NATIONAL CAPITAL OPERA SOCIETY • SOCIÉTÉ D'OPÉRA DE LA CAPITALE NATIONALE 1999 Newsletter • Bulletin Fall 2009 Automne 2009 P.O. Box 8347, Main Terminal, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3H8 • C.P. 8347, Succursale principale, Ottawa (Ontario) K1G 3H8 Six Outstanding Finalists to Compete for $ 8,500 in Prizes! by Renate Chartrand Twenty aspiring young opera singers have applied for national de Montréal, she is currently starring as our 9th Brian Law Opera Scholarship Competition, to Madama Butterfly at the COC, to rave reviews. She be held Nov. 21. On October 8 our preliminary jurors also recently made a stellar Austrian début as La Wally met to review applications and in Klagenfurt, where listen to submitted recordings in she will return in 2010 order to select the finalists: to sing Aida! Both audience and Jonathan Estabrooks, baritone contestants will feel Wallis Giunta, mezzo-soprano the suspense when the Sharleen Joynt, soprano jury returns to an- Liliana Piazza, mezzo-soprano nounce its decision: Philippe Sly, bass-baritone The winner will be Graham Thomson, tenor. awarded the greatly in- creased 1st prize of For the finalists’ educa- $5,000 and the runner- tion and operatic experience up will receive the new please see the insert. At the 2nd prize of $3,000. In competition they will each per- addition, our board form three operatic arias, at least member Cavaliere Pat one preceded by a recitative, with Adamo is again offer- their own piano accompanist. ing a 3rd prize of $500. Our panel of jurors will The presentation of include tenor Dr. Darryl prizes will be followed Edwards, Head of Voice Stud- by a reception, where ies, University of Toronto, and Yannick-Muriel Noah the audience will have internationally celebrated Ot- the pleasure of meeting tawa soprano Donna Brown, the contestants and ju- part-time professor, University of Ottawa. A special rors. The Master of Ceremonies for the evening will thank you to all of them for offering their services! A again be the much appreciated Rob Clipperton, former third juror is to be announced. CBC host. We are delighted that soprano Yannick- Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students at the Muriel Noah, our scholarship winner in 2007, has door, they may also be reserved by calling 613-830- agreed to be our special guest and entertain us with 9827. For further information visit our website at some of her favourite arias while the jury retires to www.ncos.ca. Remember to mark your calendar for this choose the winners. Muriel (as her friends call her) is exciting evening! enjoying an amazing start of her career: having won Saturday, November 21, 7:00 pm several major international awards and prizes as well First Unitarian Congregation, as second prize at the 2009 Concours Musical Inter- 30 Cleary Avenue (off Richmond Rd., east of Woodroffe) Fall 2009 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Automne 2009 President's Message Enjoying an opera production has been described as an Board of Directors 2009-2010 “ecstatic” experience. What might be done to heighten President Murray Kitts one’s ecstasy? Not too long ago I was seated at an opera Past President Bobbi Cain performance where my neighbours were the parents of Vice President Ute Davis the soprano lead in the opera. In one way, only a relative Secretary Jean Saldhana or close friend could properly be swept away by shared Membership Vera-Lee Nelson ecstatic feelings with a singer’s triumph. But suppose Treasurer Gordon Metcalfe for a moment that a person in the audience knew that Publicity Renate Chartrand they had helped a singer in one way or another to present Ute Davis themselves on the stage, to sing beautifully, to act the Events Peggy Pflug part perfectly, and to accept the plaudits of the audience. Pat Adamo In no way could the contribution of the members of the Elizabeth Mellor NCOS be compared with the sacrifices of the parents of Newsletter Dave Williams such a singer. But we have helped so many young suc- Webmaster Jim Burgess cessful singers that when the audience rises to its feet, when the Met telecast begins, when the announcer for the classical music program speaks, and when their lat- Website: www.ncos.ca est CDs appear, then we, too, can share in this remark- able pattern of success. All I can say is - keep up the good work; the rewards are rich, indeed. Opera Alla Pasta — Sunday Afternoon at the Opera All video showings begin at 2 P.M. at St. Anthony's Soccer Club and are followed by a delicious meal. Cost: $20 Sunday, December 6, 2009 Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti Recorded live at La Scala Call 613-721-7121 by December 3 to reserve. The rest of the Opera Alla Pasta season La vie parisienne Offenbach Luisa Miller Verdi Manon Lescaut Puccini January 24, 2010 March 7, 2010 May 9, 2010 2 Fall 2009 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Automne 2009 OLO's THE MAGIC FLUTE Great Voices, Great Acting, Great Opera Of course, we wanted our three scholarship winners to by Murray Kitts do well. Shannon Mercer as Pamina gave us an aston- Michel Corbeil was suitably comically loathsome as ishingly varied portrait of the frightened captive prin- Monastatos. The other Ladies, Arianna Zukerman and cess, the expectant maiden hoping for deliverance, the Renee Lapointe, sang well. In small, but important parts, affectionate daughter revolted by her mother’s request, Thomas Goertz, Antonio Figueroa and Brian Wehrle were the despondent woman apparently spurned by the man all excellent. The Three Boys were transformed into Three she loves and finally a fitting companion for that same Genie in order to allow some girls to participate. As al- man, accompanying him through dangerous trials to ways they are show-stealers. The chorus under Laurence the final triumph of enlightenment. At every moment Ewashko was splendid. The orchestra under Pinchas her voice and interpretation seemed perfect for the part. Zukerman was superb as always. Joshua Hopkins was a memorable Papageno portray- The scenery and costumes by David Hockney ing a bird-like creature with his hops and funny walk. from San Francisco (and also used at the Met) were a But, in spite of the comic demands of the role, he man- little shop-worn but very effective especially for the nu- aged to convince the audience that he was a very hu- merous quick scene changes. Lighting and sound effects man being, letting a person like Prince Tamino attain were excellent. higher truth but sticking himself to the quest for basic My only criticism of this production stems from human needs. Papageno’s vocal demands are not as the fact that the dialogue was in English while the sung great as for others in this opera but in passages such as text was in German. This in itself is not a bad thing as this the wonderful Act 1 duet with Pamina his beautiful, type of singspiel has a lot of dialogue. It does create prob- rich voice was apparent. Joyce El-Koury, as the Sec- lems, however. Singers are often almost perfect when ond Lady, sang mainly as part of the Ladies’ ensemble singing a text in a language not native to them. Speaking but still managed to make a great impression because the language is another thing. An extra difficulty is cre- of her physical beauty, attractive voice and excellent ated for the director who has to tighten up the speaking acting. Bravi to all three. parts so that the dialogue does not drag. In this production, But, of course, there was much more to ad- since the dialogue was in English, French surtitles were used. mire. John Tessier, as Pamino, proved himself a world- It was pointed out to me that if English surtitles were also class Mozart tenor right from his first aria. Valerian used it would help the hearing impaired in the audience. Ruminski is as great a Sarastro, with a wonderful bass Any criticisms were forgotten with the enthusias- voice, as any I have heard in the theatre or on record- tic bravos and standing ovations from the last night audi- ings. Luz del Alba sang her two great arias as Queen ence. I was delighted to go backstage and congratulate of the Night with attack and accuracy. Pascale Beaudin our three scholarship winners on their contributions to this, made a delightful bird-like companion for Papageno. one of my favourite operas. Shannon Mercer Joshua Hopkins Joyce El-Koury 3 Fall 2009 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Automne 2009 The Divine Claudia by James Winters It was. in the early evening of a cold March 25th, 1965, in idol'; "the divine Muzio"; "the only word to describe New York, that I, a forty year old operaphile since my teen Muzio is sublime"; "I who venerated Muzio like a years, was accosted by a gentleman in the crowded foyer Madonna"; "haunted by Claudia Muzio in the role of the venerable old Met, at Broadway and 39th street, of Violetta" and "her Norma was an unforgettable desperately offering me $500 for the $50 ticket I had for creation". Perhaps the finest and most apt encomium that evening's performance. That, or a similar incident, came from Lucrezia Bori, the soprano so loved by was mentioned by Sir Rudolf Bing in one of the two pub- the Met audience throughout her career there and until lished memoirs of his tenure as general manager of the her death, who, when asked by Rasponi which were Met. You may already know or may surmise that what tran- the most beautiful voices among the women she had spired that evening turned out to be the legendary Maria heard, answered, "Ponselle and Rethberg, in their Callas as Tosca in her very last performance in America own different ways, had the most gorgeous instru- of a fully staged opera.