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Les Notes
by Wah Keung Chan
Youth
Programs
Rendez-Vous 18-35
is a unique cultural
program that provides 18 to 35-year old participants an affordable
way to sample the best of the season's offerings in music, dance,
theatre, museum shows and film. For $49 subscribers can choose 5
events from over 25 participating companies that include the
Montreal Symphony and I Musici de Montréal. Participants also have
the opportunity to meet the artists. Rendez-Vous is an
initiative of the Saidye Bronfman Youth Institute. Call
(514)739-2301.
Opera 19-30
The
Opéra de Montréal and the Montreal Opera Guild have changed their
youth program again this year. Due to the tremendous response to
their Opera 18-35 program of close to 600 members last year and thus
overtaxing their resources, the program has changed its age
eligibility to 19 to 30 to become the Opera 19-30 program. The $30
membership includes a free ticket in the orchestra section of your
opera of choice. Members can then purchase one ticket in the
orchestra section for any other production at $20. Info:
(514)985-2222.
Opera 18-29
Over
at the Canadian Opera Company, their youth program (Opera 18-29)
appears to be more generous. While the membership is higher at $40,
this entitles members to purchase four additional tickets per opera
at $20. The COC program longer has other benefits such as a 10%
discount at HMV. Their age limit is 18 to 29. Info: (416)
363-6671.
Opéra de Québec has $10 student tickets
available at Billetech (418) 643-8131.
Opera Lyra Ottawa
lets students see their two annual productions (Wednesday nights
shows only) for $30 total. (613) 2335431.
The National
Arts Centre has half-price student tickets (613) 9965051.
Open Dress Rehearsals
for Students under 25
Students aged 25 years or less are
invited to the September 18 orchestral dress rehearsal of L'Opéra de
Montréal's production of Gounod's Faust. The cost is $5 (up from $4). Tickets
are limited and can be obtained by calling the OdM box office at
(514) 985-2258. Ticket holders must show their student ID at the
door.
L'Atelier Lyrique de L'Opéra de
Montréal
has announced their roster for the 1997-98
season. New to the program are soprano Geneviève Charest, tenor Marc
Hervieux, bass René Brempon Laryea, contralto Caroline Ménard and
baritone Sergei Stilmachenko. Returning are bass Alain Coulombe,
stage director Renaud Doucet, mezzo Anne Marie Hoover, tenor Pascal
Mondieig, mezzo Michelle Sutton, soprano Annie Tremblay and vocal
coach Claude Webster. The Atelier Lyrique will tour Quebec with
Rossini's La Cenerentola. A $30 donation to the
Atelier Lyrique entitles you to attend Atelier Lyrique
masterclasses.
The Canadian Opera Company's 1997/98
Ensemble Studio includes new members soprano Isabel
Bayrakdarian, soprano Marian Sjölander and apprentice director
Graham Cozzubbo, as well as returning members mezzo Allyson McHardy,
tenor Robert Martin Reid, apprentice coach Jasmina Vucurovic,
baritone James Westman and soprano Karen Ydenberg. Activities this
year include Viktor Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis in
November and abridged versions of Hansel and Gretel and
The Magic Flute in May, 1998.
New General Manager at Pacific Opera
Victoria
David Devan replaces Jeffrey Ouellette who left
the company in June.
New Opera House for the
COC
Scheduled completion date is September 2000
for the Canadian Opera Company's new 2100-seat opera house. A site
has been optioned and five architectural firms have been invited to
present proposals. COC artistic administrator Philip Boswell wants
"something comparable to the Munich Opera House." Expanded
facilities will allow the preparation of more productions
simultaneously, upping annual productions from the current six to
eight or ten. The smaller seating capacity of the new house will
probably mean more presentations of each production. Good news for
singers and aspiring singers. It is unclear if ticket prices will be
affected.
Maria Callas Died 20 Years
Ago
September 16 marks the 20th anniversary of
Greco-American soprano Maria Callas' death. EMI has reissued
everything they own by her, at mid-price (around $25 for a two-disc
opera at HMV last week). Many classical music magazines, such as the
July issue of Diapason, have feature articles on her life and
art.
L'Opéra français de New York's
tenth
season under artistic director Yves Abel features Bizet's La
jolie fille de Perth on February 5, 1998 starring Canadian soprano
Tracy Dahl.
Lyric Opera of Chicago
has appointed Andrew Davis
music director effective May 1, 1999. Davis, conductor laureate of
the Toronto Symphony and currently music director of Glyndebourne
Festival Opera, will assume the duties of Chicago's principal
conductor and music director on September 1, 2000.
Il nome! Il nome! What's in a
Name?
Montreal mezzo-soprano Annamaria Popescu was
known to audiences as simply Maria Popescu just a year ago. Her La
Scala debut in Les Troyens in 1996, meant that the European
market was beginning to open for her. Ms. Popescu discovered, to her
chagrin, however, that the reputation of another Maria Popescu, a
European, had already preceded her, and not always to favourable
reception. Thus, her new stage name.
Annamaria is the same talented gal. She'll give
a recital at Pollack Hall on Nov. 5.
Della Pergola Competition
Winners
The winner of the
Della Pergola Voice Competition's $10,000 prize is soprano Louise
Marcotte who gives a Debut Series recital at the Chapel du Bon
Pasteur Nov. 11 at 15H30. Second prize went to tenor David Pomeroy.
Mezzo Julie Nesrallah, starring in Pacific Opera Victoria's
L'Italiana this fall, took third. The prize for the best
interpretation of an operatic aria went to Julie Nesrallah, and the
prize for the best interpretation of a Canadian composition went to
mezzo Susan Platts.
OSM Competition
The deadline to enter the 1997 Montreal
Symphony Orchestra Competition is October 15, 1997. This year's
competition categories are Voice (singers 18-30) and Piano (two
categories: 17 and under, and 18 to 25 years of age). Tel: 842-3402.
Gino Quilico to sing at OdM in two
years
At the launch of his first solo recital recording,
Montreal baritone Gino Quilico revealed he'll sing Iago in Verdi's
Otello during the Opéra de Montreal's
1999-2000 season. Quilico last appeared at the Opera de Montreal in
1989. Koch International will release Mr. Quilico's new recording of
French melodies around September 17.
New Artists in Residence at Chapelle
Historique du Bon Pasteur
The Trio Gagné-Richard in now
in residence at the Chapel. Members are Claude Richard, violin,
Hélène Gagner, cello and Elise Richard, piano. These music
professors play at the Chapel on Oct. 1, International Music Day,
and Dec. 7. They will give several concerts and masterclasses during
the season. The Chapel now also has a choreographer in residence -
Linda Goudreaux. Her first creation, Still Life no. 1, will
be danced Oct. 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Journées nationales de
la culture
September 26, 27 and 28 are designated as
National Culture Days in Quebec. Many arts organizations are
producing special programs for the occasion. Consult your local
listings.
Internet Call Waiting
Single-line telephone home users
who spend a lot of time on the internet can now take advantage of
Internet Call Manager, a new service that allows the user to see who
is calling. A pop-up menu allows subscribers to inform the caller to
call back or that they will be called back. The service is currently
available in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, and costs $4.99 per
month or $19.98 for six months. The service uses the Call Forward
Busy feature (cost $1.50) available from Bell. Currently, the
service does not work for Bell Canada Call Answer Customers because
Bell Canada does not give customers full access to the Call Forward
Busy feature. Internet Call Manager is a service provided by
InfoInterActive, and is currently only available on the Windows
platform. Contact: www.interactive.com. |
