Roy Thomson Hall and Attila Glatz Concert Productions present 2 HOLIDAY CLASSICS at Roy Thomson Hall

Bravissimo! Opera’Äôs Greatest Hits! on New Year’Äôs Eve 2009 at 7pm;
and Salute to Vienna on New Year’Äôs Day 2010 at 2:30pm.

Bravissimo! Opera’Äôs Greatest Hits!

Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 7:00 PM / Roy Thomson Hall / Toronto

Tickets $155 - $75 ’Äì Call 416-872-4255 or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office at 60 Simcoe Street

Or buy online at www.roythomson.com

Bravissimo! Opera's Greatest Hits! returns for the 3rd consecutive year to Roy Thomson Hall with an all new program of beloved arias, duets and overtures from the world's most popular operas. This year’Äôs showcase of irresistible melodies is on New Year’Äôs Eve, Thursday, December 31at 7:00 p.m., and features an international cast of six opera stars who are joined by the 78-member Opera Canada Symphony under the direction of the eminent Austrian conductor Roberto Paternostro.

The guest artists, all enjoying spectacular careers on major opera stages around the world, are American soprano Sarah Jane McMahon, French soprano Susan Neves, Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Bocharova, Portuguese tenor Bruno Ribeiro, American tenor Carl Tanner, and Serbian baritone Nikola Mijailovic.

Maestro Paternostro, who was an assistant to the late Herbert von Karajan in Berlin, is General Music Director of the Staatstheater Kassel and Musical Adviser to the Israel Chamber Orchestra. He has also guest conducted opera and orchestral performances throughout Europe for more than two decades, beginning with the famed 1985 Opera for Africa gala at the Arena in Verona, Italy.

The enchanting program includes favorite selections from Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Rigoletto, La Traviata, The Magic Flute ’Äì and much more. Rick Phillips, well-known Canadian broadcaster, writer and lecturer in the world of opera, will narrate the performance.

Salute to Vienna

Friday, January 1, 2010 at 2:30 PM / Roy Thomson Hall / Toronto

Tickets $135 - $55 ’Äì Call 416-872-4255 or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office at 60 Simcoe Street

Or buy online at www.roythomson.com

Toronto’Äôs annual New Year’Äôs Day concert, Salute to Vienna, returns to Roy Thomson Hall for the 15^th consecutive year on Friday, January 1, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. This cherished celebration, modeled after the Austrian capital’Äôs world-famous Neujahrskonzert (New Year’Äôs Concert), will once again welcome the New Year with a program of symphony, song and dance featuring more than 75 performers and the joyous music of Viennese ’ÄúWaltz King’Äù Johann Strauss Jr. and his contemporaries.

Roy Thomson Hall’Äôs 2010 Salute to Vienna features the Strauss Symphony of Canada under the baton of acclaimed Viennese maestro Peter Sommerer, principal conductor at the Theatre of Osnabrueck. The guest opera singers, Hungarian soprano Beatrix Lˆ°zin and Austrian tenor Wolfgang Gratschmaier will perform arias and duets from the much-loved operettas of Strauss, Lehˆ°r and Kˆ°lmˆ°n. Dancers from Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine and International Ballroom Dance Champions will grace the stage in colourful costumes as they perform elegant Viennese waltzes and exuberant polkas.

Artistic director and founder Attila Glatz introduced the Viennese New Year’Äôs concert tradition to North America when he presented the first Salute to Vienna in Toronto on New Year’Äôs Day, 1995. The tradition quickly spread, and this year Salute to Vienna will be presented in 20 North American cities almost simultaneously. All Salute to Vienna productions feature a brand new cast and new program, performed by local symphony orchestras, international conductors and European opera singers, and dancers from prominent ballet companies. www.glatzconcerts.com

Bravissimo! and Salute to Vienna are co-presented by Attila Glatz Concert Productions and Roy Thomson Hall