{"id":44400,"date":"2017-04-04T19:43:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T23:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=44400"},"modified":"2017-04-06T12:38:29","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T16:38:29","slug":"scrutiny-they-dont-make-them-like-you-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/04\/04\/scrutiny-they-dont-make-them-like-you-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | They Don’t Make Them Like This Anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soprano Jean Edwards calls it a day at 90-years-young.<\/em><\/h4>\n
\"Soprano
Soprano Jean Edwards and performers take a bow at her final concert at Heliconian Hall. (Photo: Joseph So)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jean Edwards, soprano; Meredith Hall, soprano; Penelope Cookson, mezzo; Maria Soulis, mezzo; Nataliya Lepeshkina, piano; Peggy Mahon, narrator; Jane Blackstone, piano; Diego Catal<\/strong>\u00e1, baritone; Bram Goldhammer, piano. Heliconian Hall. Sunday 3 p.m. Apr 2, 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As music lovers, we attend concerts for many reasons. We go to hear favourite works brought to life in a concert hall. We go to experience the magic of artists in their prime, or to check out that new voice that\u2019s creating a buzz in the music world.\u00a0 And every so often, we go to honour a beloved artist who\u2019s saying farewell to the stage after a long career. In the case of Canadian soprano Jean Edwards, it\u2019s been 70 years since her debut \u2014 yes, the big Seven-O!\u00a0 She made her professional operatic debut as Gretel in Hansel und Gretel<\/em> in 1947. How\u2019s that for longevity, folks?<\/p>\n

A native of Calgary, Jean Edwards moved to Toronto to study music and stayed. She has the distinction of being one of the two Susanna\u2019s at the very first production of The Marriage of Figaro<\/em> by the then young Canadian Opera Company in 1951, under her maiden name Jean Patterson. Shortly after, she decided that having a family was more important than a career. She retired to raise five boys. After a hiatus, Edwards returned to singing, with the Festival Singers and the Toronto Consort, touring Europe, USA, and Canada.<\/p>\n

Jean jokingly calls herself the \u201cGranny Soubrette\u201d as even at such a grand age, her light lyric soprano has not substantially changed, maintaining its purity and girlish timbre. For those familiar with the Toronto classical music community, Jean Edwards is known as an ardent supporter of the arts.\u00a0 Famous for her generosity of spirit and love of life, Jean is also one of the nicest ladies you\u2019ll ever meet, onstage or off. You can find out more about her here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Having turned 90, Edwards feels it\u2019s a good time to say farewell to the stage. As a final gesture of support, she and her collaborative pianist, the well-known Bram Goldhammer of the Royal Conservatory of Music, put on a fund-raising concert at the Heliconian Hall last Sunday. All proceeds went to the support of the Heliconian Foundation, which was established by Jean\u2019s late lawyer\/husband, Stanley Edwards.<\/p>\n

Billed as A Spring Concert<\/em>, it was also unofficially A Fond Farewell, with several of her colleagues joining her on stage, and many more in the audience. I had a chat with famous Canadian soprano\/voice teacher Mary Morrison in the audience. Incredibly, Morrison was the Contessa to Edwards\u2019 Susanna in that first COC Marriage of Figaro<\/em> 66 years earlier! Since the Letter Duet from Act Two Nozze<\/em> was on the program, I teased Mary why she wasn\u2019t on stage to sing it with Jean on this occasion. She responded laughingly: \u201cOh no!\u00a0 It takes guts to go up there and sing!\u201d<\/p>\n

The venue of Heliconian Hall on a Sunday afternoon gave the event the ambience of a musical soir\u00e9e of a bygone era.\u00a0 Since this was an occasion for nostalgia and remembrance, it was perfect. Edwards began with \u201cA Heart that is Free,\u201d a frothy little number by American operetta composer Alfred G. Robyn (1860-1935). Her staccati and coloratura runs showed that at 90, she could still do it. This was followed by Purcell\u2019s \u201cSound the Trumpet\u201d a duet with soprano Meredith Hall and mezzo Maria Soulis. Hall then sang two Mendelssohn songs, \u201cDie Liebende Schreibt\u201d and \u201cNeue Liebe.\u201d \u00a0A baroque\/early music specialist, Hall sang these two pieces with lovely pure tone.<\/p>\n

Penny Cookson, better known these days as a stage director, sang a Canadian folk song (the name of which escapes me) with a nice natural voice ideal in this repertoire. Later, she affectingly sang the well-known \u201cPlaisir d\u2019amour\u201d by Martini, set to text by Colette. I was particularly intrigued by Edwards singing Gretel (her debut role) in the Prayer from Hansel und Gretel<\/em> with mezzo Maria Soulis, the two voices blending nicely. Baritone Diego Catal\u00e1, the only male singer and likely the youngest of all performers here, sang \u201cLargo al factotum\u201d with rich tone, great high notes, and plenty of swagger.<\/p>\n

After a short intermission, Edwards sang \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d and the Johann Strauss operetta aria made famous by Richard Tauber \u201cOne Day When We were Young.\u201d These pieces really underscored the nostalgia of the occasion. Maria Soulis contributed two spirituals, with her low mezzo making its mark particularly in \u201cDeep River.\u201d \u00a0For a change of pace, Russian pianist Nataliya Lepeshkina offered a truly hilarious comedy skit, followed by a dazzling rendition of \u201cFlight of the Bumble Bee.\u201d\u00a0 Diego Catal\u00e1 concluded with a brilliant Granada.<\/p>\n

Through it all, pianist Bram Goldhammer not only played marvelously, he also served as MC and spoke eloquently about Jean and her contribution to musical life of our community. He introduced the last item on the program \u2014 \u201ca surprise!\u201d \u2014 which turned out to be Jean singing the piece made famous by the British comedienne Beatrice Lillie, \u201cThere are Fairies at the Bottom of Our Garden.\u201d \u00a0It was a charming routine to begin with, made even more hilarious with Jean dressed up as a ballerina complete with tutu, her impish qualities in glorious display. Fittingly she brought the house down.<\/p>\n

It was a delightful end to a long career. It\u2019s said that you don\u2019t need Carnegie Hall or the Met to touch hearts, and Jean proves that every time she performs, with her personal charm, pretty soubrette timbre, surefire musicality, and endearing stage persona. I counted at least two other women in the \u201890s club, former singers, in the audience cheering Jean on. For those in the audience who were younger? \u00a0Probably half of us were hoping that if we ever reach the grand age of 90, we would still have the zest for life to do what Jean did this afternoon.<\/p>\n

For more REVIEWS, click HERE<\/u><\/a><\/span>.<\/h3>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billed as a spring concert, it was also unofficially a fond farewell to soprano Jean Edwards as she calls it a day at 90-years-young.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":44401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,76,19,52,63,70],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/IMG_1814.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-by8","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44400"}],"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\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44400"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44429,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44400\/revisions\/44429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44400"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=44400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}