Andrew Potter as Fafner(Images: Pittsburgh Festival Opera)
The Pittsburgh Opera Festival is kicked off their English language version of Wagner's Ring Cycle on July 13th with the sexy and shirtless Fafner of Andrew Potter in The Rhinegold (Das Rheingold).
The Pittsburgh Ring is based on a version by composer Jonathan Dove, John McMurray, and Graham Vick, which slightly condenses the orchestration and length of the works (none last longer than three hours) while retaining the authenticity of the original. The Rhinegold runs approximately two hours.
Andrew Potter's Fafner, who has already being turned by the power of the Ring, comes out in the final fanfare and begins shirtlessly attacking the walls of Valhalla as the gods aloofly celebrate in their beautiful tower.
There are remaining performances on July 15 and 17, and tickets and additional cast information is available online. The Ring Cycle continues over the next three years.
Barihunk Philippe Sly is prominently featured in a one hour documentary filmed during the rehearsal period and performance of the world premiere of British composer Jonathan Dove's "Who Wrote the Book of Love." The piece was written for bass-baritone and string quartet with Phillippe Sly in mind as the soloist.
Who Wrote the Book of Love? is a 45-minute cycle with words by British playwright and librettist Alasdair Middleton. The text explores the path of love and passion.
The first performance of the piece took place in March 2014 in a London gallery and Philippe's brother Mathieu Sly camera filmed the whole creative process, including some private moments. Sly calls the piece the most beautiful composition that the composer has written for him. Dove also wrote Three Tennyson Songs for the singer.
Sly will perform Figaro in the San Francisco Opera's Summer Season production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which runs from June 14-July 5. He'll be joined by the Count of Luca Pisaroni.
Australian baritone Ben Connor stripped down to his skivvies for the Kammeroper of Vienna's production of La boheme. This isn't the usual La boheme, as it's the chamber version of the opera by composer Jonathan Dove, with electronic interludes by Sinem Altan. Dove's version reduces the the big Puccini orchestra to just fourteen musicians.
The characters are a cast of bored pseudo-artists set in a penthouse, department store and hospital death chamber. Purists may be shocked by Mimi dying bald behind the glass wall of a hospital. Critics have praised the work for its originality and humor.
Remaining performances are on January 23, 26. and 30, as well as February 1, 10, 15, 17, 21. and 24.
The Australian baritone Ben Connor graduated with a Masters of Music in voice from the Australian National University where he was the recipient of the Harmony Endowment scholarship. After furthering his studies at the Universität für Musik und darstellende kunst in Vienna, he is now a member of the inaugural “Junges Ensemble” at the Theater an der Wien. Ben won the 2010 Aria Competition at the “National Eisteddfod”(Canberra, Australia) and in 2011 was the recipient of the Richard Wagner Stipendium Bayreuth prize from “Klassik Mania”(Vienna).
There are few young singers who we're more excited about than Canadian Barihunk Philippe Sly. If it were possible that Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Simon Keenlyside had a love child, we're pretty sure that it would have been Sly. For a singer in his early 20s, his interpretive skills and musicianship is beyond singers with decades more experience.
We've seen him hone his craft in person and it a truly remarkable site. He searches for the perfect tone and mood in every song that he sings. He clearly wowed the judges at both the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Concours Musical International de Montreal (MIMC) where he took away top honors. As Radio-Canada host Françoise Davoine has said, "It was impossible not to be completely bowled over by this young man with the golden voice and the luminous expression."
His brother Mathieu Sly has put together a 15-minute documentary "IN DREAMS, EN RÊVES, IN TRÄUMEN" on the making of his latest album. It's a great opportunity to watch him perfect his music making.
The opera world is wasting little time in snapping up this young talent, recognizing that he's the perfect marketing passage: matinee idol looks + an amazing talent. After finishing a year with the prestigious Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, he was signed by by the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto. He will also be touring Canada in a recital series with the Debut Atlantic Series.
The San Francisco Opera which got to witness Sly firsthand while he was at Merola also wasted little time in signing Sly and he will appear in their mainstage production of Mozart's Così fan tutte as Guglielmo opposite Heidi Stober, Ellie Dehn, Francesco Demuro and Marco Vinco. Performances will be led by music director Nicola Luisotti and begin on June 9, 2013. Visit the San Francisco Opera website for more information.
You can buy his new album by clicking on our Amazon link to the right or by going to iTunes or Spotify. We can guarantee you that you'll want to add this to your music collection.
Canadian barihunk and emerging star Philippe Sly's June 19th concert is available on demand for free at Radio France. He's performing Duparc's "Chanson Triste, Phidylé," Ravel's "Don Quichotte à Dulciné," Ropartz's "Quatre poèmes d’après l’Intermezzo de Heine," Jonathan Dove's "Three Tennyson Songs" and Schubert's "Mélodies."
The recital starts at about the 6:35 mark.
Sly recently won the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions and will be making his San Francisco Opera debut as Guglielmo in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte in their 2012-2013 season. He's is currently a Studio Ensemble member of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.
Here's a fun clip of sexy Ben Wager rehearsing the Ringmaster's Song from Jonathan Dove's "Pinocchio" at the Minnesota Opera. If you want to see the final version, you can visit http://www.mnopera.org/watchlisten.
