Adrianne Pieczonka Performs Tonight at Koerner Hall

Soundstreams launches its 2015/2016 season with a concert reimagining the possibilities of voice and percussion, Adrianne Pieczonka: Beyond the Aria, tonight, September 29, 2015 at Koerner Hall. Featuring renowned Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, this concert is a rare opportunity to hear her haunting interpretations of an eclectic range of 20th-century repertoire. She is joined by mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó, and chamber ensemble for works by avant-garde composer George Crumb, Beatles songs arranged by Luciano Berio, and a world premiere from Canadian composer Analia Llugdar.

Hailed by The Globe and Mail for her "pearly soprano...as lustrous a sound as anyone could imagine," Adrianne Pieczonka has appeared on leading opera and concert stages in Europe, North America, and Asia. Critically acclaimed for her interpretation of Wagner's strong and tragic women, she has performed in some of the world's most famed houses-the Bayreuth Festspiele, Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and the Wiener Staatsoper. Pieczonka made her Soundstreams debut in 1988, performing George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, and she revisits this experimental and highly virtuosic work at this concert in homage to her Soundstreams beginnings. A cycle of songs on texts by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, Ancient Voices of Children is famous for its bizarre and often eerie vocal effects, such as the soprano singing into an amplified piano. It also features a boy soprano, and a large number of experimental sounds and instruments, including prayer stones, Japanese temple bells, a musical saw, toy piano, whispers, and yelling. In addition to this work, Pieczonka will delight audiences with Luciano Berio's arrangements of Beatles Songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó is widely lauded for her versatility, stage prowess, and ability to paint vivid character portraits on both opera and concert stages. She joins Pieczonka for selections from George Crumb's American Songbook, which uses a wide array of percussion instruments to transform spirituals, hymns, Civil War songs, and other folk material into contemporary soundscapes. Szabó will also perform the world premiere of Analia Llugdar's Romance de la luna, luna, a flamenco-flavoured work inspired by the Lorca poem of the same name, in which a child speaks to the moon about life and death, innocence and sensuality.

Soundstreams is proud to kick off our most exciting season yet with a concert celebrating the soaring voices and talents of Pieczonka, Szabó and Lludgar, three exceptional musical women.

Soundstreams' free Salon 21 at the Gardiner Museum on September 18 at 7:00 pm features an exploration of the connections between poetry and music with performances and discussion.

Adrianne Pieczonka: Beyond the Aria
September 29, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West

Featuring:

Adrianne Pieczonka, soprano; Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano; boy soprano; chamber ensemble

Repertoire:
George Crumb Selections from American Songbook
George Crumb Ancient Voices of Children
John Lennon, Paul McCartney Beatles Songs, arr. by Luciano Berio
Analia Lludgar Romance de la luna, luna (world premiere)

A pre-show chat with Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney will be held at 7:00 pm before the performance.

Tickets range from $37.50-$67.50 and are available through The Royal Conservatory Box Office at 416-408-0208 or online at soundstreams.ca. This concert will be streamed live at soundstreams.ca.

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