OPERA NEWS
News
“Captivating” as Isabella in the Calgary Opera’s production of The Italian Girl in Algiers
“The production has an Isabella (the title role) in mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy. McHardy has a wideranging voice of the lyric-mezzo type, and she had no difficulty with the constant florid writing, nor with the extreme top and bottom notes she needs for the role. She also commanded the stage beautifully in her mixture of hauteur and sentiment, and she was totally captivating as the lead figure. She was especially successful in the brilliant final aria.” (Calgary Herald, 18 November 2013)
New CD Available Now: The complete version of Handel’s Orlando
The complete version of Orlando, considered to be one of Handel’s most successful operas, is presented for the first time on a Canadian label, ATMA Classique. Joining Allyson are the English countertenor Owen Willetts, American soprano Amanda Forsythe, and Canadians Karina Gauvin, and Nathan Berg.
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About
A unique vocal colour and commanding stage presence are the hallmarks of performances by mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy. Hailed by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of enormous imagination and versatility”, she has appeared with the Paris Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Glyndebourne Festival, San Francisco Opera, Boston Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Warsaw Philharmonic and Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse. Adam Fischer, Seiji Ozawa, Jeremy Rohrer, Kent Nagano, Emmanuelle Haim, Bernard Labadie, Ludovic Morlot, Carlos Kalmar and Jesus Lopez Cobos are among the conductors with whom she has collaborated for performances of works such as L’enfant et les sortileges, La clemenza di Tito, Das Rheingold, Dream of Gerontius and Messiah.
Latest Album
Handel: Messiah
Music of the Baroque Orchestra
Recorded live in November 2021, Handel’s Messiah features the Music of the Baroque Chorus and Orchestra and soloists Sherezade Panthaki, soprano, Allyson McHardy, mezzo-soprano, Brian Giebler, tenor, and Matthew Brook, bass-baritone under the direction of Nicholas Kraemer.