Vocal - my/maSCENA

Simon Chalifoux dans le rôle de Caïn et Marie-Annick Béliveau dans le rôle d’Adah. Crédit: Hugo B. Lefort

The Myth of Caïn Rewritten by Michel Gonneville

By Benjamin Goron on 1 February 2019 Contemporary, Opera

The myth of Cain and Abel has been the object of many a literary work. One penned by Nobel Prize-winning novelist José Saramango is the most noteworthy treatment to have appeared in recent times. Cain is portrayed in it as the victim of a violent, cruel and corrupt God. Impressed by the treatment, Michel Gonneville started thinking about turning it into an opera. On February 19, 2019, his intentions will be fully realized during the Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques International Festival with the premiere of L’hypothèse Caïn. In his preparations, Gonneville was inspired by two other writers: Konrad Lorenz and his studies…

Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen returns to the Met, March 9–May 11, 2019

By Newswire on 31 January 2019 Newswire, Opera

New York, NY (January 29, 2019)—The Metropolitan Opera will present Richard Wagner’s four-part masterwork Der Ring des Nibelungen in performances March 9–May 11, 2019. This season’s performances are the first time the Met has presented the inventive Robert Lepage staging in six seasons and are the only complete Ring cycles to be presented in North America in 2019. Marshaling the vast forces on stage and in the pit is the incoming music director of the Vienna State Opera, Philippe Jordan, who has conducted acclaimed Ring cycles in Paris and Zurich. The cast includes many of today’s preeminent Wagnerian singers,…

Metropolitan Opera: Free Tickets for Furloughed Federal Workers

By Newswire on 18 January 2019 Newswire, Opera

New York, NY (January 18, 2019) – The Metropolitan Opera announced today that it will offer free tickets for each of its productions to federal government employees affected by the ongoing government shutdown. The offer will be available for all performances from tomorrow, January 19, through January 31, 2019 (excluding the matinee of January 26). Those eligible can reserve a pair of tickets per person per performance, subject to availability, on the day of each show by telephone (212-362-6000) or in person at the Met box office. A valid government ID must be presented when collecting tickets. Quantities are limited. …

Sarah Brightman - Hymn

Sarah Brightman’s Hymn Album on Tour beginning with Montreal on February 9

By Newswire on 17 January 2019 Classical Music, Popular Music, Vocal

The world’s most successful and best-selling soprano Sarah Brightman unveiled her much anticipated fifteenth full-length album, HYMN, last November via Decca Gold/Universal Music Group/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. This marks the multiplatinum GRAMMY® award-nominated classical crossover pioneer’s first new studio recording since she released the international chart-topper Dreamchaser in 2013. In addition to her new album, Sarah Brightman launched her world tour, Hymn: Sarah Brightman In Concert, which will include 125 shows on five continents throughout 2018/2019 and includes three Canadian dates in early 2019. See Canadian tour dates below. To enhance her world of enchantment, Sarah Brightman has partnered with Swarovski on…

Photo : Pamela Lajeunesse

SLĀV: A Year of Noise and Silence

By Newswire on 31 December 2018 Newswire, Theatre, Vocal

Quebec, December 28, 2018 – No matter what side you took in the debate about SLĀV, you have to admit that it at least prompted some long-needed reflection in the province of Quebec. Unfortunately, as it often happens here in Quebec, important social debates sometimes end up leading to a situation where everyone’s talking and nobody’s listening. The discourse gets muddied, becoming just a heap of ideas and opinions overrun by noise and confusion. Over the last year, people have criticized me often for not having spoken out enough on the subject and especially for not having played the media’s game. But…

CD Review – Nadine Sierra (Deutsche Grammophon)

By Norman Lebrecht on 14 December 2018 Art Song, CD and Book Reviews, Lebrecht Weekly

We do this so you don’t have to. The flow of Christmas albums has slimmed in recent years but there is still a belief in the music industry that nothing sells at Christmas like an opera singer. Is that still true? I sampled Bryne Terfel’s DG Santa sock which includes duets with Katherine Jenkins and Emma Thompson. Need I say more? I dipped into Renée Fleming’s Broadway disc on Decca and quickly dipped out again. I attended with sadness to the great John Tomlinson’s Schubert Swansong on Signum. And then I heard Nadine Sierra’s debut album and all was light…

COC Announces New Commission: The Old Fools by Sokolović and Bentley

By Newswire on 11 December 2018 Contemporary, Newswire, Opera

Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company announced today a new mainstage commission: The Old Fools bycelebrated Montreal-based composer Ana Sokolović and seasoned British librettist Paul Bentley. La Reine-Garçon, first announced in 2015, is moving forward as a co-commission with the Opéra de Montréal; it’s the first mainstage collaboration of its kind between the two major Canadian opera companies and at its helm are two exceptionalCanadian artists: Julien Bilodeau as composer and Michel Marc Bouchard as librettist. The Old Fools This opera in two acts was inspired by “The Old Fools” by renowned English poet Philip Larkin. The poem concerns Larkin’s fear…

La Reine-Garçon – A New Work by Michel Marc Bouchard and Julien Bilodeau at the Opéra de Montréal

By Newswire on 11 December 2018 Contemporary, Newswire, Opera

Montreal, December 11, 2018 – The Opéra de Montréal announces a new opera, La Reine-Garçon, with a libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard and music by Julien Bilodeau, which will be presented in Montreal and in Toronto in 2023. This work, the first to be co-commissioned by the Opéra de Montréal and the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, once again substantiates Montreal’s undeniably important role in creating a new opera repertoire showcasing our greatest homegrown talents. The popular and critical success of the opera Les Feluettes, which had its world premiere at the Opéra de Montréal in May 2016, confirmed Montrealers’…

Noël piano-voix : The Making-Of

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 5 December 2018 Discovery CDs, Piano, Vocal

The thought of recording an album, Noël piano-voix, dawned on me after performing a Christmas music recital with pianist Lisandre Sévigny Di Quinzio. I enjoyed singing the music, and the audience was quite receptive. After talking to my accompanist, we agreed to be equal partners in this venture. Fundraising Recording a CD is an expensive proposition, far more than we could afford on our own. So we got a fundraising campaign together. We solicited financial contributions, regardless of the amount. In exchange, we offered various incentives to eventual benefactors. Happily, we met our goal, or just about. Repertoire We established three…

Interview with Il Divo: Let’s Talk Opera

By Adrian Rodriguez on 3 December 2018 Opera, Popular Music, Vocal

Il Divo, the male vocal quartet composed of singers Urs Bühler (Switzerland), Carlos Marín (Spain), David Miller (USA), and Sébastien Izambard (France) is celebrating it’s 15th anniversary with a worldwide tour and their new CD Timeless. We met the internationally acclaimed quartet right before their performance at Theatre St. Denis in Montreal. The ensemble, originally founded by British producer Simon Cowell, and now self-produced, delighted their fans with pieces from their new CD: Timeless. The recording is composed of a mix of pop and traditional standards from the 1930’s until now. It was released last August on Decca Gold with a #1 debut…

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