Andrew Garland to present Schubertiade

Andrew Garland

Andrew Garland has been one of our favorite lieder/song recitalists ever since we heard his amazing CD of American composers, which is still available for sale.  The CD features music of Tom Cipullo, Jake Heggie, Lori Laitman and Stephen Paulus and remains one of the best recording of American songs.

On August 7th, Garland will turn his attention to German language lieder in a Schubertiade at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Garland will perform selections from both Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin, as well as selected songs. World's End Trio with guest musicians will also perform the Trout Quintet.

Andrew Garland's American Portraits recital (Complete):

You can catch him on the operatic stage beginning on October 2nd when he performs Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème with the Boston Lyric Opera. The cast includes the real-life barihunk couple of Jonathan Beyer as Marcello and Brandan Cedel as Colline.

Stephen Hegedus in sexy double-bill

Stephen Hegedus and Krisztina Szabó

How could this marketing campaign not catch our attention?

Bass-barihunk Stephen Hegedus is currently performing Franz Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin at Against the Grain in Toronto along with mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó performing Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi. They are joined by accompanist Topher Mokrzewski.

Director Joel Ivany has put together this double-bill of two very different sounding song cycles, tied together by Death/Desire. Die schöne Müllerin is comprised of twenty songs that move from cheerful optimism to despair and tragedy. Messiaen's Harawi features twelve songs centering around the death of two lovers, thus providing a vehicle from the composer's exploration of the theme of love-death central to the myth of Tristan and Isolde.

The show opened on June 2nd to great acclaim and seats are limited for the two remaining performances tonight and tomorrow.

Benjamin Appl sings Schubert at Oxford

Benjamin Appl (photos by David Jerusalem)

The Oxford Lieder Festival and their celebration of Schubert is underway. Some of the biggest names in music have joined forced to perform the entire collection of his songs including Angelika Kirchschlager, Kate Royal, Jonathan Lemalu, Sir Thomas Allen, Thomas Adès, Imogen Cooper and Dame Felicity Lott.
The three week Schubert Project also features the world-renowned Schubert expert Graham Johnson, who is giving lecture recitals, as well as performing full evening recitals with two of our favorite singers, baritones Christopher Maltman and Wolfgang Holzmair.

Benjamin Appl & Graham Johnson perform Die schöne Müllerin:

Joining these operatic luminaries is the gifted young barihunk Benjamin Appl, whose career we've been following closely. He's performing tonight in Graham Johnson lecture recital exploring the years 1816/1817 with tenors Benjamin Hulett and Robert Murray. He returns on October 25 for another morning lecture recital with Graham Johnson exploring the years 1822-1825 (when illness struck the composer), followed by a performance of Winterreise with Sir Thomas Allen and pianist Joseph Middleton.

Both performances are in the Jacqueline du Pré Building at Oxford University. You check out the entire schedule HERE.

Adrian Kramer Bids Farewell to COC Ensemble Studio

Adrian Kramer

We've followed Adrian Kramer's career as he's honed his skills at the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio over the last three years. It was exciting to see this talented young artist score huge successes at both the Castleton Festival and with the Chicago Opera Theater. [Don't miss the sexy pictures that we posted from COT].

Today, Kramer bids farewell to the COC Ensemble Studio with a concert featuring Schubert’s great song cycle, Die schöne Müllerin. The concert is at noon today at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, so we figure that most readers won't make it.

However, you can click HERE and read his farewell interview. We wish him the best of luck in his career.

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