HISTORY | MISSION | DAVID SPEERS
- GENERAL DIRECTOR
MAESTRO DANIEL LIPTON | OPERA ONTARIO CHORUS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
COMPANY REPERTOIRE
An Interview with the Maestro
OPERA HAMILTON: What brought you to Hamilton twenty years ago?
MAESTRO DANIEL LIPTON: A dear friend brought me to Hamilton with the intention of seeking guest-conducting possibilities.
OPERA HAMILTON: What do you consider the highlights of our twenty years in Hamilton, Ontario?
MAESTRO DANIEL LIPTON: There are so many, it is hard to choose. Each season, each production has had exceptional moments. The operas, the soloists, the orchestra and chorus, the crew and, of course, the audience have made each production memorable. On a personal note, the last "Carmen" production was special to me as my wife and daughter performed in it. I did try to include my daughter in an earlier "Madama Butterfly" production, but she cried - mostly finding the music too sad. There have been such outstanding moments in the 20 years, right from the beginning, with "Ballo" with Tracy Dahl, Michael Sylvester, Sylvia Mosca; the first time our opera was filmed "live"; the incredible "Chenier" with a nearly all-Canadian cast and our first Canadian Premiere; the first Popera with Ermanno Mauro, substituted by Richard Margison in the 2nd performance; All the Poperas with so many stars: Ben Heppner, Adrianne Pieczonka, Sherill Milnes, Eduardo Villa, and so many others, without forgetting Aldo Filistad.
Our first "Faust" with Eric Halfvarson, John Fanning, Odette Beaupre;
the "Marriage of Figaro" with Renee Fleming, Maureen O'Flynn, Claude
Corbeil, the entire cast was unforgettable; our first "Don Giovanni"
with the Romeos' Cadillac blazing onstage with license plate "DON 1", a
brilliant staging of Richard Rose and another stellar cast, among
others, Louis Otey, Dean Petersen, Lynn Fortin, Lynn has appeared
brilliantly in "Traviata", "Pearl Fishers", "La Voix Humaine"; the
"Trovatore" with Ermanno Mauro, Louis Quilico, Carlo Neblett and Myrna
Pecile; Russell Braun, an incredible Papageno, and everything he does.
Our Fantastic "Fledermaus"; our other Canadian Premiere od "I Due
Foscari" with Louis Quilico, Linda Rourke-Strummer and Eduardo Villa and brilliant staging of Chris Newton; Sally Dibblee performing her first opera with us going on to greater roles including Susanna and Mimi, with Marc Hervieux; our first Russian opera, "Onegin" with Jason Howard and Lisa Houben. Allan Monk, another pillar of stars, we have had a virtual Who's Who of great world-class singers and performances. It would take pages to list all the operas and all the performers and all the people responsible and all the memorable moments.
OPERA HAMILTON: What do you enjoy most about conducting in these two
Communities?
MAESTRO DANIEL LIPTON: I mostly enjoy the fantastic rapport with both audiences and the appreciation they show for what we bring to them.
OPERA HAMILTON: You have been splitting your time between Hamilton and Europe for many years, who do you enjoy the most and what do you miss when you are in the community?
MAESTRO DANIEL LIPTON: I have been splitting my time between Europe & Canada since 1992, and earlier. I love conducting and I love the change of country, cuisine, and customs. I miss my friends most and the incredible Nature of Canada. When in Canada, I miss the museums, architecture and certain mentality.
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