Vocal - my/maSCENA

Photo: Metropolitan Opera

Lise Davidsen in Oslo a Treat

By Wah Keung Chan on 2 September 2020 Art Song, Opera, Vocal

When 34-year-old soprano Lise Davidsen made her Montreal debut last October as the title character in Orchestre Métropolitain’s opera in concert version of Beethoven’s Fidelio, audiences were awestruck by the ability of her voice to effortlessly fill the Maison Symphonique. Her voice was two sizes larger than most of the other casts, including many notable local singers. It’s a generational talent reminding me of live encounters with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and the late tenor Salvatore Licitra. Comparisons are inevitable with her fellow great Norwegan soprano Kirsten Flagstad, whose international career spanned the 1930s and 1940s, and was the greatest Wagnerian…

La Scena Tête à tête: TOP 10 TENORS

By La Scena Musicale Team on 28 August 2020 Arts Industry, Opera, Vocal

ReWatch on YouTube Live On August 26th, at 7pm (Montréal) on Facebook Live, a special zoom discussion: TOP 10 TENORS (of the recording era). We had as guests tenor Olivier Delaire and baritone Charles Brocchiero… and many more special surprise guests. We will be discussing a theme that most tenors and opera lovers like: (:. Who are the best tenors in history and why????? (recording era) We will try to come up with a consensus top 10 at the end of the program. We will be also having a live question and answer section with the public who tune into…

La Scena Tête à tête: Soprano Kathryn Frady, Host Don Adriano

By La Scena Musicale Team on 19 August 2020 Arts Industry, Opera, Vocal

On Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/LaScenaMusicale/videos/851997635207675/ On August 19th, at 7pm on Facebook Live, soprano Kathryn Frady joined host Don Adriano.for an interview and performance. The British-American soprano has worked as both a performer and director in the United States, Europe and South Africa. As executive artistic director of Marble City Opera in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kathryn has produced and directed more than 35 new productions and world premieres. We will be having a live question and answer section with the public who tune into our zoom meeting and our chat. To be part of the 3 persons to have direct and very…

Photo: François Goupil

Yannick and OM put spotlight on Beethoven — and Montreal

By Arthur Kaptainis on 1 August 2020 Arts Industry, Opera, Orchestral

The familiar setting is Bourgie Hall, festooned with microphones, lamps, music stands and cleared of audience chairs. Yannick Nézet-Séguin stands on a podium near the rear, facing forward, score to one side. Horns, trumpets and timpani are on the stage, other players on the floor. Everyone is moderately distanced but unmasked. There might be some techies in the balcony but no public as that word is normally understood. All of this in keeping, we are assured, with provincial guidelines on recording. “It’s what I like to call a jam session,” YNS said in a spoken introduction to the Friday afternoon…

Marie-Ève Scarfone

Aline Kutan & Marie-Ève Scarfone: Making the most of downtime

By Olivier Bergeron on 16 July 2020 Piano, Vocal

Musicians don’t perform only because it is their passion: it’s also how they earn a living. The coronavirus crisis has had a devastating effect on the music industry and many institutions are under threat of closure. Performers have seen their work schedules scratched out from mid-March forward. Some are out of work until 2021. Soprano Aline Kutan and pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone discuss how their lives have been affected and how they carry on from home. Initially, the confinement came as a welcome break, an opportunity to take a step back from a hectic schedule for both musicians. After driving back…

Choral singing: a long road back

By Arthur Kaptainis on 16 July 2020 Choral

It was a shocker in an age of shocking stories. Fifty-five members of the Skagit Valley Chorale in Mount Vernon, Washington, met at the local Presbyterian church on March 10 for a rehearsal. Three weeks later, 45 had tested positive for COVID-19. Two were dead. Despite the availability at the door of hand sanitizer and a general moratorium on handshaking and other forms of physical contact. Despite the testimony of several members that no one was heard to cough during the two-and-a-half-hour rehearsal. Nor is the Skagit Vallet story the only documented case of choral super-spreading. The Amsterdams Gemengd Koor (Amsterdam Mixed Choir)…

Yara Zeitoun

The Corona Serenades

By La Scena Musicale Team on 15 July 2020 Vocal

By Adrian Rodriguez and Eva Stone-Barney La Scena Musicale launched the Corona Serenades in early April as a means of connecting people through music in a time when many felt isolated. The idea for Corona Serenades came from La Scena Musicale founding editor Wah Keung Chan and tenor Adrian Rodriguez, who modeled the project on La Scena Musicale’s successful Singing Valentine service, which has been running annually for over a decade. Corona Serenades provides personalized videos of professional singers singing from their homes around the world. With a roster of approximately 25 singers from over six countries, Corona Serenades can…

Andrew Gray: The Montreal Choral Institute and Voces Boreales

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 15 July 2020 Choral, Contemporary

Andrew Gray couldn’t have chosen a better city than Montreal when, in 2010, he decided to leave the U.K. to start a new chapter in his already flourishing career. In fact, the “city of a hundred bells” boasts a well-established choral tradition, with two symphony orchestras, a ballet company and hundreds of vocal ensembles of all levels. It was in this rich musical landscape that Gray won his first official position as conductor of the Montreal Children’s Choir, which he left in 2015 to take over artistic and musical direction of the Montreal Choral Institute (MCI) and its ensemble, the…

Ten Years of Heartfelt Singing

By Vasyl Pawlowsky on 14 July 2020 Vocal

Almost a decade ago, La Scena Musicale founder Wah Keung Chan created an unusual alternative to chocolates, cards and flowers: Singing Valentines. On Feb. 14 we conducted the 10th edition of this annual fundraising initiative. It was a great success for many reasons. Our six singers with their repertoire of 34 songs delivered 40 Singing Valentines to individuals in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Toledo, Ohio. When Jo-Ann Davies of Montreal called in her request for a Singing Valentine, she was clearly excited about the opportunity. “Andrew Carter on CJAD 800 was really pumping up this as a special gift, and I…

Chants Libres: Rethinking the Total Art of the 21st Century

By Benjamin Goron on 14 July 2020 Canadian Music, Opera

Chants Libres came into being in 1991, at a time when contemporary opera didn’t have much good press in Quebec. Many singers dreaded damaging their vocal cords with new techniques, while musical theatre was eclipsing lyrical voices. This didn’t prevent soprano Pauline Vaillancourt from founding a company that, 30 years later, has carved out a top place for itself in the world of contemporary music. Let’s look back at three decades of Chants Libres. Catching up after a lagging behind During Nuit blanche on Feb. 29, more than 400 people enjoyed a program presented by Chants Libres and its partners…

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