The world-renowned countertenor David Daniels makes his NAC Orchestra debut in arias from Handel operas with Pinchas Zukerman on the podium on June 19 and 20
June 10, 2003 -
Ottawa, Canada -- The outstanding countertenor David Daniels will bring the regular concert season of the National Arts Centre Orchestra to a spectacular close with Music Director Pinchas Zukerman on the podium on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at 20:00 in the NAC’s Southam Hall. Daniels will sing heroic roles from five Handel operas and oratorios – Saul, Tolomeo, Partenope, Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda – and demonstrate how his superlative artistry, magnetic stage presence and the singular warmth and surpassing beauty of his voice have served to redefine the countertenor for the modern public.
In addition, Pinchas Zukerman on violin, along with principal second violin Donnie Deacon, and principal cello Amanda Forsyth, will perform the Allegro from the Concerto Grosso in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast. Maestro Zukerman will open the concert with the Overture from Weber’s Der Freischutz and close it with Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.
David Daniels’ appearances last year in the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the San Francisco Opera prompted the San Francisco Chronicle to call him “powerful,” “athletic,” “unstoppable,” and “intimate,” while the Contra Costa Times used terms such as “handsome,” “hunky,” “Herculean,” and “superhuman”. In February 2003 he made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the role of Arsace in Partenope causing the Chicago Tribune to say: “Daniels is today’s gold standard among countertenors.” He has just returned to Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper as another Handelian hero, David, in a new production of the composer’s dramatic oratorio Saul. All these roles will be heard in his debut visit to the National Arts Centre.
Earlier this season he made a milestone debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall on November 23, 2002, the first solo recital by a countertenor in the hall’s history. Wrote a critic for The New York Times, “To say that he is the most acclaimed countertenor of the day, perhaps the best ever, is to understate his achievement. He is simply a great singer.”
David Daniels’ rapidly growing discography includes Handel: English Oratorio Arias, which EMI/Virgin released in the fall of 2002, and Handel Arias, with Sir Roger Norrington and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which inaugurated a solo exclusive contract with the label and won Best Operatic Recital from the Académie du Disque Lyrique, Recording of the Week from London’s Sunday Times, along with being named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine.
The Handel arias to be performed by David Daniels with the National Arts Centre Orchestra are: “Oh Lord, whose mercies” from Saul, “Inumamo fratel…Stille amare” from Tolomeo, “Furibondo spira il vento” from Partenope, “Va tacito e nascosto” from Giulio Cesare and “Vivi tiranno” from Rodelinda.
Tickets for these Bostonian Bravo Series concerts on June 19 and 20 are on sale now at $26.50, $43.50 and $54.50, with box seats at $68.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s website at www.nac-cna.ca. Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card.
