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Toronto - An All-Canadian Opening Night Barber of
Seville
by Joseph So, La Scena Musicale
It was announced at the
Canadian Opera Company press conference this morning that Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian will sing Rosina on
opening night of Rossini's The Barber of Seville in on Thursday, January 21st in Toronto.
She will be joined by Irish-Canadian tenor Michael Colvin, who will assume the role
of Count Almaviva. Together with the regularly scheduled Figaro of baritone Russell
Braun, this will be one of those rare occasions when the three principal roles are
taken by fast-rising young Canadian singers. Rumour has it that the first-cast Rosina and
Almaviva have been a little under the weather - not an unusual occurance, given the
particularly harsh winter Toronto has been experiencing. Bayrakdarian is no stranger to
stepping in at the last minute. Last summer, while understudying the role of Pamina at the
Music Academy of the West (general director :Marlyn Horne), Bayrakdarian replaced the
original soprano for both scheduled performances. Bayrakdarian, who at age 22 won the
1997 Metropolitan Opera Auditions, will also sing her originally scheduled performances on
January 24 and February 2nd. Michael Colvin is a member of the COC Ensemble Studio. He
received rave reviews in the world premiere of "Zurich 1916" in the Banff
Arts Festival last summer, as well as in the COC Giasone last November. He will be singing
the January 24th performance as well. Their being chosen to sing major roles on
opening night demonstrates the faith Artistic Director Richard Bradshaw has on home-grown
talent. Performances are very close to selling out, so if you want to catch these
wonderful young voices, don't wait!
Background: For an article
about Isabel Bayrakdarian, the engineer turned opera singer, click here.
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