From tales of antiquity by way of nineteenth century poetry to a brand new chamber opera sung in each English and Gitxsan, Toronto Summer season Music affords a spread of experiences for vocal music lovers.
The twentieth Anniversary Competition lineup shines a highlight on the artistry and plain energy of the voice in a wide range of types and flavours.
Right here’s a take a look at what’s in retailer.
Toronto Summer season Music 2025: The Voice
Opening Evening: Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea (live performance efficiency) (July 10)
Leonardo García-Alarcón, conductor; Cappella Mediterranea
L’incoronazione di Poppea was Monteverdi’s final opera. The libretto was written by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, a poet, librettist, and lawyer who collaborated with the composer on 5 Venetian operas over his profession. The premiere passed off throughout carnival season in Venice in 1643.
It’s one of many first operas to be set in a historic interval. It depicts the life and ambitions of Poppea, who was Roman emperor Nero’s mistress. She wished a life past that of a mistress — she had her eyes set on the crown itself.
Many students and critics take into account it Monteverdi’s biggest operatic work. Poppea did see her ambitions realized, and took the throne as empress — though the present empress Octavia initially stood in her manner. The story revolves round ethical ambiguities — and not one of the characters escapes scrutiny.
The opera affords a mix of theatricality and music, with memorable melodies, and a dramatic examination of character and ethical compromise. This manufacturing will tour Cologne, Geneva, Namur, Montreal, Toronto, and New York between Could and July 2025.
Swiss-Argentine conductor Leonardo García Alarcón based Cappella Mediterranea in 2005 with a mandate of specializing in Baroque repertoire. Since then, they’ve grow to be acknowledged as a number one interpreter of the period, increasing their attain to include modern music, tango, and every part in between.
Bevan & Vignoles (July 14)
Mary Bevan, soprano; Roger Vignoles, piano
British soprano Mary Bevan’s solo debut launch, titled Voyages (2017), delved into works by French composers that set the phrases of nineteenth century poet Charles Baudelaire to music. The repertoire for this recital attracts from that wealthy supply, with songs by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, and others.
For a contemporary twist on the works, she pairs every choice with a piece by a girl composer that was created across the similar time. Bevan’s recital seems to be to convey the works of these ignored artists to mild, and restore them to a place of equal high quality and curiosity.
Lacking: In Live performance (July 24)
Marie Clements, librettist; Brian Present, composer; Timothy Lengthy, conductor; Andy Moro, technical director
Solid (In Order of Look): Ava: Caitlin Wooden; Native Woman: Melody Braveness; Jess: Andrea Ludwig; Devon: Asitha Tennekoon; Dr. Wilson: Marion Newman; Angus: Evan Korbut; Native Mom: Michelle Lafferty
Lacking is a Chamber Opera by Métis playwright Marie Clements and JUNO Award-winning composer Brian Present. The work expresses each a deep sense of loss, and of hope.
The story is informed in each English and Gitxsan, a First Nations language that’s extensively spoken within the space the place the play takes place: between downtown Vancouver’s east aspect and BC’s infamous Freeway 16. It’s often known as the Freeway of Tears as a result of incomprehensible variety of girls and ladies whose deaths and disappearances have been linked to the stretch of roadway between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
Two girls anchor the story, one Indigenous and one non-Indigenous. Their lives come collectively within the wake of a tragedy.
Franco Fagioli: The Final Castrato (July 29)
Franco Fagioli, countertenor; Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles; Stefan Plewniak, conductor
Castrati have been as soon as revered for his or her very good vocal approach, and as their period got here to an finish within the late 18th century, Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861), the final nice castrato, embodied the beliefs of the style.
Composers of the period wrote for him, together with Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Francesco Morlacchi, and Giuseppe Nicolini. They used his virtuosic facility with elaborations and expression in a few of their hottest operas, and his affect on the period and style was extensively felt.
This system consists of works written for Velluti.
Argentine operatic countertenor Franco Fagioli has earned a fame for his specialty within the Baroque, notably Handel, and early bel canto operas, in addition to Mozart, and the difficult and troublesome works written for castrato singers.
An Night in Vienna (July 31)
Simone McIntosh, mezzo-soprano; Yura Lee, violin; TSM Competition Orchestra
Arias, waltzes, bon-bons, and violin favourites are on this system for this live performance celebrating the Metropolis of Music, that includes works by J. Strauss, R. Strauss, Lehar, Kreisler, Mozart, and others.
Swiss-Canadian mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh is a graduate of the Adler Fellowship Program with San Francisco Opera (SFO), Opernhaus Zürich, and the Canadian Opera Firm’s Ensemble Studio. McIntosh was the First Prize Laureate for the Concours Musical Worldwide de Montréal — Aria Division. Her repertoire todaay consists of works from Handel to Bellini to Dvorak and Ruders.
Violinist/violist Yura Lee first shot to fame at age 12 because the youngest artist ever to obtain the Debut Artist of the Yr prize on the Efficiency At the moment awards given by Nationwide Public Radio. At the moment, her repertoire consists of music from the Baroque to the trendy period. Over a three-decades plus profession, she has carried out throughout the US, and on the stage at Wigmore Corridor, Vienna’s Musikverein, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Yura Lee is a professor on the College of Southern California, Thornton Faculty of Music, and holds the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Endowed Chair.
Competition Tickets & Passes
- TSM Competition passes may be bought by telephone or in particular person; particulars [HERE].
- Discover single tickets to every occasion [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher.
