlight”

By La Scena Musicale Team on 3 May 2020 Art Song, Opera, Vocal

On Sunday, May 3 at 2 pm, we unveiled the CORONA Sérénades Concert Week 2, with a Facebook Watch Party. The concert is titled “Divas Spotlight” and will include: Kara Covey Kathryn Frady Rebecca Louise Dale Yara Zeitoun Erica Lee Martin Anne-Marine Suire Giorgia Fumanti Chantal Dionne Marie-Annick Béliveau Anne Marie Sheridan Here is the link to the Facebook Watch Party. And here is the video on YouTube: Please make an order for our free or donation options at www.coronaserenades.com. This would make a good gift for mother’s day.

Brott Music Announces Brott Music Live!

By Newswire on 1 May 2020 Classical Music

Hamilton ON—May 1st 2020—The Brott Music Festival to produce a series of webcast performances Saturday nights starting May 2nd. Brott Music is delighted to present a series of regular Saturday evening online informal concerts, highlighting programs of Brott Festival. The series will feature the artists we will be hearing in concert once restrictions are lifted and we can gather together again. The performances will take place on Zoom and Facebook Live, from BMF’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BrottMusicFestival/), starting Saturdays at 7:30pm. Each concert will be approximately 45 minutes, taking place “live” from the homes of the artist(s) and will include musical…

Corona Serenades: Q&A with Valérie Poisson, soprano (Canada)

By La Scena Musicale Team on 30 April 2020 Opera

Meet Valérie Poisson, soprano (Canada), singer for Corona Serenades Valérie Poisson is a lyric soprano from Quebec. She has been seen in Don Giovanni in Italy at the Lucca Festival with the AEDO orchestra, where she presented a furious, dejected, sensitive and loving Elvira. Born to psychologists and acquainted with tragedy, she is able to revive strong emotions in a healthy way. Valérie perfected her artistry in Germany and Italy with the support of scholarships and foundations. She has worked with such renowned teachers as Dorothy Stone, Valentin Lanzrein and Thomas Osuga, among others, from Japan and the United States.…

The Metropolitan Opera and Chorus perform at the company’s ‘At-Home Gala’ on Saturday afternoon. Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera At-Home Gala highlights

By La Scena Musicale Team on 29 April 2020 Concert Reviews, Opera

“We’re going low-tech,” Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb said in an introduction to the company’s At-Home Gala broadcast on the internet on Saturday afternoon (evening for the many participants sequestered in Europe). Maybe so, but the vocal results were as high as could be hoped for, from living rooms and kitchens and in some cases with accompaniments as modest as an iPod. To say nothing of the remarkably coordinated players of the Met Orchestra, each pre-recorded and reassembled digitally. Here are some favourites as selected by La Scena Musicale writers, including performances still available on YouTube. Justin Bernard Many…

Opera Philadelphia Launches Digital Streaming Festival, Featuring Four Recent World Premiere Productions (May 1–29)

By Newswire on 28 April 2020 Newswire, Opera

“The HBO of the opera world.” – San Francisco Classical Voice on Opera Philadelphia Over the past five years, Opera Philadelphia has presented no fewer than nine world premieres, scoring multiple awards and winning international audience and critical recognition as “a hotbed of operatic innovation” (New York Times). Now that the 2019-20 season has been cut short by the need for social distancing, the company is extending its season online with Digital Festival O. Comprising video streams of five hit productions – four recent new works among them – the festival kicks off with the online premiere of 2020 International…

Verdelot, Recordare Domine, in Attaingnant, Liber quartus XXIX. musicales (1534).

Music for Pandemics in the Time of St. Philip (1515-1595)

By Aaron James on 26 April 2020 Classical Music

“St. Philip knew…closed churches, abandoned marketplaces, widespread anxiety and uncertainty, and the suffering experienced by the sick and dying.” By Aaron James The Toronto Oratory In the midst of the present COVID-19 crisis, many Catholics have been inspired to rediscover ancient prayers against disease. During the centuries-long struggle against the bubonic plague in Europe, prayers for plague victims were a regular part of the Church’s life, and many texts interceding for plague victims were set to music. Remi Chiu’s timely book Plague and Music in the Renaissance describes many of these compositions and places them in their intellectual context, reminding…

Corona Serenades: Christopher Dunham, baritone (Canada)

By La Scena Musicale Team on 26 April 2020 Interviews, Opera

Meet Christopher Dunham, baritone (Canada), singer for Corona Serenades A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Christopher Dunham has captivated audiences with his lyric baritone voice across Canada and as far away as the Adriatic coast of Italy. His roles include Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Escamillo in Carmen, Don Giovanni, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Dandini in La Cenerentola and Schaunard and Marcello in La Bohème. This graduate from the Atelier lyrique of the Opéra de Montréal has won the Desmarais Development Bursary two years in a row and the Jeunesses Musicales Canada Touring Mentorship. Christopher has sung with Pacific…

Corona Serenades: Q&A with Rebecca Louise Dale, soprano (UK)

By La Scena Musicale Team on 26 April 2020 Interviews, Opera

Meet Rebecca Louise Dale soprano (UK), singer for Corona Serenades. Rebecca Louise Dale is a British vocal artist and opera director. She graduated as a soprano from Trinity College of Music. In 2011 she completed the opera course at the Advanced Performers Studio and has worked with leading directors, conductors and performers. Her operatic roles included Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Opera Vera), Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte (Opéra de Baugé), Ninetta in La Finta Semplice (Opera at Home), Lucy in The Telephone and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel (Open Door Opera) and Frasquita in Carmen (Impact Opera,…

Music for Nova Scotia

By La Scena Musicale Team on 24 April 2020 Classical Music

Update April 24, 2020: Nova Scotia Vigil The Vigil for the victims in Nova Scotia was broadcast tonight and lasted one and a half hours including a moving performance by Natalie MacMaster. Here is the video. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia soprano Measha Brueggergosman’s performance of Gounod’s Ave Maria was left off the vigil. Here is the performance and her interview on CBC Radio’s The Current about why she chose it. Nova Scotia soprano Measha Brueggergosman posted this video on the evening of April 20, 2020. She wrote, “We here in Nova Scotia are now in a state of double shock.…