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VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert’s spring season will feature two rarely-performed works by beloved composers: Bellini’s La sonnambula and Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars. The company, founded in 1974 by beloved opera coach and radio personality Stuart Hamilton, has a mission to feature young Canadian singers in non-standard repertoire.
“We feature these singers in major roles,” says Artistic Director Guillermo Silva-Marin, “and hopefully the repertoire protects them because there is no rule of comparison. No Plácido Domingo has done it, no Luciano Pavarotti has done it—so that is an advantage for us in featuring young singers and enhancing their potential for a career.”
Diana Rockwell
Photo: Angela Gzowski
La sonnambula tells the story of a couple celebrating their engagement, whose happiness is interrupted when the bride-to-be is discovered sleepwalking in another man’s room. Northwest Territories-born soprano Diana Rockwell will play the protagonist, Amina, as she takes on the challenge of “finding the line between real and unreal.”
Rockwell has gone through “an incredible journey of vocal self-discovery” as she takes on her first bel canto role, “[letting]the sound come out and leave the vocal pathways that run up and down, completely uninhibited.” Of Bellini’s score, Rockwell says: “There are parts that make me feel like an absolute superhuman, and parts that make my heart ache.” She points to the “vocal pyrotechnics” of Amina’s final aria, “Ah non giunge!,” in the first instance, and to her Act 1 duet with Elvino for the second.
The recent University of Manitoba graduate will be joined by Atelier lyrique Grand Prize winner, tenor Jeremy Scinocca as Elvino. Scinocca appeared last season with VOICEBOX as Ruggero in Puccini’s La Rondine. The cast will be rounded out by baritone Austin Larusson as Count Rodolfo, soprano Minerva Lobato as Lisa, and mezzo-soprano Julia Renda as Teresa.
To close their season, the company presents Lost in the Stars, which was Weill’s last work before his death. It tells a political story of family, race, and faith in 1949 South Africa. Its score is influenced by spirituals, blues, and jazz genres. Audiences might recognize the titular song through covers by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Elvis Costello.
VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert presents La sonnambula on Feb. 14, and Lost in the Stars on March 21 at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre in Toronto. www.operainconcert.com
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