Vocal - my/maSCENA

Marcello Giordani, tenor, 1963-2019

By La Scena Musicale Team on 5 October 2019 Opera

Italian media Siricusa News (Syracuse News in Sicily, Italy) reports the death of Italian tenor Marcello Giordani suddenly this afternoon at 56 years old due to a heart attack. Giordani felt bad at his home in Augusta, Sicily. “The attempts to revive him for more than an hour by the doctors of an ambulance were also futile,” explains this media. Just a month ago, Giordani played the role of Calaf, from the Puccini’s opera Turandot, directed by Enrico Stinchelli in the theater of Taormina and in the Greek theater of Syracuse. Turandot the last of a series of successes in…

(l-r) Joseph Hu as Bill/Pong, Sergey Skorokhodov as Calaf, Julius Ahn as Bob/Pang, Adrian Timpau as Jim/Ping in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Turandot, 2019, photo: Michael Cooper

Ping, Pang and Pong ousted from Toronto Turandot

By Arthur Kaptainis on 3 October 2019 Concert Reviews, Opera, Romantic

The Canadian Opera Company has opened its season in Toronto with the North American premiere of Robert Wilson’s production of Turandot – and the world premiere appearances in this Puccini opera of Jim, Bob and Bill. Opera fans who do not recognize these roles might be more familiar with Ping, Pang and Pong, the court bureaucrats who add comic relief to the tale of love and death in ancient Beijing. Their names were judged potentially hurtful by the COC’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee, and particularly committee member Richard Lee, who is named in the credits as a production consultant. “This act…

Photo: courtoisie de l'artiste

Trio Dell’Aria: Louis Spohr and more

By Justin Bernard on 1 October 2019 Art Song, Canadian Music, Chamber Music

Soprano Kripa Nageshwar, pianist Ruta Vaivade and clarinetist Michael Westwood always had an individual passion for chamber music. The same passion drew them together and binds them today. Their adventure as the Trio Dell’Aria took off at Toronto’s Westwood Concert Series in 2014, where they gave their first public performance. They went on exploring Baroque to contemporary music, as well as jazz, folksong and chanson. “With Ruta, we finally found our match, Kripa and I,” Michael says. “It’s now the perfect trio.” Ruta adds: “Plus, now that we get more and more chances to perform, I think there are new…

Jessye Norman, Soprano, 1945-2019

By La Scena Musicale Team on 30 September 2019 Art Song, Education, Opera, Vocal

Jessye Norman, one of the world’s most admired vocalists, died in New York on Sept. 30 at the age of 74. According to a statement issued by her family, the cause was septic shock and multi-organ failure resulting from complications of a spinal cord injury the American soprano sustained in 2015. “We are so proud of Jessye’s musical achievements and the inspiration that she provided to audiences around the world that will continue to be a source of joy,” the statement reads. “We are equally proud of her humanitarian endeavors addressing matters such as hunger, homelessness, youth development, and arts…

Etienne Dupuis (Onéguine) Nicole Car (Tatiana). Photo: Yves Renaud

OdM Eugene Onegin Offers a Dynamic Duo and More

By Arthur Kaptainis on 15 September 2019 Concert Reviews, Opera, Romantic

This was one of the best-cast and least-tampered-with Opéra de Montréal presentations in recent memory.Opera’s newest power couple – so Etienne Dupuis and Nicole Car have been called, and so they sounded Saturday night in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. But as impressive as they were in the principal roles, the Montreal-born baritone and his Australian soprano better half did not constitute the sum of show. This was one of the best-cast and least-tampered-with Opéra de Montréal presentations in recent memory. What you missed Fans of mezzo-sopranos had an array of firm sonorities to choose from in Christianne Bélanger as Larina, Stefania Toczyska…

Against the Grain Theatre’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Robin Whiffen will become the organization’s first Executive Director, effective September 16, 2019.

AtG’s New Executive Director

By Newswire on 12 September 2019 Arts Industry, Opera

Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) hires Robin Whiffen as the company’s first Executive Director. TORONTO — An arts administrator and performer from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Robin Whiffen spent the past three seasons with Opera on the Avalon, most recently in the role of General Manager. Inspired by a lifelong love of music, Ms. Whiffen is passionate about creating meaningful collaborative partnerships within the arts community, allowing audiences to see their full potential reflected through the power of opera. Ms. Whiffen is a Master of Business Administration candidate at Memorial University of Newfoundland and holds a Bachelor of Music in voice…

Photo : courtoisie

Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal: Uncertain Times

By Charlotte Monastesse on 5 September 2019 Choral

Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal are one of Quebec’s most treasured cultural institutions. Having represented Quebec worldwide for over six decades, this boys’ choir was dealt a hard blow last March, when the Commission scolaire de Montréal announced the termination of a long-standing agreement enabling 200 youths aged 8 to 17 to pursue their education at Collège Notre-Dame. In Europe, boy choirs are an established tradition. In Quebec, Father Léandre Brault created Les Petits Chanteurs in 1956 on the belief that the teaching of music to the young would be for their greater benefit. The choir’s makeup now is more…

Photo : Kevin Calixte

Caroline Gélinas – Mezzo-Soprano (Canada)

By Justin Bernard on 5 September 2019 Opera

Canadian mezzo Caroline Gélinas has had lifelong love affairs with music and nature. Born and raised in Montbelliard, a town in the rural Abitibi-Temiscamingue region of Quebec, she was passionate about music at an early age. At 18, she discovered the world of opera upon taking her first private voice lessons. After a first move to Quebec City, she was on her way to Montreal not long thereafter to establish her career. Studies at the Conservatoire led her to the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal for two more years of training. Gélinas says that she finds the acting just…

Portrait of Joe Kaiser

Tenor Joseph Kaiser Calls Time Out

By Arthur Kaptainis on 4 September 2019 Art Song, Opera, Vocal

Joseph Kaiser, 41, a Canadian tenor who has performed in the great houses of the world, has announced “an indefinite leave of absence” with language that suggests that he is contemplating retirement. “Due to personal reasons, I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from my international singing career,” the McGill alumnus and former cantor wrote on Sept. 4 on his Facebook page. “Thank you for your support over the years. I will deeply miss all of my wonderful colleagues and am indebted to all those who believed in me for the past 22 years. I ask that you…

Sebastian Haboczki. Photo: Courtoisie de l'artiste

Hungarian Music Seen in a New Light

By Arthur Kaptainis on 30 August 2019 Opera, Piano

Hungarian music is part of my heritage,” says Sebastian Haboczki, a former member of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. “The music and the rhythms have been part of my being, part of my essence, since I was born.” Not that you have to be Hungarian to enjoy the Music of Hungary concert given by this tenor on Oct. 5 at St. James United Church, with soprano Melissa McCann, violinist István Lakatos and pianist Paul Digout. The nation has always travelled well, musically and otherwise. Repertoire is primarily vocal and possibly unfamiliar to those who have not, like Haboczki,…

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