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CD Review | Ave Maria (Decca Classics, 2023)

By Zenith Wolfe on 29 May 2023 Classical Music, Opera, Vocal

Ave Maria Joseph Calleja, tenor; Étienne Dupuis, baritone; Daniel Hope, violin; Malta Philharmonic Orchestra; Sergey Smbatyan, conductor Decca Classics, 2023 To celebrate his 20th year with Decca Records, Joseph Calleja has undertaken his first sacred music album: Ave Maria. It offers four beautiful renditions of this classic piece, originally composed by Schubert for the third canto of “The Lady of the Lake,” now arranged for orchestra and tenor. They’re also accompanied by various works by Rossini, Verdi, Bizet and Wagner. The first half of the album displays the controlled beauty of these adaptations; the melodies of the violin and Malta…

Mary-Jane Puiu (1950 – 2023)

By Wah Keung Chan on 27 May 2023 Choral, Education, Montreal, Obituaries

My first choral conductor Mary-Jane Puiu (b. March 8, 1950) passed away on May 16, 2023 at the age of 73. According to tenor Eduardo Aparicio, “despite battling a long devastating disease, she heroically managed to keep conducting her choir till the last minute of her life.” We pay tribute to Puiu by republishing a profile/interview I conducted of her in La Scena Musicale in 2010 for her 60th birthday. According to the McGill Choral Society’s Facebook page, here are the details of the service on June 12, 2023: An Orthodox service for close friends and family will be held…

Isidore String Quartet

Festival Picks

By Eva Stone-Barney on 26 May 2023 Baroque and Early, Canadian Music, Chamber Music, Choral, Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Opera, Orchestral, Piano, Strings, Vocal

Author : (Eva Stone-Barney)

MONTREAL/QUEBEC Centre Culturel de Pointe-Claire In an effort to make cultural programming accessible to its residents, and breathe life into public park spaces, the Centre Culturel de Pointe-Claire will present a series of free concerts as part of their Summer Evenings in the Parks / Summer Beats in the Parks Festival. Running from June 28 to Aug. 16, the festival will consist of 10 concerts in parks across the city. Starting at Stewart Park on June 28, audiences are invited to a concert of world music titled Paul Kunigis: Yallah. Performances of blues, Latin jazz, world jazz, and Brazilian percussion…

Highlands Opera Studio: Finding New Ears in Haliburton, Ont.

By Eva Stone-Barney on 26 May 2023 Education, Opera

Author : (Eva Stone-Barney)

For the last 17 summers, Canada’s promising opera singers have flocked to Haliburton, Ont., to participate in the Highlands Opera Studio (HOS) which, this year, takes place July 27 to Aug. 28. The professional training academy and festival was brought to life by internationally renowned tenor Richard Margison and former Metropolitan Opera stage director Valerie Kuinka who, as Kuinka put it, “recognized a disconnect between high-level training programs and the professional world.” The pair identified the need to assist early career singers by offering high-level musical opportunities, as well as exposure to industry professionals. They have been filling that gap…

Newswire | 2023 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Voice Announce 12 Finalists Including Two Canadians

By Newswire on 25 May 2023 Art Song, Newswire, Opera, Vocal

Brussels, Belgium (May 25, 2023) – The final of the 2023 Voice Competition will be held at the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts on Thursday 1 to Saturday 3 June, 8.15pm. Presenting the twelve finalists : Fleuranne Brockway, mezzo-soprano Daniel Gwon, baritono Floriane Hasler, mezzo-soprano Inho Jeong, basso Taehan Kim, baritono Juliette Mey, mezzo-soprano Julia Muzychenko-Greenhalgh, soprano Anna-Sophie Neher, soprano Carole-Anne Roussel, soprano Sílvia Sequeira, soprano Maria Warenberg, mezzo-soprano Jasmin White, contralto Via this link you can read more about the finalists and download their photos on their personal pages. The biographies of the finalists will be available on the press…

Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | COC’s Tosca

By Denise Lai on 8 May 2023 City, Concert Reviews, Toronto, Vocal

Tosca is a riveting drama of love, lust and betrayal. Add in Puccini’s impossibly lush score and a few show-stopper arias, this opera is the whole package. Directed by Paul Curran, this COC revival of the 2017 production features brand new leads in their COC debuts: Irish soprano Sinéad Campbell-Wallace as Tosca and Italian tenor Stefano La Colla as Cavaradossi, and expectations are high. What you missed La Colla is a fine, smitten Cavaradossi. His warm, creamy sound carried the high notes beautifully. Tosca is a temperamental character – loving and charming one moment, jealous and angry the next. Campbell-Wallace,…

Photo: Michael Cooper

Review | Canadian Opera Company’s Macbeth a Hit with some Misses

By Denise Lai on 8 May 2023 City, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Opera, Toronto, Vocal

Emboldened by witches’ prophesies and with strong encouragement from his wife, Macbeth turns into a power-thirsty man who uses violence to annihilate everything in his way to seize Scotland’s throne. Verdi’s ominous score is enhanced by dramatic stage effects: dark sets punctuated by thunder and lightning; ghostly appearances of witches and three demonic children; bloodied bodies rising from the dead. Although the murders are all swiftly carried out, David McVicar‘s COC/Chicago co-production delivers a longing sense of foreboding and some genuinely frightening moments. What you missed There was all-round good singing from the male leads. American baritone Quinn Kelsey’s debut…

Newswire | Sherrill Milnes Voice Programs Announce Baritone Seungchan Hong As Winner Of 2023 Opera Idol Competition

By Newswire on 2 May 2023 Classical Music, Music Competition, Newswire, Vocal

New York City, New York – May 2, 2023 – The Sherrill Milnes VOICE Programs kicked off a week in New York City by welcoming young contestants from around the country to compete in the 17th annual Opera Idol competition. This sponsor exclusive event continued the tradition of a Chicago based scholarship program and was enjoyed in a private salon by patrons of the Gala. The 2023 Opera Idol winner, Seungchan Hong, a South Korean baritone, was awarded this prestigious scholarship. Hong has performed Gianni Schicchi at the Canto Vocal Program in Louisville, Kentucky. He is currently pursuing an Artist…

Newswire | Six singers named winners of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Competition

By Newswire on 24 April 2023 Classical Music, Music Competition, Newswire, Opera, Vocal

New York, NY (April 23, 2023)—The Met proudly presents the winners of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition: tenor Anthony León, mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis, soprano Teresa Perrotta, mezzo-soprano Sarah Saturnino, bass-baritone Christian Simmons, and soprano Meredith Wohlgemuth. After a season-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named these six singers as the winners, each receiving a $20,000 cash prize and the prestige and exposure that come with winning a competition that has launched the careers of many of opera’s biggest stars. The 2023 winners, their ages, the regions…

Photo: DL ACKEN

Newswire | Vancouver Opera announces 2023-2024 season with The Magic Flute, Don Pasquale and Carmen

By Newswire on 21 April 2023 Classical Music, Newswire, Opera, Vocal

APRIL 21, 2023, VANCOUVER, B.C. – Traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations – Vancouver Opera is excited to announce the 2023–2024 season. In October, Mozart’s The Magic Flute will begin the season followed by Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in February 2024. Closing the season will be Bizet’s much loved opera Carmen for five performances in April and May 2024. “We are excited to present an incredible season of opera “classics” to expose our great art form to new audiences,” said Tom Wright, Vancouver Opera General Director. “Two of the operas have not been seen in over…

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