Russell Braun
Russell Braun
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Michael Schade
About Russell Braun
Thrilling, manic, glorious, superbly sung and malevolently acted, rich, powerful, elegant, soft-grained, and spine-tingling are but a few of the epithets the media have used to describe Canadian opera sensation Russell Braun. In concert, opera and recital, the international stages of the world are his - whether it be the Metropolitan Opera in New York, l'Opéra de Paris, the State Opera in Vienna, the Lyric Opera in Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Salzburg or the Glyndebourne Festival. Performances: 2008-2009 The 2008-2009 season features Russell in concerts, recitals and an array of different opera roles. He begins the season in his hometown, Toronto, in his role debut as Prince Andrei in the Canadian Opera Company's production of War and Peace. He performs with l'Opéra national de Paris as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, tours to Japan with the Salzburg Festival as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte and joins Opera Lyra Ottawa in the title role of Eugene Onegin. After celebrating Mendelssohn's 200th birthday in a performance of Elijah with the Calgary Philharmonic, he returns to Toronto in May 2009 for an Off Centre Music Series concert before appearing with the New York Philharmonic in the World Premiere of The World in Flower a new work by Peter Lieberson. He also has the title role in Billy Budd with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Recent Highlights Last season featured Russell in Le nozze di Figaro and Pelléas et Mélisande with the Canadian Opera Company, his role debut as Wolfram in Tannhaüser, the world premiere of Transit of Venus with the Manitoba Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia in New York, and a return to the Salzburg Festival as Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette in the summer of 2008. His recital with tenor Michael Schade and pianist Carolyn Maule at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall received public and critical acclaim, as did his appearance with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Recent opera highlights include Russell's house debuts at ROH Covent Garden as Valentin in Faust and at La Scala in the title role of Pelléas et Mélisande, role debuts as Orestes in the Opéra national de Paris's Iphegénie en Tauride, Eugene Onegin with the San Francisco Opera, the title role in Billy Budd and as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with the Canadian Opera Company. He has appeared in New York at the Metropolitan Opera (I Pagliacci and Il Barbiere di Siviglia), at the Salzburg Festival (Ariadne auf Naxos, Roméo et Juliette), the Vienna Staatsoper (Roméo et Juliette, Die Zauberflöte, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Fledermaus, Billy Budd), in Paris at the Opéra national de Paris (Cosi fan tutte, Faust, Pelléas et Mélisande) and at the Théâtre du Châtelet (Dido & Aeneas), in San Diego (Les Pecheurs de Perles, Cosi fan tutte), the Glyndebourne Festival (Pelléas et Mélisande), l'Opéra de Montreal (Die Zauberflöte), and l'Opéra de Québec (Don Giovanni). A favourite of Toronto's Canadian Opera Company, he has appeared in many productions with them including Cosi fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Billy Budd, Lucia di Lammermoor, Pelléas et Mélisande. Concerts and recitals always have a major place on Russell's calendar. He has performed in duo recital with Michael Schade in London, Edinburgh, Toronto, San Diego, Graz, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Strasbourg and Ludwigsburg and in solo recital in Montréal, Toronto, New York (Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y), Paris (La Chapelle Royale at Versailles), Bridgewater (Virginia) and Winnipeg and Ottawa. His interpretations of German Leider have won him international acclaim - "A searching musician, Braun also has one of the world's most beautiful baritone voices. He brings a poet's soul and a young man's bewildered grief to Schubert's shattering cycle of solitude and loss." (New York Newsday). In much demand as a concert artist, the past few seasons have seen Mr. Braun appear at the BBC Proms in Fauré's Requiem, the Salzburg Festival in Schubert's Mass in G, the Tanglewood Festival in Brahm's German Requiem, with the St. Louis Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony conducted by Bernard Labadie, in L'Enfance du Christ with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, in Elijah with the Minnesota Orchestra and in the Durufle Requiem with Les Violons du Roy in Québec City. He has performed with many of the world's leading conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Claudio Abbado, Sylvain Cambreling, James Conlon, Bruno Campanella, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Richard Bradshaw and Bernard Labadie, appearing with major orchestras in Europe, Canada and the United States including the San Francisco Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Dallas Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Edmonton Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic. His performance in Britten's War Requiem in Toronto continues to be a stand-out in Toronto's musical memory. Recordings Mr. Braun recently added to his extensive discography with the releases of Winterreise and the 2007 JUNO-award-winning recording of Mozart arias with tenor Michael Schade and soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, both on the CBC Records label. Winterreise quickly made its mark among a revered set of recordings of the famous song-cyle - "[it] goes up against this formidable competition [Fischer-Dieskau and Goerne], as well an estimable Winterreise by Braun's late father, Victor. Braun fils's effort emerges with considerable credit...a mellifluous, musical and strongly felt interpretation." (Opera News) - and was nominated for a JUNO award and by three North American newspapers in their Best of 2005. Winner of the 2001 JUNO for Apollo e Daphne with Les Violons du Roy (Dorian), Mr. Braun has twice recorded Dido & Aeneas (Telarc with the Boston Baroque; CBC Records with Taflemusik), the award-winning Soirée Française with tenor Michael Schade, Le Souvenir, a collection of Canadian songs, Shattered Night, Shivering Stars featuring the music of Canadian composer Alexina Louie and Liebeslieder - Folksongs with the Aldeburgh Connection. Other releases include Meditation, featuring the works of Gerald Finzi (CBC Records) and Serata Italiana, a recording of Italian opera arias and duets with tenor Michael Schade (CBC Records), and Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mozart and Magic Fantasy, and Daydreams and Lullabies on the Classical Kids Label. He was also featured in Burnt Toast, a series of eight 6-minute comic operas composed by Alexina Louie and written by Dan Redican for television featuring many of Canada's brightest actors and the voices of some of its most famed opera stars. Russell Braun makes his home near Toronto with his wife, pianist Carolyn Maule and their sons, Benjamin and Gabriel.
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