Browsing: Vocal

OM – IN TCHAIKOVSKI’S COMPANY A true musical symbol of Christmas evening, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker rejoices music lovers young and old each year. The Orchestre Métropolitain, under Julian Kuerti, will also perform his Symphony No. 2 “Little Russia,” Glière’s Harp Concerto (with OM artist-in-residence Valérie Milot), and music by Morel. (December 13 to 17 at 7:30 PM in 5 boroughs; 1 Maison symphonique, Sunday December 18, 3:00 PM). www.orchestremetropolitain.com SMAM – CHRISTMAS WITH CHARPENTIER Le Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, in collaboration with Clavecin en concert, under Andrew McAnerney and Luc Beauséjour, will perform five of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s sacred…

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OPERA REVIEW: L’Amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho and Amin Maalouf – Metropolitan Opera debut (December 1, 2016) Meditative, poised, sly, and slow-burn, L’Amour de loin oh so gradually grows to dramatic ripeness. Its music glimmers, undulates, bewitches – as fluid in its variety and moods as the play of sun and moonlight on the Mediterranean. But the opera hangs full fire until, ultimately, it knocks you back with its hidden emotional and existential wallop. This elegant and profound French-language work by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, with libretto by Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf, has been accruing international kudos through more…

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Greg Lake, bassist, guitarist and singer of British progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer lost his fight to cancer yesterday at the age of 69. The keyboardist Keith Emerson took his own life in March 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89g1P_J40JA Sheku Kanneh-Mason was presented with the 1610 Amati cello he played at BBC Young Musician of the Year. The instrument is a permanent loan from Florian Leonhard workshop in London. Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky announced today he was withdrawing from all coming opera engagements. The 54-year-old singer who was diagnosed with brain tumor in 2015 will continue giving concerts and recitals,…

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Jazz pianist Joey Alexander is nominated for a Grammy in the jazz solo category. The 13-year-old Indonesian was nominated last year in two jazz categories but left empty-handed. Find out who the other nominees are here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1liUart72g Anthony Bramall has been named principal chief conductor of Munich’s State Theater on Gärtnerplatz. The British conductor, 59, will start in summer 2017. The Northern Ireland Opera has appointed Walter Sutcliffe as its new artistic director. The 30-year-old British will be starting in February 2017. Violinist and concertmaster Jerrold Rubenstein passed away yesterday in Brussels. The New Yorker taught at the Antwerp…

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The song competition of the Concours international de musique de Genève, which ended December 2, didn’t hand out a First Prize. Four prizes were handed to German tenor David Fischer: Second Prize, Public Prize, Students Prize and Yvonne Sigg Prize. The Swiss Marina Viotti and Korean Seung-Jick Kim shared the Third Prize ex aequo. Soprano Elisabeth Carron died last Thursday at the age of 94. She sang as Mimi from La Bohème at the MET and as the main role of Madama Butterly at City Opera among many leading roles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m8n28ypNo8   Soprano Gigliola Frazzoni died between Saturday and…

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The Metropolitan Opera’s production of L’Amour de Loin, by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, shines on the most trailblazing composer of the 21st century. It has been a limelight month for Saariaho in New York. Ensembles from the New York Philharmonic to educational institutions such as the Mannes School of Music have given Saariaho’s music a highlight in their programming calendar. These dedicated performances together with the house premiere of L’Amour de Loin at The Metropolitan Opera have not only addressed Saariaho’s stellar status but have inserted a post script on the position of female artists in opera. While Saariaho frequently…

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Christmas at Bourgie Hall With its colorful stained glass and its warm atmosphere, Bourgie hall is a choice venue for Christmas celebrations. Les Idées heureuses, under Geneviève Soly, transports us to 17th-century Ville-Marie, during Advent and Christmas period. Church music, Gregorian chant, organ, Christmas hymns and motets are on the program. In collaboration with the Scholastica women’s vocal ensemble, under Rebecca Bain. (Bourgie Hall, Thursday December 8, 11 AM). A popular Montréal tradition, the Sing Along at Bourgie Hall and Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul marks its 37th edition. Produced by CBC Montréal, in collaboration with the Church of St. Andrew…

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Yesterday, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and other partners launched La musique aux enfants, a prekindergarten and kindergarten music project at École St-Rémi-Annexe of the Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’Île (CSPI) in the borough of Montréal-Nord. The project imagined by Maestro Kent Nagano, and developed by the OSM in collaboration with the Université de Montréal and the CSPI, is to introduce preschool children to music as a means to support their overall development. All the students of École St-Rémi-Annexe will receive a minimum of one lesson in rhythm and choral singing per week. They will also be able to participate in cultural activities putting…

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It’s hard not to like Quartom. How could you not like these four ­convivial pals, who crack jokes in between melodious harmonies? Wherever they go, they leave smiling listeners behind them. La Scena Musicale met with Quartom at the Rialto Theatre for an ­interview and photo session, punctuated by silly antics and contagious laughter. A cappella quartet Quartom, formed by baritones Benoit Le Blanc and Julien Patenaude, tenor Gaétan Sauvageau, and bass Philippe Martel, is on a hot roll with the release of their third album, Acte III, on ATMA Classique, as well as a series of shows that will…

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If you peel back the layers of any opera company in Canada, you are likely to find Opera McGill graduates at every level: on the stage, beneath the stage, and behind the stage. Take Opéra de Montréal’s recent production of Don Giovanni, for example. While bass-baritone Gordon Bintner, who played his first Don Giovanni at McGill four years ago, reprised the title role, rising star Jordan De Souza led from the pit. Soprano Emily Dorn (Donna Anna) is an alumna, and the show’s stage director, American David Lefkowich also has connections to the program, having directed The Rake’s Progress at…

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