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Browsing: La Scena Spotlight

Opera Creations in Canada

By Patricia Weber on 1 September 2017 150/375, Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Opera

This year, the Montreal landscape will be particularly animated by the creations of operas, thanks to the dedication of the ECM + and Chants Libres. The Opéra de Montréal’s programming will take part in this celebration with two Montreal creations, which will give the young artists of its Atelier Lyrique the chance to take part. In the rest of Canada, Edmonton will receive Lilies, historical events in Toronto will inspire the creation of a new work and Vancouver will give a new life to a classic. Bandits in the Valley Tapestry Opera, one of Canada’s leading contemporary opera companies, will…

La Rentrée Vocal and Opera

By Patricia Weber on 1 September 2017 Art Song, La Scena Spotlight, Opera

Tosca and La Cenerentola The Opéra de Montréal launches its season with the tragic story of the diva Floria Tosca, by Puccini, from September 16 to 23. Melody Moore, the American soprano who played Madame Butterfly in 2015, portrays the soprano who lets herself become manipulated by Baron Scarpia, the chief of police, played by Canadian baritone Gregory Dahl. Chilean tenor Giancarlo Monsalve will debut in his interpretation of the role of the painter Cavaradossi, Tosca’s lover. Canadian baritone Patrick Malette, former member of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, will take on the role of the fugitive, Angelotti.…

Museums and Visual Arts

By Natasha Beaudin Pearson on 1 September 2017 La Scena Spotlight, Multimedia, Visual Arts

You Say You Want a Revolution Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, until October 9, 2017 Experience the 1960s as if you were there! This exhibition explores the decade’s revolutionary spirit, which manifested itself in several spheres of Western society: politics, art, culture, technology, sexuality, and more. Wearing high-fidelity headphones, visitors embark on an immersive journey experiencing Woodstock, the Summer of Love in San Francisco, the events of May 1968 in Paris, all while hearing songs of The Beatles, Janis Joplin, and many more era-defining musicians. With over 700 objects and artworks on display, the exhibition also examines the Sixties in…

Photo: Ken Woroner

An Anne for 2017

By Rebecca Anne Clark on 1 September 2017 150/375, Film, La Scena Spotlight

Amongst the line-up the CBC has released for the country’s sesquicentennial celebrations, Anne, its first Anne of Green Gables adaptation in over 30 years, is the biggest standout so far this year. Produced in collaboration with Netflix (where it is broadcast online internationally as Anne With an E), Anne is a TV series made for the modern viewer, a fact that becomes apparent as Anne begins to tell Matthew about herself. By the end of the 90-minute premier, the show has made its first major departure from the book: Marilla punishes Anne by coldly sending her back to the orphanage…

Jazz: At a venue near you

By Marc Chénard on 1 September 2017 Experimental Jazz, La Scena Spotlight, Mainstream Jazz, Scena Jazz, Vocal Jazz

Based on previous experience, the live jazz scene really shifts into overdrive early in October. Not so this year. In fact, it’s off and running just after Labour Day. On September 6, Upstairs Jazz Bar presents a season-opening concert and record launch pairing Israeli saxophonist Tevet Sela and John Roney (see opposite page for album details). At the same venue, French native and pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, now firmly ensconced in town since his move here two years ago, holds his monthly trio gig, with dates on Sept. 18, Oct. 27 and Nov. 18. Now in its fifth season, the Orchestre…

2017–2018 Opera Diary Dates

By Patricia Weber on 1 September 2017 Art Song, Choral, La Scena Spotlight, Opera

With an impressive roster of seasoned performers and many more in training, opera is a major component of classical music in Canada. Our homegrown talent is gaining recognition abroad, and many of our singers appear regularly in the world’s great opera houses. Here’s a look at some of their diaries for 2017–2018. Soprano Layla Claire, whose Donna Elvira was warmly received by audiences at Opéra de Montréal last November, recently made a debut solo album with ATMA Classique, entitled Songbird. High point of the year for this British Columbian will be her title role in Alcina at the Bolshoi Theatre…

The Five Commandments of Vocal Health

By Adrian Rodriguez on 1 September 2017 Education, La Scena Spotlight

Pop-superstar Adele was recently forced to cancel the remainder of her tour due to voice damage for the second time in five years. Her latest voice setback has prompted a vigorous debate on social media about vocal health. Voice doctors, teachers and gurus are trying to explain why so many stars are currently having voice problems. The list of voice to do’s and don’ts is extensive: from famed Soprano Shirley Verret becoming a loner on show days to preserve silence, to stories of legendary tenor Franco Corelli having his wife hold a cross to his larynx in order to obtain…

Gilles Tremblay (1932-2017): A School of Music

By Vincent Ranallo on 1 September 2017 Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Quebec Music

“One day, as I was playing a very simple tune, (…) my teacher wanted to make me feel the fluctuation of tempos, so he began playing the drums behind my back. To my surprise, I naturally followed the rhythm. I played and was being played. Just then, a group of musicians arrived (…) and played a constellation of contrapuntal rhythms. It was one of the most intense musical experiences of my life. I became almost weightless, lifted by so much beauty and also by the human communication that’s beyond speech. Being a musician among other musicians.” — Gilles Tremblay, travel…

A Few Great Canadian Tenors

By Pierre Chénier on 1 September 2017 150/375, La Scena Spotlight

On the 150th anniversary of Confederation, it is fitting to pay tribute to the great artists Canada has promoted throughout history. This text will focus on some of Canada’s greatest tenors. We should remember that their talents and distinguished careers, and those of other Canadian artists, have been overshadowed by major entities such as CBC/Radio-Canada. Programming dedicated to promoting Canadian talent has been constantly downsized, and this problem must be solved. Raoul Jobin, Léopold Simoneau, Jon Vickers, and Ben Heppner have been selected for this article. I chose these four tenors because each has left their mark on classical music…

Marc Blitzstein (center) with the original 1937 cast of The Cradle Will Rock

At Opera Saratoga, New Hands Rock Blitzstein’s Cradle

By Charles Geyer on 9 July 2017 Contemporary, La Scena Spotlight, Opera

PREVIEW: Opera Saratoga’s new, full-out production of Marc Blitzstein’s 1937 musical masterpiece, The Cradle Will Rock; and INTERVIEWS: with director Lawrence Edelson and musical director John Mauceri. Though it’s remembered as a work of social protest and impassioned ideals, “nobody has experienced The Cradle Will Rock the way it was intended,” says celebrated musical director, educator and historian John Mauceri of composer/librettist Marc Blitzstein’s landmark 1937 opera. “It’s a piece that everybody knows, but nobody’s ever heard!” Point well taken. Ever since its famously unorthodox premiere, when an extraordinary concatenation of adversities forced a last-minute decision to present the work…