This morning at 10 a.m. E.S.T. the Canadian Opera Company released its plans for the 18/19 season. The highlight has to be the much-talked about premiere of Canadian singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright's new opera Hadrian. When the COC first announced this commission...
Babbling brooks, young love, broken hearts: standard topics for classical song cycles from Schubert onward, and for most opera singers a key part of their concert hall careers. Not for the 45-year-old US tenor Lawrence Brownlee, one of the...
Calgary Opera has announced the appointment of a new General Director and CEO, effective January, 2018. Dr. Keith Cerny will come to Calgary in January from The Dallas Opera, where he acted as General Director and CEO from 2010 until present. “We are very pleased to...
The seriousness of the allegations swirling around James Levine, the erstwhile music director of the Metropolitan Opera, has precipitated the classical music industry to ask uncomfortable questions of itself, in particular about the cultural legitimisation of abusive...
New York’s Metropolitan Opera is suspending its relationship with longtime conductor James Levine pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him. “Mr Levine will not be involved in any Met activities, including conducting scheduled...
Once again this year, the Opéra de Montréal is continuing with the breakthrough portion of its program by presenting another new work, the opera JFK by American composer David T. Little and Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek. Praise for this opera—jointly commissioned...
The Opéra de Montréal held its very first Atelier lyrique National Auditions Gala in Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts on November 15. This prestigious event, entitled TALENT 2017, brought together over three hundred music lovers who gathered to celebrate...
Every year the Atelier Lyrique holds auditions to find the operatic talents of the future. This year they are betting on a slightly new formula: Talent 2017. Instead of holding the entire audition process behind closed doors, the public can assist (with the purchase...
While visiting a prematurely wintry Winnipeg this past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting with Larry Desrochers, General Director and CEO of Manitoba Opera and their Director of Marketing, Darlene Ronald. They took me on a backstage tour of the Centennial Concert...
Brittle, bullied and blackmailed into marriage, Marnie inspired a Hitchcock classic and now a new opera. Its composer Nico Muhly unravels a twisted tale of childhood trauma, toxic guilt – and a woman who is both hunter and hunted Marnie screams for an operatic...
We cannot speak of our mezzo-sopranos and contraltos without starting with Maureen Forrester, considered to be one of the 20th century’s greatest contraltos. Born in 1930 in Montreal and deceased in 2010 in Toronto, she starred on the world’s most famous stages. She...
British-born Canadian mezzo Susan Platts has been delighting audiences around the world with her expertise in art song; her first solo album of songs by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms earned her critical acclaim. Known for her Mahler...