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Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil: A spring under the sign of Carmina Burana

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 9 April 2018 Classical Music, Opera, Quebec Music, Vocal

The Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil (OSDL) is celebrating spring with Carl Orff’s renowned Carmina Burana. The concert will bring together OSDL musicians, the St. Lambert Choral Society, Les Petits Chanteurs de Laval and soloists Raphaëlle Paquette (soprano), Antoine Bélanger (tenor) and Marc Boucher (baritone). They will be led by OSDL artistic director Marc David, who describes Carmina Burana as “one of those grandiose works of the symphonic repertoire dealing with a universal theme, where listeners, singers, musicians and conductors are satisfied.” This seminal work was composed in 1935 and premiered in 1937 in Frankfurt. The text comprises 24 medieval poems…

Josep Miguel Ribot and Bernard Levasseur in Manuscrit Trouvé À Saragosse (2001) by José Evangelista. Production : Chants Libres. Photo : Yves Dubé

Lyrical dramas by José Evangelista: La Porte and Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse

By Arnaud G. Veydarier on 9 April 2018 Classical Music, Opera, Vocal

As part of a series paying tribute to José Evangelista’s musical legacy, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) in June presents two major works, La Porte and Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse. Since its launch last September, this tribute series has allowed the public to discover again, through approximately 40 concerts, one of the most accomplished Canadian composers of his generation. Capping a year tracing a career of more than four decades, the monodrama La Porte and the opera Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse will offer music lovers the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in an uncommon musical universe that…

Illustration : Kimberlyn Porter

Hockey Noir: The Opera

By Evelyne Ridyard on 9 April 2018 Classical Music, Contemporary, Opera, Vocal

As part of its 30th anniversary, the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal will delve into its second staged opera production. Hockey noir is a chamber opera built on film noir, where dark atmospheres, conspiracies, investigations and seduction prevail. The action takes place in 1950s Montreal, in the heart of hockey playoffs that see the Montreal Quabs facing the Toronto Pine Needles. ECM+ artistic director Véronique Lacroix has asked Cecil Castellucci to write the libretto and André Ristic to compose the music. This creative duo produced the comic book opera Les aventures de Madame Merveille in 2010. “Madame Merveille was memorable,” Lacroix…

The Implicit Content of Wagner’s Works: A Panorama for Music Lovers

By Jean-Jacques Nattiez on 9 April 2018 Classical, Classical Music, Education, Opera, Vocal

Jean-Jacques Nattiez, author of four works on the master of Bayreuth, has just published The Hidden Stories of Richard Wagner: Poetic Art, Dream and Sexuality (Presses de l’Université de Montréal). Nattiez has volunteered to create a synthesis of his key ideas on the artwork at the centre of his life, without technical digressions and scholarly references. Here are excerpts from his book. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is a central figure in the history of music and lyrical theatre by virtue of the 10 operas today considered part of the repertoire but also owing to texts which, in their French translation, fill…

Jacqueline Cistellini illustration: Hefka

Jacqueline Cistellini: Love, generosity and passion

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 9 April 2018 Classical Music, Education, Vocal

Jacqueline Cistellini, the doyenne of Quebec opera, who left an indelible impression on generations of singers, died on April 30, 2017. Born Jacqueline Martel in 1934 (the soprano misrepresented her age and many reading her obituary discovered with surprise that she was not, as she claimed, born in 1940), she studied piano before turning to song. She won the Prix d’Europe in 1960 and went on to study at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome. She pursued a mainly European career for ten years or so and then decided to teach. In 1974 she founded the singing class at the…

Voice Teacher Winston Purdy: A Remembrance

By Charles Geyer on 7 April 2018 Classical Music, Education, Vocal

McGill University’s Schulich School of Music lost one of its master spirits last November with the death of consummate voice teacher Winston Purdy at age 76. Having taught at McGill since 1973, Purdy nurtured several generations of singers, many of whom have subsequently risen to the first tier of international classical performers. Reminiscences of Purdy and his teaching invariably come couched in great warmth and admiration. “He had a profound understanding of singing in all its aspects,” says Dominique Labelle. “Scientific, spiritual, physical, cultural, you name it.” Labelle, an accomplished soprano, studied with Purdy in the 1980s and later returned…

photo: Devon Cass

Nadine Benjamin: From Trading Floor To Opera Stage

By Adrian Rodriguez on 7 April 2018 Classical Music, Opera, Vocal

Soprano Nadine Benjamin could never have predicted a career as an opera singer. She was born in Brixton, an underprivileged London district where her single mother raised her along with a brother and sister. Her first musical experiences were in church, singing along with her siblings. “We were all endowed with good voices,” Benjamin recalls. Her mother was a part-time reggae musician and her father a DJ. At age 16, Benjamin dropped regular school and joined the Youth Training Scheme, an on-the-job training program for people aged 16 or 17. She was placed in a job in the corporate finance…

La Muse: Viva Verdi with Romanian accents

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 6 April 2018 Canadian Music, Choral, Classical Music, Quebec Music, Vocal

La Muse choir under the direction of Ioana German, will present its Viva Verdi concert in both Montreal and Ottawa. Supported by sopranos Chantal Dionne, Marina Negruta and Anca Maria Grigoriu; mezzo-soprano Antonela Barnat; tenor Jaime Sandoval; bass Dan Popescu and an orchestra, the choir will perform some of Verdi’s greatest choruses, including excerpts from the Requiem, Il Trovatore, La Traviata and Nabucco. This large-scale concert promises a burst of Verdian joy. Barnat has been a regular singer at the Bucharest State Opera since her debut as Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in 2006. She made her debut…

Geoffrey Sirett as Akakiy in The Overcoat A Musical Tailoring Photo: Dahlia Katz

The Overcoat: Tailored For Opera

By Gregory Finney on 5 April 2018 Classical Music, Opera, Vocal

Tapestry Opera continues its tradition of bringing new work to the stage this spring with a full production of The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring. Based on The Overcoat, a successful play of 1998 which in turn was based on the classic tale by Nikolai Gogol, this opera features a score by James Rolfe and a libretto by Morris Panych. The opera is a product of Tapestry’s LibLab, a program that pairs leading up-and-coming composers with the most exciting librettists working in Canada today. Panych and Rolfe were paired up in 2014; the playwright came up with the idea of reworking…

Sing It! A Moving Eighth Edition of the Singing Valentines

By Viviane Reid on 4 April 2018 Art Song, Opera, Vocal

The singer’s voice was gorgeous. I’ve played the piano for a long time and can recognize talent when I hear it. “We were not home for the Singing Valentine and I’m glad because now I can listen to it whenever I want and share it with my kids and friends.” That’s only one of many reactions to the Singing Valentines fundraising campaign. Considering the sheer number of valentines who were happy and surprised to get these special messages, it is safe to say that the event was a great success. “I found it very cute and touching,” another recipient says.…

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