Classical Music - my/maSCENA

Jingkun Theatre and Shandong Peking Opera Theatre to perform classic repertories

By Newswire on 1 July 2015 Newswire, Opera, Vocal

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – As part of the Chinese Opera Festival 2015, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will stage performances by Jingkun Theatre and Shandong Peking Opera Theatre in late July. Tang Yuen-ha and Geng Tianyuan, artists of Peking opera and Kunqu opera from Hong Kong, will be joined by Kunqu veteran Lu Yongchang and members of the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre in performing some classics of the Peking and Kunqu opera stock repertories.”The Number One Scholar as the Matchmaker” will be staged on July 29. Also known as “The Invincible Formation”, the opera was adapted by Ye Delin…

Timothy Vernon New Artistic Director of Opera Lyra: Renowned conductor begins immediately

By Newswire on 30 June 2015 Newswire, Opera, Vocal

“Timothy Vernon will bring a lifetime of opera success to audiences in the National Capital. His outstanding productions and innovations have won ovations across Canada and the world. What a musical coup for all of us!” – Victor RabinovitchVictor Rabinovitch, Chair of the Board of Opera Lyra, and John Peter Jeffries, General Director of Opera Lyra, announced today that Timothy Vernon has been appointed new Artistic Director of Opera Lyra, starting immediately with the 2015-2016 season. Maestro Vernon is one of the leading figures of the Canadian operatic scene and brings to Opera Lyra an exciting new artistic vision for the future…

MIMC Day 2: Korean Tenor Kim Wins 2015 MIMC

By Newswire on 9 June 2015 Newswire, Vocal

By Wah Keung ChanPhoto: Antoine SaitoThe second night of the Finals of the 2015 Montreal International Musical Competition began with the anticipated Canadian soprano France Bellemare, whose semifinal performance of Dvorak’s Song to the Moon reminded me of 2007 MIMC winner, Canadian soprano Marianne Fiset’s simple regal stature.Unfortunately, Bellemare was plagued by strained high notes as she has a tendency of lifting her head and tilting it to the right to sing anything above a high F as she did in “Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” from Bizet’s Carmen and “Porgi amor” from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. It…

Park Takes Day 1 of Montreal Voice Competition

By Newswire on 4 June 2015 Art Song, Newswire, Vocal

By Wah Keung ChanPhoto: Antoine SaitoLet’s get the suspense out of the way. South Korean soprano Hyesang Park took the Day 1 Finals of the 2015 Montreal International Musical Competition (MIMC). From the first notes of her opening aria “Je veux vire dans ce reve” from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, we knew her voice would soar above the orchestra, and it unfolded as expected, with a spontaneous final standing ovation after her last aria.Park’s programme was perfectly planned, concluding with the mad scene from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. The repertoire in between, a Mozart concert aria, Dupac’s Chanson triste and…

CD Découverte – Ewald Cheung et Philip Chiu

By Michele Duguay on 20 May 2015 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Orchestral, Piano, Romantic, Strings, Violin

Ewald Cheung et Philip Chiu Cette semaine, La Scena Musicale en collaboration avec Espace 21 offre à ses abonnés un enregistrement d’oeuvres de Brahms par Ewald Cheung (violon) et Philip Chiu (piano). Les deux artistes s’impliquent beaucoup sur la scène musicale actuelle et dans leurs champs respectifs. Le violoniste Ewald Cheung est l’un des membres fondateurs du groupe de musique Geistrio et du Quatuor à cordes Roddick. De son côté, le pianiste Philip Chiu est le fondateur et le directeur du programme de piano d’accompagnement du Domaine Forget. Ils ont enregistré les trois sonates pour violon et piano de Johannes Brahms,…

Discovery CD – Ewald Cheung and Philip Chiu

By Michele Duguay on 20 May 2015 CD and Book Reviews, Classical Music, Orchestral, Piano, Romantic, Strings, Violin

Ewald Cheung and Philip ChiuThis week, La Scena Musicale, in collaboration with Espace 21, offers you a recording of Brahms’ work done by Canadians Ewald Cheung (violin) and Philip Chiu (piano) for our Discovery CD. Both artists are involved in the musical scene and in their respective fields. Ewald Cheung is one of the founders of the music groups Geistrio and the Roddick String Quartet. As for Philip Chiu, he’s the founder and director of the Domaine Forget Collaborative Piano Program.You can download the first track here : Track 1Back in 2012, one of our writers, L. H. Tiffany Hsieh,…

Tapestry Opera Receives Opera America Grant

By Newswire on 6 May 2015 Newswire, Opera

TAPESTRY OPERA RECEIVES GRANT FROM OPERA AMERICA TO FUND 12 INDEPENDENT COMPANIESIndie Opera T.O to use funds for innovative digital awareness campaign Toronto, ON — Tapestry Opera is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant of $35,000 USD in the third year of OPERA America’s Building Opera Audiences grant program. This program, made possible by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, supports the efforts of North American opera companies to build informed, enthusiastic audiences for opera through innovative marketing projects. Tapestry Opera was granted funds to support 12 independent opera companies in Toronto through the budding Indie Opera T.O movement.Tapestry Opera is one of nine organizations in…

CD Découverte – Stéphan Sylvestre

By Michele Duguay on 22 April 2015 CD and Book Reviews, Piano, Romantic

CD Découverte – Stéphan Sylvestre Le CD découverte du pianiste canadien Stéphan Sylvestre propose des œuvres de Johannes Brahms dont huit pièces pour piano, deux rhapsodies, trois intermezzos et un Albumblatt en la mineur, opus posthume.Plusieurs critiques ont encensé Sylvestre, dont CBC Music qui affirme que son approche de Brahms est « beaucoup plus romantique [que celle de Perahia], mais aussi intéressante. Sa manière de jouer est introspective et réfléchie, et est accompagnée d’une sensibilité profonde ». Il a également été comparé à Artur Rubinstein pour son talent naturel (La Presse, Montréal). Sa carrière se déroule à l’internationale et il a donné des…

American Composer Philip Glass is Eleventh Glenn Gould Prize Laureate

By Newswire on 14 April 2015 Chamber Music, Contemporary, Newswire, Opera, Orchestral

Philip Glass Announced asEleventh Glenn Gould Prize LaureateA fearlessly innovative, collaborative and prolific composer“I am very pleased to be the winner of the Eleventh Glenn Gould Prize. It is for me a special honor as I am one of the many musicians who have been inspired by him. Glenn Gould’s name is associated with a lifetime of excellence in music interpretation and performance. Also I am aware that this award places me in the company of some of the most celebrated names in the broad spectrum of the music of our time. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that I accept this award.” – Philip…

Eifman Ballet performs Anna Karenina to music by Tchaikovsky in Montreal’s Place des Arts 15-18 April

Anna Karenina: Dancing on the Grave of Love

By Robert Kilborn on 14 April 2015 Concert Reviews, Dance, Romantic

Is Anna Karenina the greatest novel ever written? Dostoyevsky and Nabokov declared it “flawless.” Faulkner described it as “the best ever written.” Hemingway, Woolf, Proust, Joyce, Mann, and countless others learned large parts of their craft from it. In 2007, Time magazine published a poll of 125 big-name authors – from Norman Mailer to David Foster Wallace – which placed Tolstoy’s epic tale of outlaw passion and self-destruction at Number One in a list of “The Top Ten Books of All Time.” Numerous stage, film, television, radio, opera, dance, and other adaptions of Anna Karenina have swelled consciousness for more than…

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