{"id":99242,"date":"2023-09-21T11:24:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T15:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=99242"},"modified":"2023-09-21T11:24:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T15:24:12","slug":"scrutiny-2023-24-canadian-opera-company-ensemble-studio-gives-sparkling-noon-hour-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/09\/21\/scrutiny-2023-24-canadian-opera-company-ensemble-studio-gives-sparkling-noon-hour-concert\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | The 2023-24 Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Gives Sparkling Noon Hour Concert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Brian Cho, Alex Hetherington, Wesley Harrison, Karoline Podolak, Queen Hezumuryango, Mattia Senesi, Charlotte Siegel, Ariane Cossette, Korin Thomas-Smith (Photo courtesy of the COC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSvegliatevi nel core\u201d (Giulio Cesare in Egitto) Queen Hezumuryango, sop., Mattia Senesi, piano \/ \u201cBella siccome un angelo\u201d (Don Pasquale) Korin Thomas-Smith, bar., Brian Cho, piano \/ \u201cWie du varst, wie du bist\u201d(Der Rosenkavalier), Alex Hetherington, mezzo., Brian Cho, piano \/ \u201cO amore, vieni a me!\u201d (Medea) Ariane Cossette, sop., Mattia Senesi, piano \/ \u201cMeine Lippen, sie k\u00fcssen so heiss\u201d (Giuditta) Charlotte Siegel, sop., Mattia Senesi, piano \/ \u201cEcco ridente in Cielo\u201d (Il barbiere di Siviglia) Wesley Harrison, ten., Brian Cho, piano \/ \u201cJe suis Titania\u201d (Mignon) Karoline Podolak sop., Mattia Senesi, piano. Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre, September 20, 2023.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

September is an exciting time for Toronto opera fans. It marks the start of the new season of the Canadian Opera Company, with a full slate of mainstage productions as well as many enticing concerts in venues big and small. Even before opening night on September 29, opera lovers got a sneak peek at this year\u2019s Ensemble Studio, in a delightful (and free) noon hour concert on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

It took place in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre of the Four Seasons Centre, an informal venue where everyone sits rather uncomfortably on glorified stairs with no back support \u2014 never mind, the lovely voices made it all worthwhile. As usual, it was very well attended, albeit not quite as packed to the rafters as in the pre-pandemic days, now with fewer standees. That said, the audience was every bit as enthusiastic and for good reason \u2014 the 2023-24 Ensemble Studio promises to be a very good year.<\/p>\n

Performing were all nine members of the COC Ensemble Studio, seven singers and two collaborative pianists. Each artist began with a brief introduction and a few words about the aria. Of the seven singers, three are in their first year in the Ensemble \u2014 soprano Karoline Podolak, tenor Wesley Harrison, and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith. Also new to the Ensemble this year is pianist Mattia Senesi.<\/p>\n

Kicking off the proceedings was mezzo Queen Hezumuryango, in Sesto\u2019s aria from Giulio Cesare in Egitto, which she sang with big volume, rich tone, and plenty of temperament. She must be very fond of Handel, as I seem to recall her choice last year was an aria from Semele.<\/p>\n

Then it was Korin Thomas-Smith\u2019s turn, singing Malatesta\u2019s \u201cBella siccome un angelo,\u201d a piece well suited to his engaging lyric baritone with a warm timbre. It\u2019s a voice I am familiar with from his student days in the UofT Faculty of Music.<\/p>\n

Mezzo Alex Hetherington followed with \u201cWie du vast, wie du bist\u201d from Der Rosenkavalier. It\u2019s the first voice of Octavian, first heard when the curtain goes up. Not formally structured as an aria, this soliloquy is rarely excerpted as a set piece, but it is vocally ideal for Hetherington\u2019s high mezzo. I look forward to hearing her as Octavian in the future.<\/p>\n

She was followed by Qu\u00e9bec soprano Ariane Cossette, in Glauce\u2019s aria from Medea. Cossette\u2019s soprano is a full lyric, with beautifully focused tone and enough volume to be heard in a big house. Hearing her powerful top, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if in a few years, her voice might well be ideal in the so-called \u201cyouthfully dramatic soprano\u201d fach in Wagner and Strauss. I can just imagine Cossette tossing off Helmwige\u2019s top C\u2019s in the Ride of the Valkyries!<\/p>\n

Soprano Charlotte Siegel, now in her third year and who will be the mainstage Musetta this season, offered a lively \u201cMeine Lippen\u201d from Giuditta, singing with big volume and theatricality, plus plenty of metal in her top notes. Then it was tenor Wesley Harrison\u2019s turn. The Third Prize winner of last year\u2019s Centre Stage, Harrison\u2019s fine lyric tenor with good agility is well suited to Rossini, here heard to advantage in Count Almaviva\u2019s \u201cEcco ridente in Cielo\u201d from Il barbiere di Siviglia.<\/p>\n

The last aria was sung by Polish Canadian soprano Karoline Podolak. She has the most experience, not to mention the most media attention, of the seven singers, having won last season\u2019s Centre Stage and a long list of competitions elsewhere. She has already sung major roles such as Violetta to great success. Her \u201cJe suis Titania\u201d from Mignon showed in no uncertain terms the reason for her success: a voice of lovely timbre and excellent agility, combined with a beautiful stage presence and the right dramatic instincts.<\/p>\n

I mustn\u2019t forget the excellent work of Brian Cho and Mattia Senesi. They are not accompanists but collaborative pianists, offering solid support and contributing to the superlative music-making. With seven arias, the noon-hour concert was on the short side, but enough to whet our appetite. We\u2019ll get to hear them again soon, on November 27 at the RBA, in Brahms\u2019 well-known Liebeslieder Walzer and Canadian composer John Greer\u2019s contemporary take on the same theme.<\/p>\n

Not to be missed!<\/p>\n

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Even before the COC’s opening night September 29, opera lovers got a sneak peek at this year\u2019s Ensemble Studio in a delightful (and free) noon hour concert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":99245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40430,19,43,52,63],"tags":[5780,35125,40348,40133,2829,40351],"yst_prominent_words":[20849,20850,20848,7164],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/Copy-of-REVIEW-19.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-pOG","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99242"}],"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=99242"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99246,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99242\/revisions\/99246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99242"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=99242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}