Love Opera

Renowned for the intensity and poignancy of her interpretations, Christiane Riel's remarkable career is built around the most demanding roles in the soprano repertoire. Praised from coast to coast for Butterfly and Liu particularly, Montréal's La Presse noted that "the most remarkable voice (in TURANDOT) was that of Christiane Riel: rich and perfectly pitched throughout the entire range with legato, phrasing, and the art of diminuendo in the best Italian tradition, also with the power to fill a 3,000 seat hall without difficulty". Her interpretation of the doomed peasant girl has also been heard at the New York City Opera (her house debut), the Berkshire Music Festival and l'Opéra de Montréal.

As a "heartbreakingly believable" Cio Cio San, Ms. Riel has been chosen for this role in productions including those at the San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera, West Australia Opera in Perth, Boston Symphony and the Canadian Opera Company. In addition, she has sung the role for the companies of Minnesota, Nashville, Virginia, Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Utah. She recently added Desdemona (OTELLO) to her repertoire with performances for l'Opéra de Montréal and was immediately re-engaged for Nedda in PAGLIACCI, a role she repeated for Manitoba Opera.

The Montréal native is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the first prize in the Young Canadian Mozart Singers Competition and the Canadian Music Competition. She was a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble and of l'Atelier Lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal.

John Avey is a talented and versatile baritone whose repertoire encompasses a wide variety of major operatic roles as well as the principal symphonic and oratorio works. Mr. Avey debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Enrico in Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. In addition to performing Enrico, he has appeared at the Met as Germont père in LA TRAVIATA and covered the roles of Montano in OTELLO and Renato in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA. Avey made his New York City Opera debut in Janácek's THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, appearing as the Vicar - a role he previously sang for the Canadian Opera Company - and covering the role of the Forester. Recent performances in the past year had Mr. Avey singing the roles of Germont in LA TRAVIATA for Opera New Brunswick, W. Jennings Bryan in THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE for Calgary Opera, and General Bennigsen in WAR & PEACE for the Canadian Opera Company. On the concert stage, he sang Vaughan Williams’ A SEA SYMPHONY for the Winnipeg Symphony and MESSIAH for Symphony Nova Scotia.

He has sung Rodrigo in DON CARLOS for Arizona Opera, di Luna in IL TROVATORE for Pacific Opera Victoria, Sharpless in MADAMA BUTTERFLY for Opera Ontario and Peter in HÄNSEL UND GRETEL for Manitoba Opera and for Edmonton Opera.

Avey’s repertoire also includes the Requiems of Brahms and Fauré, Orff's DER MOND and CARMINA BURANA, plus the major works of Handel and Haydn. He performed CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS for the Ottawa Symphony and is heard in evenings devoted to the music of Lerner & Loewe and Rodgers & Hammerstein.