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Volume 9 Issue 1 - September 2003

  • Text
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • September
  • Festival
  • Sept
  • October
  • Theatre
  • Musical
  • Arts
  • Instruments

TOURS Opera Courses and

TOURS Opera Courses and Opera Tours with Iain Scott • Feb. 2004 - PEARL FISHERS in San Diego with Bayrakdarian, Schade, and Braun! • May-June 2004 - GREAT OPERA HOUSES • Aug. 2004 - VERONA: OPERA MOST GRAND COURSES • OPERA 101 - the fundamental framework • UNDERSTANDING OPERATIC VOICES • GREAT OPERA COMPOSERS • MORE INSIGHTS INTO GREAT ARIAS • WINDOWS ON "DIE WALKURE" weekend • WAGNER - BEFORE "THE RING" ~ 416-486-8408 !!! GALA OPENING !!! iva Voce Voice Studi Deborah jeans Mus.Bae. Performance, Diploma in Operatic Performance, University of Toronto, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera Association, Opera-in-Concert, Neptune Theatre. Andree Bernard Contralto/Chanteuse, Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Toronto and Montreal Jazz Festivals, tribute to Oscar Peterson, Roy Thomson Hall, appearing weekly at Le St. Tropez/Marcel's Bistro, Toronto. More than 20 years stage experience! TOGETHER WE OFFER: • Vocal technique • Vocal coaching (Pop I Jazz/Classical/Broadway) • Diction: English, French, Italian and German • Audition preparation plus mock auditions • Repertoire selection WE ALSO OFFER: • Public student performances • "Vocal Discovery Workshops" available to choirs and small groups • Career development consultation NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS Call 416-323-1417 Open House and refreshments Sunday, Sept 7, 2003, 2:00 lo 5:00 p.m. · 7 Pleasant Blvd. (one block south of St. Clair, east of Yonge; from subway take Pleasant Blvd. exit) Opera DVD Watch by Phil Ehrensaft Two Rare Diamonds and One Ruby Message overcomes the medium in the case of two new DVD's: Universal/Decca's The Golden Ring and Kultur's Tristan und Isolde. Both have noticeable visual and sonic deficiencies that are rendered insignificant by remarkable performances. In contrast, Image's delightful eighteenth-century-style 'Zauberjl.ote was already a technical standout on a laser disc issued in 1989, and is better yet on DVD. Just as Irene Adler was the woman for Sherlock Holmes, the pioneer complete recording of all 17 hours of the Ring by Sir Georg Solti between 1958 and 1965 remains the Ring. The BBC filmed a documentary of Solti, Nilsson, Fischer-Dieskau, Ludwig, Windgassen, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recording G6tterdiirrunerung in Vienna, circa 1965. Solti's demonic conducting adds another Wagnerian character to the cast, and these visuals alone make this DVD worth the price even though film quality is so-so black and white, and (ironically, since Solti's 1958 Rheingold was an early exemplar of stereo recording) the film's sound track is a dud. No matter: The Golden Ring is a must-see for understanding, from the vantage points of both musicians and musically gifted engineers how a great recording is crafted in the studio. ~"~' Despite, despite, despite are the words that come to mind for Kultur's DVD transferofa 1973 production of Tristan and Isolde at the Theatre Antique d'Orange. Colour and camera work are iffy. The sound is ciummy. The best that can be said about its abstract scenery on a round stage is that it does not distract too much. So why bother? Because of better-than-outstanding performances by Birgit Nilsson and our own John Vickers, and ditto for Karl BOhm's corxlucting. Opera beyonl your dreams. Finally, Europe's best preserved eighteenth-century hall, Stockholm's intimate Drottningholm theatre, is the site for a 'Zauberjlote production that brings us close to what Mozart's audience experienced. A period instrument orchestra is in fine form . Singers are solid rather than great, but the leads, chorus, orchestra and scenery cohere beautifully. The only hiccup is a strange decision to transfer the action from Egypt to eighteenth century Vienna. This DVD goes into my laptop case for cottage pleasure. Phil Ehrensaft can be reached at ehrensaftp@eanhlink.net TORONTO OPERA REPERTOIRE Giuseppe Macina, Artistic Director 2003/2004 SEASON SOLOIST AUDITIONS Saturday, Sept. 13, 10 am to 4 pm. Tentative programme for the 2003/2004 season: Don Giovanni - Mozart Lucia di Lammermoor - Donizetti Faust - Gounod There will also be a program of opera excerpts. 6 arrange an au ition, or for in ormation on the non-auditioned chorus, please call Giuseppe Macina at 416-698-3287 Se pte mbe r 1 - O ctobe r 7 2003

Returning favourites and welcome visitors Music Theatre Spotlight by Sarah B. Hood Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt in 2 Pianos 4 Hands The 2003-2004 season promises lots of good music theatre, mostly remounts of 0cal hits or shows that have already proved themselves elsewhere. With a few exceptions, if there are new works in production, they haven 't been announced yet. -"' ~ "' a.. "' "' ~ b l­ o J: a.. 2003/04 Season WITH A sonG 1n My H~A The Best of Broadway Ill . Elizabeth DeGrazia, Fred Love, Elizabeth Beeler, Robert L Sun. Oct. 5 at 2 pm C~C>colate Soldi by OSCAR STRAUS Keith Klassen, Shannon Mercer, Elizabeth Beeler, Robert L Wayne Strongman, cond, Guillermo Silva-Marin, stg.dir. Dec. 26*, 27, 31 & Jan. 2, 3 at 8 Dec. 28, 30 at 2 pm Widow bycAuXALAVALLt'E(in conce Fredette, Colin Ainsworth, Meredith Hall, Jose Hernandez, m . 14 at 8 pm & Feb. 15 at 2 pm Fledermaus by JOHANN STRAUSS Jr. Whalen Jane Archibald Ross Neill, Mark DuBois k Bate, c;nd, Guillermo Silva-Marin, stg. dir. ·ril 23·, 24, 27, 30, May 1 at a pm ril 28 & May 2 at 2pm Subscriptions now available! Call 41 6 922 291 2 for a brochure. stE JANE MALLETT THEATRE 6-366-7713or1·800-708-67 Mirvish Productions is certainly the big story for September, and their slogan could well be "back to thrill you again". Having previously announced that The Lion King would close on September 28, they have now extended the run through November 2. On September 30 the ABBA hit Mamma Mia! comes back from summer holidays until at least December 21 . From September 23 to October 19 Mirvish gives us a little bit more of "the old razzle dazzle" with a touring production of Chicago at the Canon Theatre. It's essentially the same production that played here in 1998 and 1999, with choreography by Bob Fosse collaborator Ann Reinking in his style. It stars Bianca Marroquin and Brenda Braxton as Roxie and Velma, with Gregory Harrison as lawyer Billy Flynn. Yet another September opening for the Mirvishes is the welcome return of Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt's homegrown 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, coming to the Elgin Theatre from September 21 to October 5. It's a remarkable phenomenon that started as a 20-minute "bit" at the Tarragon Spring Arts Fair; by Bianca Marroquin in Chicago now it's played Washington's Kennedy Centre, the London West End, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and in theatres as far away as , Australia. This version unites Dykstra and Greenblatt for the first time in about four years. "My life has certainly changed, but my feelings about what the piece means haven't changed, because the metaphor is playing classical piano, and I still find that hard to do," says Dykstra. Success has certainly not gone to this performer's head. Dykstra's an electrifying performer whose musical talents have shone in productions like Fire (as rocker Jerry Lee Lewis), Tommy (as the twisty Cousin Kevin) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (in the title role). Nonetheless, he says, he doesn't think of himself as a music theatre performer. "I think there is such a thing as a musical theatre performer, who can dance, and who has a legitimate tenor voice. I don't have any of those CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE Septembe r 1 - Octobe r 7 2003 www.thewholenote.com

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