{"id":108962,"date":"2024-10-29T13:05:42","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T17:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=108962"},"modified":"2024-10-29T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T18:00:01","slug":"interview-tenor-long-long-talks-memorable-debut-canadian-opera-companys-faust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/10\/29\/interview-tenor-long-long-talks-memorable-debut-canadian-opera-companys-faust\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Tenor Long Long Talks About His Memorable Debut In The Canadian Opera Company\u2019s Faust"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tenor
Tenor Long Long (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Canadian Opera Company\u2019s 2024-25 season recently opened with Faust by Charles Gounod<\/a>. The COC made a bold choice in casting a young Chinese tenor in the title role. Long Long, who is primarily based in Germany, is relatively unknown on this side of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

His Canadian debut also marks his debut in one of his dream roles. His Toronto performances garnered all-around acclaim.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Long about his journey in the world of opera.<\/p>\n

Tenor Long Long<\/h2>\n

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that singing in Long Long\u2019s blood. He comes from a dynasty of opera singers, starting with his great-grandfather who performed in Chinese operas over 100 years ago. Long is the fourth generation opera singer in his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started performing Chinese opera arias since I was three years old. I was raised in the opera house,\u201d says Long. He is, however, the first to venture into Western opera. At the age of 16, he decided to study classical opera after watching Luciano Pavarotti and Edita Gruberov\u00e1 in the film \u201cRigoletto\u201d on DVD. \u201cI immediately fell in fall in love with this kind of art.\u201d<\/p>\n

His formative training took place at conservatories in Shanghai and Beijing, where he completed his Bachelor\u2019s and Master\u2019s, respectively. In 2016, while in the third year of his Master\u2019s, he won first prize in the Bucharest Opera Competition, a turning point that launched his professional career in Europe.<\/p>\n

Since then, he has won more awards at various competitions including the Verdi Competition in Busetto, Francisco Vi\u00f1as International Singing Competition in Barcelona, and Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw. Most recently, Long was named the 2023\/24 \u201cMaria Callas Debut Artist of the Year\u201d by The Dallas Opera. For him, his most career-defining win was the first prize at the prestigious Neue Stimmen Competition in 2019, which brought him even more engagements all across Europe.<\/p>\n

Operatic Roles<\/h3>\n

After stints in the ensembles of the Bavarian and Hanover State Operas, Long went freelance in 2021. In a prophetic twist of fate, his first freelance role was Rigoletto \u2014 his first operatic inspiration \u2014 at the Bregenz Festival in Austria. His signature role to date is perhaps Rodolfo in Puccini\u2019s La Boheme, which he sang in six different productions last year alone.<\/p>\n

Long is attracted to roles with complicated characters that not only challenge him vocally, but also in acting. To that end, he has three dream roles: Lensky (Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, his favourite composer), Gustavo (Verdi\u2019s The Masked Ball), and Faust.<\/p>\n