If there’s one thing in the opera world that one can say with certainty, it’s the truism that “a good tenor is hard to find.” And when you do find one who’s blessed with a beautiful, ringing tone, solid technique, innate musicality, not to mention leading man good looks and surefire dramatic instincts? Well, you’ve hit the jackpot!
Such was the case last February, when the Canadian Opera Company engaged Australian Chinese tenor Kang Wang as the second cast Rodolfo in La Boheme. Thanks to several tips from my wide network of opera acquaintances, I made sure that I would be in the house to catch his COC debut. Mr. Wang gave an exceptional performance. His “Che gelida manina” was among the best I have heard in my 57 years of attending live opera.
Toronto opera fans are very lucky to have him back this season as Pinkerton in Madama Butterly. I had a sneak peek of it at the Bravissimo opera gala concert on New Year’s Eve at Roy Thomson Hall, when he sang the Act One love duet with Japanese soprano Eri Nakamura as Cio-Cio San. It really took my breath away.
Tenor Kang Wang
Born in Harbin, China, Wang grew up steeped in music, as both parents are opera singers. He attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK, as well as the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia. It was at Queensland that he made his operatic debut, as Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He was also a member of the prestigious Lindemann’s Young Artists Program at the Metropolitan Opera, and a finalist in the 2017 Cardiff Singer of the World.
If you missed his appearance in Bravissimo, he’ll be making guest appearance in the Li Delun Music Foundation’s Benestone East Meets West New Year’s Concert on January 5; info here. Also not to be missed is his upcoming run of Madama Butterfly at the Four Seasons Centre starting on January 24.
This week, I managed to reach him for a little catching up.
The Interview
LvT: Welcome back to Toronto!! We are thrilled that we’ll get to hear your marvellous tenor.
KW: It’s such a pleasure to be back in this wonderful city! Both my wife and I loved it here last year and we are loving it even more this time.
LvT: I read that you were born in Harbin, China, and that your parents are both opera singers. You must have grown up with lots of music at home. Can you tell us a bit more about them? What’s your earliest memories of singing? When did you first start taking singing lessons? Who were your voice teachers, then and now?
KW: Yes, I was born in Harbin, and my parents are both opera singers. My father’s name is Wen Wang, a tenor, and my mother, Dongmei Qu, a soprano. My earliest memory of opera was my father playing VHS tapes of operas such as Otello and Pagliacci with Mario del Monaco, Placido Domingo and others, when I was around 5 or 6, I think. My parents gave me my first voice lessons when I was 16 years old. Then I went to Australia and studied Information Technology, and I became a programmer because my passion had always been in computer programming. During those years while working as a programmer and finishing my degree, I studied singing with a teacher named Kathy Banks. Later with the recommendation of a baritone friend, I quit my job and went into formal musical training at the Queensland Conservatorium and studied with the very esteemed voice teacher, Joseph Ward. While I was in the Lindemann Young Artist program at the Met in New York, I studied with the wonderful tenor Frank Lopardo.
LvT: You have had great successes in competitions. I went to your YouTube channel and found your “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” from Cardiff in 2017 — wow, great ringing tone! Bravo! What is your secret to being so successful in competitions?
KW: Thank you! Actually, I really struggled with competitions early on, because I didn’t know what repertoire I should choose, and I sang a lot of weird stuff (laughs)! I finally sorted out my repertoire and put together a solid program that I felt extremely confident about. Then the competitions became a little easier. But ultimately, there’s always a bit luck involved with competitions. All you can do is to pick the most comfortable program, prepare it really well with your coach and teacher, and try to enjoy the moments while performing them.
LvT: Is Pinkerton in Toronto a role debut for you? Give us your thoughts on singing Pinkerton, and on singing Puccini in general. This role is a bit of an anti-hero, and it’s quite short, compared to all the other roles you are famous for, like Rodolfo and Alfredo.
KW: Yes, this is my first time singing Pinkerton. While the singing is very satisfying and the music extremely beautiful, it’s not easy to act like a macho navy bro when you are not like that in real life at all. I did quite a bit of research on the historical background of the story, just to make sense of why he did what he did. Puccini gave him and Cio-Cio San such beautiful melody and harmony, it’s just pure pleasure being part of this spine-tingling music.
LvT: Do you have a favourite composer? A favourite role?
KW: I don’t have a favourite composer yet, but my favourite role is actually Hoffmann. I did it for the first time in Palm Beach and I just loved everything about this role. He’s so complicated and there’s so much to play with, and the singing and music are just divine. I really can’t wait to sing Hoffmann again.
LvT: How do you enjoy singing at the COC? What do you think of the Four Seasons Centre? Your impressions of Toronto? We have a very large Chinese community in Toronto. Have you managed to do any sightseeing the last time you were here?
KW: It’s really lovely singing at the COC, and the Four Seasons Centre has fantastic acoustics! Both my wife and I love Toronto — the people, the restaurants, the dogs and Tim Hortons’ Nitro cold brew (laughs)! We managed to go to Niagara Falls last time, and we’ll try to go to more places this time. By the way, there’re some seriously authentic and delicious Chinese restaurants serving northern Chinese cuisine here in Toronto; some of them taste even better than the ones in my hometown…it’s just amazing.
LvT: Do you have a dream role, something that you hope to sing in the future? You have a big lyric tenor with a thrilling top. Where do you see your voice going in the next five, ten years? What roles do you think are in your future? Perhaps more dramatic tenor roles? Perhaps Calaf, or maybe Verdi’s Don Carlo?
KW: My dream role would be Canio in Pagliacci. It’s not really my fach, but I really do hope to sing it at least once before I retire… Its music is in my earliest memories of opera, so heart-breakingly beautiful. I think for the next five to ten years I’d love to perform most of the popular Verdi roles if possible — maybe not Otello (laughs)! I’d also like to add some more French repertoire such as Romeo, Faust, Des Grieux etc. I’ve actually had an offer for Don Carlo once, but it was really too early, and I had to refuse. It would be lovely to sing it in the future! [Note: It just so happened that Wang and baritone Mihai Damian sang the Carlo-Rodrigo duet from Don Carlo at Bravissimo, and it was stunning.]
LvT: Where are you based these days? Still in Australia, or are you based in North America or Europe?
KW: We were based in Australia since the Pandemic, but it has really become too much to travel — 30 hours one way each time we need to come to North America or Europe; and losing thousands of dollars when we have last minute travel plan changes. Although we love Australia so much, we realized that we needed to move. We took my manager’s recommendation and move to Warsaw, Poland last October. It’s been really amazing so far, both my wife and I loved everything there, especially after we discovered that Poland shared a lot of the common traditional food with my hometown of Harbin! And now it’s so much easier to travel to my gigs: direct flights of 1-2 hours to European cities, and direct flights of 9 – 12 hours from Warsaw to North American cities — pure bliss!
LvT: Thanks so much for speaking with me. I look forward to hearing you at the East Meets West New Year’s Concert, and of course, in Madama Butterfly. Toi toi toi!
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- SCRUTINY | Bravissimo! and Salute to Vienna Ring In 2025 In Grand Fashion - January 3, 2025
- INTERVIEW | Tenor Kang Wang Talks About His Return To Toronto - January 3, 2025
- SCRUTINY | Soloists And Orchestra Shine In The Salute To 2025 Opera Concert - December 30, 2024
