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Austin Opera's Otello "in concert". Photo: Erich Schlegel

Otello “in concert” a Major Victory for Austin Opera

By Paul E. Robinson on 21 November 2018 Classical, Opera, Vocal, World Music

Verdi: Otello. A Festive Staged Concert Event. Issachah Savage (Otello); Marina Costa-Jackson (Desdemona); Michael Chioldi (Iago); Derek Taylor (Cassio). Concert Stage Director: Rebecca A. Herman Lighting Design: Thomas Hase Austin Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Steven White Long Center for the Performing Arts Austin, Texas November 15, 2018 Austin Opera has been presenting fully staged professional opera to audiences in Central Texas for the past 31 years, averaging three productions per season and maintaining a remarkably high standard; it came as a bit of a shock, then, when the company chose to open its 2018-2019 season with Verdi’s Otello in a concert…

Concert Review – St. Lawrence Choir’s: Slava! – Glory!

By Vasyl Pawlowsky on 20 November 2018 Choral, Concert Reviews, Vocal

On Saturday November 17, the St. Lawrence Choir performed its Slava! programme at the St Sophie Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral. The programme featured the premiere of two works. Alelouya 2 by Armenian-born Petros Shoujouian, currently of Montreal, and Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal by Larysa Kuzmenko, a Toronto-based composer, pianist and Juno nominee. What you missed The St Lawrence Choir’s mixed voice ensemble under the direction of Phillipe Bourque could not have chosen a more fitting venue for their performance of their programme Slava!, which means “glory” in Ukrainian. The space itself did honour to the multitude of tonalities of…

Calgary Opera Announces New, All-Canadian Leadership Team

By Newswire on 19 November 2018 Arts Industry, Opera

November 17, 2018 (Calgary, Alberta) – Following their announcement in August that current General Director and CEO Keith Cerny will be leaving the company, Calgary Opera announced today that the board of directors has selected two Canadians as its new leaders. Grammy® and Juno award-winning conductor and composer Bramwell Tovey will become the company’s Artistic Director, and veteran international arts executive Heather Kitchen will become the company’s administrative leader as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, beginning in January 2019. Tovey is no stranger to Canadian opera and classical music fans. From 2000 to 2018 he was the highly esteemed…

The Glenn Gould Foundation and The Canadian Opera Company Orchestra celebrate the Twelfth Glenn Gould Prize Laureate Jessye Norman

By Newswire on 13 November 2018 Arts Industry, Opera

November 13, 2018 – TORONTO – Iconic American singer, opera star and activist Jessye Norman will be awarded the Twelfth Glenn Gould Prize at a celebratory award ceremony and concert in her honour on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 7:30 p.m., presented by The Glenn Gould Foundation and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The Glenn Gould Prize Celebrates Jessye Norman features the COC Orchestra led by COC Music Director Johannes Debus and the Toronto debuts of esteemed Swedish dramatic soprano Nina Stemme, South African lyric soprano Pumeza Matshikiza, tenor Rodrick Dixon,…

Weekend Opera Roundup in Montreal (Nov. 9-11)

By Adrian Rodriguez on 11 November 2018 Choral, Concert Reviews, Opera, Romantic

This past weekend (Friday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 11), I attended four vocal music performances (three operas and one oratorio) which shows that Montreal is a vibrant city for voice lovers. Friday: Opera McGill presented a hilarious Albert Herring by Benjamin Britten. Sadly, this comic opera is not produced enough nowadays. This score is worth discovering. The highlight was the simple yet very effective stage directing by Patrick Hansen. The second cast was generally good. Unlike some previous Opera McGill productions, there were no surtitles and many of the jokes were lost as many of the words were not…

Nathan Berg (Alberich) © Yves Renaud

Baritone Nathan Berg Shines in Opéra de Montréal’s Das Rheingold

By Adrian Rodriguez on 11 November 2018 Concert Reviews, Opera, Romantic

Last Saturday, November 10, Opéra de Montréal premiered Der Rheingold, the first instalment from Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibellungen. It marked the first time that this work is staged in the history of the opera company. What you missed The highlight of the show was the performance by Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg. The native from Saskatchewan struck gold with his dramatic stage presence and his steely voice. He incarnated Alberich in body and voice, colouring every sound to match the meaning of the words he was singing. A good example was the contrast in his vocal and physical attitude…

Review: Mozart’s Requiem by Mundia Productions

By Adrian Rodriguez on 11 November 2018 Choral, Concert Reviews, Piano

Last Saturday, November 10, Mundia Productions presented Mozart’s Requiem and the Piano Concerto #20 in d minor k.466 performed by the Orchestre philharmonique du Nouveau Monde conducted by Michel Brousseau, along with the participation of the Société philharmonique du Nouveau Monde choir and guest pianist Vasyl Kotys. What you missed If we were able to travel 1000 years forward, my guess is that Mozart’s Requiem would still be performed somewhere in a distant galaxy. This work is a masterpiece that is worth attending anytime we have the chance. The highlight was the performance from Société philarmonique du Nouveau Monde choir.…

Photo: Kirsten Miccoli

Soprano Sara Schabas Wins IRCPA’s “Career Blueprint”

By Newswire on 9 November 2018 Newswire, Vocal

SOPRANO SARA SCHABAS GOES TO NEW YORK RECEIVES IRCPA’S “CAREER BLUEPRINT” AFTER NEW SINGING STARS PERFORMANCE AT ZOOMER HALL Soprano Sara Schabas of Toronto has been named recipient of a valuable “Career Blueprint”. The announcement was made Monday night at Zoomer Hall in Toronto after the concert New Singing Stars, featuring 11 young professional singers, presented by the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists (http://ircpa.net), and broadcast live on The New Classical FM with host Jean Stilwell. As a result of receiving the Career Blueprint, Ms. Schabas, 28 (www.saraschabas.com), will spend three days at the National Opera Center in New…

David Cangelosi: The Art of Singing Secondary Roles

By Adrian Rodriguez on 9 November 2018 Opera

In the glamorous world of opera most singers aspire to be the next star. Students rush to sing big arias such as “Nessun Dorma” or “Casta Diva” with the hopes of becoming the next Pavarotti or the next Callas. However, American tenor David Cangelosi recognized early in his career that he wanted to sing opera. Instead of chasing the primo uomo roles, he decided to put his acting talent and vocal intelligence to the service of secondary roles. His decision proved fruitful. Cangelosi is one of the few opera singers to remain relevant today after over 20 years of singing…

Alluring longueurs in restored Bayreuth Lohengrin

By Arthur Kaptainis on 9 November 2018 Concert Reviews, Opera

PRAGUE – Very strange. The knights and nobles were dressed in stylized medieval tunics and standing in orderly semicircles. When Lohengrin arrived, an alluring image of a swan appeared between two handsome panels of intertwining ivy. When Lohengrin did battle with Telramund, the combatants wielded realistic broadswords. This was a production from Bayreuth? Yes, from the Bayreuth of 1967, before the title character of Wagner’s opera was understood to be an electrician, as in the Lohengrin unveiled this past summer, or the citizens of Brabant were understood to be rats, as in the version premiered eight years earlier. We have…

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