{"id":119522,"date":"2025-11-17T10:56:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=119522"},"modified":"2025-11-17T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:00:02","slug":"scrutiny-enchanted-evening-musical-theatre-beyond-burlington-performing-arts-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/11\/17\/scrutiny-enchanted-evening-musical-theatre-beyond-burlington-performing-arts-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | An Enchanted Evening of Musical Theatre And Beyond At The Burlington Performing Arts Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L:
L: Mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah, R: baritone Gino Quilico (Photos courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some Enchanted Evening: A Celebration of Musical Theatre Past and Present. Featuring Daniel Vnukowski, piano; Julie Nesrallah, mezzo-soprano; Gino Quilico, baritone; and Stu Harrison, piano. Burlington Performing Arts Centre, November 15, 2025.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Vocal and pianistic fireworks were ablaze on Saturday night inside the Burlington Performing Arts Centre for an intimate soir\u00e9e entitled Some Enchanted Evening: A Celebration of Musical Theatre Past and Present.<\/p>\n

The two vocalists alone, both big names in the opera world, were worth the admission ticket. The cheeky Gino Quilico, from a dynasty of baritones, is renowned for his performances on the world\u2019s biggest operatic stages like La Scala and The Metropolitan Opera. He was paired with the sassy Julie Nesrallah, whose magnetic mezzo voice is heard every weekday when she hosts Tempo on CBC Radio. They were accompanied by the excellent jazz pianist Stu Harrison<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Vocalists: Gino Quilico & Julie Nesrallah<\/h3>\n

A very engaging performer, Gino delighted audiences with a vast selection of familiar musical numbers. From older shows, there were the concert\u2019s namesake \u201cSome Enchanted Evening\u201d from South Pacific, \u201cYou\u2019ll never walk alone\u201d from Carousel, and an interesting mashup of Showboat\u2019s \u201cOld Man River\u201d with Leonard Cohen\u2019s \u201cHallelujah.\u201d<\/p>\n

His warm and lyrical baritone is well suited to these Broadway selections. As a nod to his Italian roots, his medley of favourites like \u201cO sole mio\u201d and \u201cCon te partiro,\u201d was particularly well received, especially when he invited audience participation in singing \u201cArrivederci Roma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julie showed natural humour in her rendition of \u201cNothing\u201d from A Chorus Line. Her bright palette and powerful coloratura were in full display in My Fair Lady\u2019s \u201cI could have danced all night.\u201d But, it was in the jazzy numbers from 40s and 50s movies that she truly excelled. Her \u201cThe man that got away\u201d (A star is born) and \u201cYou\u2019ll never know\u201d (Hello, Frisco, Hello) were irresistibly sultry and smoky.<\/p>\n

Gino famously played Jean Valjean in the Qu\u00e9bec run of Les Mis\u00e9rables, so it was only fitting that he sang a very moving \u201cBring him home.\u201d Not to be outdone, Julie\u2019s \u201cI dreamed a dream\u201d from the same musical was equally compelling.<\/p>\n

Still, I yearned to hear these singers in their natural habitat, and I was delighted when they announced they would each sing one well-known opera aria. Not surprisingly, Julie chose the most famous aria for a mezzo, the \u201cHabanera\u201d from Carmen, a role her personality complements perfectly. This was the evening\u2019s only performance done without a microphone, and the richness of her mezzo voice carried well, even though the acoustics in the venue were not particularly favourable.<\/p>\n

Although it was somewhat predictable that Gino would choose another famous baritone aria, \u201cLargo al factotum\u201d from The Barber of Seville, he explained that Figaro is his signature role and calling card. His diction and acting were perfect, but he inexplicably alternated between a Broadway and opera voice with glottal-sounding high notes which did not work well.<\/p>\n

Daniel Vnuknowski<\/h3>\n

For me, the most magical performances of the evening came from Daniel Vnukowski, who played the dual role of pianist and concert host. The beloved radio host of Classical 96.3 FM brought a charismatic presence with his light-hearted humour, and serious star power in his three solo performances of musical selections from Carousel, The King and I and The Sound of Music.<\/p>\n

For West Side Story, he engaged the audience in a fun game of finger-snapping and shouting of \u201cMambo!\u201d Not the average musical overture, these pieces were arrangements with the most intricate and dramatic ornamentations. His playing was eloquent and versatile, a mix of technical brilliance and nuanced sentimentality. His electrifying performances took us on roller-coaster rides through syncopated jazz rhythms and extravagant flourishes, from rapid-fire fingering to tender pianissimo touches.<\/p>\n

The delightful evening wrapped with a sing-along of a jazzy version of White Christmas with all the performers. It was worth the drive out to Burlington!<\/p>\n

Are you looking to promote an event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em>HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vocal and pianistic fireworks were ablaze inside the Burlington Performing Arts Centre for an intimate soir\u00e9e entitled Some Enchanted Evening: A Celebration of Musical Theatre Past and Present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":119523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,76,19,6992,32,3693,49,52,63],"tags":[36103,41628,6200,42430],"yst_prominent_words":[15417,15413,8722,31494,8715,7951,10015],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/Copy_of_REVIEW_-_2025-11-17T104746.218.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-v5M","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119522"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119526,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119522\/revisions\/119526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119522"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=119522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}