Opera - my/maSCENA

Browsing: Opera

Daily News Roundup: 6 December 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 6 December 2016 Daily News Roundup, Opera, Vocal

The song competition of the Concours international de musique de Genève, which ended December 2, didn’t hand out a First Prize. Four prizes were handed to German tenor David Fischer: Second Prize, Public Prize, Students Prize and Yvonne Sigg Prize. The Swiss Marina Viotti and Korean Seung-Jick Kim shared the Third Prize ex aequo. Soprano Elisabeth Carron died last Thursday at the age of 94. She sang as Mimi from La Bohème at the MET and as the main role of Madama Butterly at City Opera among many leading roles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m8n28ypNo8 Soprano Gigliola Frazzoni died between Saturday and…

Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim, Eric Owens as Jaufré Rudel and Susanna Phillips as Clémence in Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin. Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Met Premiere: L’Amour de Loin by Kaija Saariaho and Amin Maalouf

By Xenia Hanusiak on 6 December 2016 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Opera

The Metropolitan Opera’s production of L’Amour de Loin, by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, shines on the most trailblazing composer of the 21st century. It has been a limelight month for Saariaho in New York. Ensembles from the New York Philharmonic to educational institutions such as the Mannes School of Music have given Saariaho’s music a highlight in their programming calendar. These dedicated performances together with the house premiere of L’Amour de Loin at The Metropolitan Opera have not only addressed Saariaho’s stellar status but have inserted a post script on the position of female artists in opera. While Saariaho frequently…

Paula Berry (Alcina), Opera McGill 2016

Opera McGill at 60

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 December 2016 Education, Interviews, Musical Theatre, Opera

If you peel back the layers of any opera company in Canada, you are likely to find Opera McGill graduates at every level: on the stage, beneath the stage, and behind the stage. Take Opéra de Montréal’s recent production of Don Giovanni, for example. While bass-baritone Gordon Bintner, who played his first Don Giovanni at McGill four years ago, reprised the title role, rising star Jordan De Souza led from the pit. Soprano Emily Dorn (Donna Anna) is an alumna, and the show’s stage director, American David Lefkowich also has connections to the program, having directed The Rake’s Progress at…

Simone McIntosh

Wirth Vocal Prize 2016–17

By Kiersten van Vliet on 1 December 2016 Art Song, Arts Industry, La Scena Spotlight, Opera, Vocal

The second annual Wirth Vocal Prize at McGill’s Schulich School of Music culminated in an evening of superior music-making by the three finalists: bass-baritone Jean-Philippe McClish, mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh, and baritone Igor Mostovoi. Made up of past and present McGill graduates, the jury of Michael McMahon (pianist), Joan Patenaude-Yarnell (soprano), Patrick Corrigan (Director General of the Opéra de Montréal), and chair Stéphane Lemelin (pianist and head of the Department of Performance) selected McIntosh for the top prize, which includes $25,000, artistic mentorship, and several performance opportunities, including a recital with the COC. McIntosh, also the recent winner of the COC’s…

Austin Opera Welcomes Back Wagner’s Flying Dutchman

By Paul E. Robinson on 22 November 2016 Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Opera

WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman. Wayne Tigges (Dutchman); Peter Volpe (Daland); Melody Moore (Senta); Clay Hilley (Erik). Eric Einhorn (stage director). Michael Baumgarten (lighting and video designer). Austin Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Richard Buckley. Long Center for the Performing Arts. Austin, Texas. November 12, 2016 Austin Opera opened its 2016-2017 season with a Wagner opera, an ambitious undertaking for a regional company of modest means. That said, any opera company anywhere that avoids presenting Wagner operas, either because they require too much effort or too much money, is not properly serving its community. Austin in 2016 is large enough and wealthy enough not only…

French Institute Alliance Française and Opera Lafayette – Menu: Plaisirs with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt

By Xenia Hanusiak on 21 November 2016 Art Song, Concert Reviews, Opera

Menu: Plaisirs with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt French Institute Alliance Française and Opera Lafayette Where: FIAF Florence Gould Hall, New York When November 16, 2016 The phrase “from the sublime to the ridiculous” is one of those idiomatic expressions that you associate with happenstances of all kinds, so to use that choice of words to describe a performance of high art French chanson, cabaret of Yvette Guilbert, and eighteenth-century Comédie lyrique may seem odd. But not when you consider that the performance Menu-Plaisirs co-created by its tenor soloist Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, director Jean Lacornerie, and magician Thierry Collet was conceived not simply as…

Gordon Bintner as Don Giovanni, Photo: Yves Renaud

Opéra de Montréal’s Don Giovanni a Showcase for Canadian Talent

By Kiersten van Vliet on 15 November 2016 Classical, Concert Reviews, Opera

With an all-Canadian cast, Opéra de Montréal’s Don Giovanni opened Saturday night to an enthusiastic crowd at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Full disclosure: I don’t really like Don Giovanni. Don’t get me wrong, I love Mozart generally, and his operas in particular. But Don Giovanni’s antics always leave a sour taste in my mouth – and that’s a difficult thing to get past. That said, we do not experience works as scores and libretti, but as performances. This is especially true for opera. Each staging of an opera has a life of its own, an inner cohesiveness that can challenge hermeneutic…

Daily News Roundup: 15 November 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 15 November 2016 Daily News Roundup, Opera, Orchestral, Strings, Violin

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) announced yesterday a surprise tour of Israel and Europe from May 7 to 22, 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. The TSO will be visiting Israel for the first time, stopping in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Musical Toronto has more information on the tour, the participating musicians and the repertoire, which will be performed. The Montclair Orchestra selected David Chan as its first Music Director for its 2017-2018 inaugural season. Chan is the concertmaster of the MET Orchestra in New York. New Zealand-born 26-year-old violinist Benjamin Baker and American 22-year-old double bassist Xavier…

Daily News Roundup: 14 November 2016

By Nicole Yeba on 14 November 2016 Daily News Roundup, Education, Opera, Orchestral

Opéra de Montréal presented Don Giovanni on November 12, 2016, which satisfied most audiences. The opera is playing again on the 15, 17 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. Christophe Rodriguez of Journal de Montréal talks about the success of the opera. Arthur Kaptainis of Montreal Gazette believes the balance between the comic and tragic elements is right. Christophe Huss of Le Devoir doesn’t like David Lefkowich’s adapation of Don Giovanni. Caroline Rodgers of La Presse enjoys the simplicity of the opera and believes it’s a success. Sophie Jama of Huffington Post Québec admires the all-Canadian cast with beautiful and strong voices. Our writer Robert Kilborn enjoyed the…

Photo: Yves Renaud.

Opéra de Montréal coutures a mid-20th century Don Giovanni with éclat

By Robert Kilborn on 14 November 2016 Classical, Concert Reviews, Opera

Why do women respond to rascals, seducers, and merely self-assured men? Don Giovanni cannot match the sexual prodigality of Gene Simmons of hard rock band KISS. The Don’s conquests in the salons, kitchens, and petticoats of 18th century Europe comprise a mere 640 women and girls in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, and 1,003 in Spain. Gene Simmons’s worldwide conquests exceed either 4,600 or 4,800 eager groupies, depending on whether you ask him or his wife. Rake. Libertine. Trickster. Don Giovanni embodies the notorious womanizer, seducer, and serial rapist at concert pitch. His quicksilver sociopathy…

Previous 1 … 57 58 59 60 61 … 71 Next

Current Issue

PDF HTML

Next Issue : February/March

Ad Deadline : January 24, 2025

Past Issues, Subscriptions, Advertising