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Volume 16 Issue 8 - May 2011

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We Are All Music’s

We Are All Music’s ChildrenMay’s Child Sondra RadvanovskyMJ BUELLWho is June’s Child?Ah…the simple pleasures of barefootsummer music for a serious youngviolinist!Does that candid gaze see straightahead, like Time’s Arrow, into afuture of international touring witha quartet – from Osaka to NorthAmerica (via … some city in Austria)?This lifelong chamber musician willonce again conclude a busy 2010-11season with a week in July, sharing thewith emerging young artists in Toronto.Think you know who our mysterychild is? Send your best guess tomusicschildren@thewholenote.com.Please provide your mailing addressjust in case your name is drawn!Winners will be selected by randomdraw among correct replies receivedby May 20, 2011.Circa 1967 in Osaka, Japan.Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky wasborn in Berwyn, Illinois, near Chicagobut for 10 years has lived nearacres in Caledon, with her Canadian husbandand business manager, Duncan Lear.When not traveling around the world, sheenjoys taking walks in the hills, gardening,cruise the driveway, entertaining friends,and most of all, doing absolutely nothing!Radvanovsky is greatly admired for herinterpretations of 19th century operatic repertoire,and Verdi in particular. Her voice isboth agile and powerful. A mix of humourinterpretation. Her acting is thoughtful andpersuasive. She has performed at the RoyalOpera House, Covent Garden, Paris Opera,Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, LyricOpera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, LosAngeles Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.Her Aida debut, last autumn in Toronto, wasalso her Canadian Opera Company debut.That production will be broadcast on CBCRADIO 2, Saturday Afternoon at the Operaon June 4 at 1pm.The very same day at 8pm Radvanovsky’smany admirers will have the rare opportunityto hear her performlive on stage at the newBlackCreek SummerFestival, with PlacidoDomingo. She will sing twosolo concerts next seasonwith the Toronto Symphony(April 11th and 14th).What does that childhood photo cause you toremember? The photo makes me think of mygrandmother on my mother’s side because itwas her purse at her house with her jewelson. To me, she was the epitome of a granddame and I guess even at a young age Iwanted to be a diva!Suppose a little child asked “What do youdo”? How might you reply? Well, I wouldtell them the same thing I tell adults, “I getto dress up in pretty clothes, pretend to besomeone else and sing like a little bird.”What is your absolute earliest musical memory?My very earliest musical memory is ofme singing along with my Karen Carpenterrecord when I was 4 or 5 years old. I justloved her voice.Do you remember when you first sang alonefor an audience? Oh yes! My father was thehead usher at our church in Indiana and Ifrom the Messiah for an offertory. So, I amstanding at the pulpit, the organist plays theevery good 16 year old does, I said, into themicrophone, “Oh shit!” I can’t rememberexactly when after that that my fatherdropped his collection plate but …Read the full interview at thewholenote.com.PHOTO DUNCAN LEARCONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS! HERE’S WHAT THEY WON — June Rilett and a lucky guest will hear Sondra Radvanovsky and Placido Domingo sing together at theopening night of the BlackCreek Summer Music Festival. This concert is guaranteed to be a thrilling feastof opera duets and arias. One of the greatest tenors of all time whose voice has brought pleasure to millionsaround the globe, Domingo – “the King of Opera” makes his first Toronto appearance in over a decade!blackcreekfestival.com. Clement NG, Claire Lalonde, and Joseph Earls will receive Sondra Radvanovsky’s glorious solo CD VERDIARIAS – selections from Il Trovatore, Un ballo in Maschera, Il Corsaro, La Forza del destino, Ernani, andI vespri siciliani. Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano; Constantine Orbelian, conductor; Philharmonia of RussiaAcademy of Choral Art, Moscow. DELOS (#DE 3404) Charles Ritchie, Paul Sayer and Claudia Krawchuk will receive VERDI OPERA SCENES – Gala Live Concertfrom the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone; Sondra Radvanovsky,soprano; Constantine Orbelian, conductor; Philharmonia of Russia. High drama, and great Verdi duet scenesfrom Il Trovatore, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Simon Boccanegra. Includes arias “O Carlo, ascolta,” from DonCarlo (Hvorostovsky) and “Vissi d’arte” from Tosca (Radvanovsky). DELOS (#DE 3403).Music’s Children gratefully acknowledges Duncan, Amanda, Carol, Kira, Douglas, Maria, Norman, Delos, and BlackCreek.58 thewholenote.comMay 1 – June 7, 2011

Book ShelfPAMELA MARGLESPlaying the Human Game: CollectedPoems of Alfred Brendelby Alfred Brendel with Richard StokesPhaidon Press600 pages, illustrations; .00IT HAS BEEN threeyears since pianist AlfredBrendel retired from theconcert stage. That’swhy, when he appearedat Koerner Hall last fall,it was to give a lecture,not a piano recital. Butin fact Brendel has beensharing his thoughtsabout music throughouthis performing career, not just in lectures,but in essays and poetry as well.Now he has collected his poems intothis handsome volume. In it, each poem isprinted with the original German on onepage and Brendel’s own translation, madewith the assistance of Richard Stokes, on thefacing page. Artworks from his personal collectionare reproduced throughout, providingyet another glimpse into his aesthetic world.Not surprisingly, musical referencesappear frequently in these incisive, wittyand evocative poems. From the title of thecollection Playing the Human Game, tochapter-headings like Masks and Music,Situations and Concepts, and Chimera, Brendel uses vivid images thatrange all the way from the numinous – hehas a whole section on angels – down to themundane. For me, these poems are at theirmost moving when they draw the sensualand the divine together, as when Brendelwrites,Today I’m a mouseminute enoughto patter along the pedalsinto the pianoThe smell of this feltYou must realizeIs something divineAssailing our nosesOver a distance of milesEagerlywe set about the hammersexploiting them to build our neststhen we nibble at the dampersuntil they stop dampingWhat’s the point of dampers anywayWith every breath of airmusic materializesall by itselfdelicate and spookyembellished by our faint whistlingWhoever heardanything more beautiful.Not new, but timely: Joan Dornemann willbe coming to Toronto in early May to givecoaching sessions for the InternationalResource Centre for Performing Artists, aspart of their Opera Week. Dornemann isbest known as a coach and prompter at theMetropolitan Opera. But she has also writtenan invaluable book, Complete Preparation:A Guide to Auditioning for Opera. In thetwenty years since it was published, it hasn’tJoan Dornemann, centre with IRCPA’sAnn Summers, l., and Anne Mirvish, 1998.been bettered. In spite of the title, it dealswith far more than auditioning. Dornemanncovers every aspect of preparing for an operarole, from technique to interpretation, providingdetailed practical advice for coaches,accompanists, conductors, directors, teachersand managers. At the same time, she offersan inspiring validation of the dedicated workrequired to make a career in opera.Dornemann will be coaching singersMay 7–9 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts,5040 Yonge St. Tickets for observers are at the door.PHOTO ANDRÉ LEDUCPublicity, press kits& image consultingfor performers416.544.1803www.lizpr.comMay 1 - June 7, 2011 thewholenote.com 59

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