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Newswire | The Metropolitan Opera announces its 2023–24 season, with the most new works in the company’s modern history

By Newswire on 24 February 2023 Newswire, Opera

New York, NY (February 22, 2023) — The Metropolitan Opera today announced a 2023–24 season with the most new works in the company’s modern history—including four Met premieres—showcasing its dedication to expanding the repertoire and to reaching new audiences. While fully one-third of the operas presented next season are recent, the lineup also includes a full slate of classics, among them new productions of Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino and revivals of works by Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Gounod, Mozart, and Gluck. The season includes six new productions in all. A host of major singers, conductors, and directors…

CD Review | Albertine en cinq temps – L’opéra (ATMA Classique, 2022)

By Zenith Wolfe on 18 February 2023 CD and Book Reviews, Opera, Quebec Music

Albertine en cinq temps – L’opéra Chantal Lambert, Monique Pagé, Chantal Dionne, Catherine St-Arnaud, Marianne Lambert, sopranos; Florence Bourget, mezzo-soprano; Marie-Claude Roy, piano; Mélanie Vaugeois, violin; Élise Poulin, English horn; Annie Gadbois, cello; Anaïs Vigeant, double bass ATMA Classique, 2022 Albertine en cinq temps – L’opéra follows the touching story of Albertine, an aging Québécois mother reflecting on five different parts of her life as she moves into a retirement home. There’s a good reason soprano Chantal Lambert stars as the most prominent voice in the opera, Albertine at 70 years of age. She pours her soul into the album,…

2023 Singing Valentines: Spreading the Love!

By La Scena Musicale Team on 6 February 2023 Art Song, Classical Music, Opera, Popular Music, Vocal

“Over the last year and a half, I lost both my 86-year-old father-in-law and my 99-year-old father, and I want to do something special for seniors.” – Wah Keung Chan La Scena Musicale’s Singing Valentines Fundraiser is back for its 13th edition, and we are here to spread the love. We have 20-plus amazing professional singers involved in this year’s project. Previously, we have used this incredible service as a fundraiser for La Scena Musicale. This year we have a new objective: to show love to our community by offering 100 FREE serenades for seniors 65+. “Over the last year…

Microphones in the Opera House!?

By Karim Blondy on 6 February 2023 Audio, Opera, Technology

by Karim Blondy and Adrian Rodriguez The use of microphones in opera productions is a topic that has long been a source of debate among opera enthusiasts and professionals alike. While some argue that the use of microphones detracts from the authenticity of the performance, others argue that they are necessary to enhance the audience’s experience and the performers’ ability to hear and stay in tune with the orchestra. Traditionally, operas were not performed with microphones, but these days many performances take place in large theatres which were built for a multiple array of musical productions, mostly electrified music types,…

Photo: Tam photography

St. Lawrence Choir: Reger, Kodàly & Raminsh Psalms

By Kristine Berey on 5 February 2023 Choral, Classical Music, Vocal

Max Reger (1873-1916) was born at a time marked by profound changes, when every aspect of human experience—social, political and cultural—was called into question. This was reflected in classical music written around the turn of the century, as composers negotiated the tension between tradition and modernity. Paul Hindemith called Reger “the last of the giants” and said his own work would be “inconceivable” without Reger’s influence. Schönberg considered him “a genius.” In Reger’s short lifetime, he composed over 1,000 works in most genres, yet he is less familiar to audiences than his contemporaries including Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Ravel, Richard Strauss and…

The Songs of Jules Massenet: An Under-Appreciated Repertoire

By Justin Bernard on 4 February 2023 Art Song, Romantic

From a historical perspective, Jules Massenet’s art songs have been given short shrift compared with his larger-scale operatic undertakings like Manon, Werther and Cendrillon. Baritone Pierre Bernac (1899-1979), in a work dealing with the interpretation of French art songs, is unequivocal in his assessment of Massenet; he viewed him as being a gifted melodist who wrote tunes wrapped in sugar-coated sentimentalism. If only a few pieces survive now as tokens of that repertoire, it may be due in part to the composer’s reluctance to deal with the subject. Jacques Hétu, in his liner notes to the recently issued box set…

Tam Photography

Mendelssohn Choir – Journey through Bach’s B Minor Mass

By Denise Lai on 3 February 2023 Baroque and Early, Choral, Classical Music

Conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée programmed his second season at the helm of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC) under the theme of journeys. On March 18, TMC performs David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous tale about a poverty-stricken youngster sent out into the cold by her father to sell matches. The journey of this young girl serves as a stark reminder of the problems of hunger and homelessness in our world, where hope and memories meet the harsh reality of the snowy streets. This modern work is strongly inspired by the music of J.S. Bach, and…

Photo: J. Bertrand

Pauline Vaillancourt – Prix Opus Hommage

By Réjean Beaucage on 3 February 2023 Contemporary, Opera

It has been a while since we last heard soprano Pauline Vaillancourt singing in Montreal. In fact, it was back in 2000 when she shared the stage with actor Jean Maheux in L’Enfant des glaces, an “electr’opera” that she designed and staged (music by Zack Settel, libretto by Quevedo and de Nerval). It was the ninth production of Chants Libres, the lyric-creation company of which the singer is artistic director. To get a chance to hear Vaillancourt sing, you’d have to go to Europe, since it is there that she has been working with the Italian composer Maurizio Squillante. She…

Bourgie Hall: First Gesualdo Six Concert on Quebec Soil

By Justin Bernard on 31 January 2023 Baroque and Early, Choral

Bourgie Hall has kick-started the year with a plethora of concerts. Local musicians and ensembles—such as SMAM (Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal) on Feb. 12, Les Violons du Roy on Feb. 24, Nicolas Ellis and Cameron Crozman on March 10, and Orchestre Métropolitain, directed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, on March 26—and international musicians are front and centre. The Gesualdo Six will make their debut in Quebec. Renowned for their Renaissancerepertoire performances, the United Kingdom-based Gesualdo Six will give a one-of-a-kind concert in Montreal on Feb. 21. Montreal will be the final stop of the singers’North American tour that took them…

Review | Toronto Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Mozart’s Birthday with A Superb Requiem

By Joseph So on 12 January 2023 Choral, Concert Reviews, La Scena Online, Orchestral, Toronto

Jane Archibald, sop., Susan Platts, mezz., Isaiah Bell, ten., Kevin Deas, bbar., Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Michael Francis, cond., Roy Thomson Hall, Jan. 11, 2023. Photos: Jag Gundu January is Mozart Month at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. To mark the 267th anniversary of the birthday of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan 27, 1756 – Dec. 5, 1791), the TSO is giving four performances of his incomparable Requiem Mass. The story behind its genesis is very well known, thanks to the hugely successful 1984 movie Amadeus. Mozart died before the completion of the work, and it was left…

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