NEWS

NEWS FLASH

Coming Soon - Adrianne's Puccini CD

Adrianne's much anticipated all-Puccini recording will be available in Germany in June and on September 30th in Canada. Among the highlights will be her "radiant and effortless purity" as Tosca (LA Times) as well as much-loved arias from La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut among other favourites.

Check back for release dates in other countries

Dora Award Nomination for Adrianne!

Adrianne has received a DORA MAVOR MOORE Award Nomination for Outstanding Performance in an Opera for her appearance as Leonora in Fidelio at the Canadian Opera Company in January 2009. Adrianne won the 2004 DORA in the same catergory for her performance as Sieglinde in the COC's Die Walküre. The awards will handed out on Monday June 29, 2009 in Toronto.

Adrianne brings her 'radiant' Tosca to San Francisco

"In the title role, soprano Adrianne Pieczonka outdid herself with a gripping, fine-tuned account of "Vissi d'arte," Tosca's heartfelt aria of aestheticism and self-pity. Pieczonka...boasts plenty of tonal muscle, and she deployed it assuredly in the role's more demanding passages." (San Francisco Chronicle, 4 June 2009)

"Pieczonka's Tosca is the quintessential diva, rendering her signature arias with ease and verve -- in the second act, the iconic Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore ("I lived for art, I lived for love") pretty much brought down the house." (SF Weekly, 4 June 2009)

"She ranged easily; her high notes were bull's-eyes - and, overall, her voice had a prismatic quality, light and color-filled, like Puccini's music itself. You could hear why she's been moving up through major roles in major houses." (San Jose Mercury News, 3 June 2009)

May 2009 - Adrianne receives rave reviews for new Lohengrin CD!

Adrianne stars as Elsa in a new CD of Lohengrin on the HännslerProfil label. The recording also features Johan Botha as Lohengrin, Petra Lang as Ortrud, and Falk Struckmann as Telramund. Semyon Bychkov conducts the WDR Orchestra and Chorus.

"Adrianne Pieczonka's Elsa is also scrupulously delivered, once again with a delicacy and ethereality that summon up the character in the mind's eye, yet with piercing potency where necessary...it surely merits a place among the most beautifully sung." (Opera, June 2009)

"Adrianne Pieczonka's...distinctive soprano easily manages Elsa's strangeness, her misapprehension, her doubts, and her naiveté. She's gorgeous in her opening narrative and in "Euch luften", stronger in the Love duet and dark when she realizes what she's done...she's splendid." (Classics Today, 30 April 2009)

"Johan Botha (Lohengrin) and Adrianne Pieczonka (as Lohengrin's fatally curious bride) prove themselves ideal Wagnerians with their powerful, clarion-clear voices." (ClassicFM, June 2009)

"Adrianne Pieczonka, one of the top Wagnerian singers of our time, is in fabulous form as Elsa of Brabant in this majestic reading of Lohengrin." (Toronto Star, 12 May 2009)

"A glorious sense of line throughout the Act 2 duet between Adrianne Pieczonka's Elsa and Petra Lang's Ortrud." (Financial Times, 19 April 2009)

"...there is a radiance to much of [Adrianne Pieczonka's] singing." (Guardian, 15 May 2009)

Adrianne's Tosca to be seen by thousands:

On Friday, June 5 Adrianne's performance of TOSCA will be broadcast live and free to thousands of music-lovers in AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

2009 marks the 5th year of this popular event where the audience can enjoy traditional baseball game fare of hot dogs, peanuts and garlic fries while listening to glorious opera. Last year 23,000 opera-lovers enjoyed the SF Opera presentation of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Adrianne makes a "gleaming" Sieglinde in the Metropolitan Opera's Die Walküre

"Mr. Domingo was lucky to have a wonderful Sieglinde in the lovely Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, who brought a gleaming voice, affecting vulnerability and exciting sensuality to her performance." (New York Times, April 29, 2009)

Watch for more reviews!

Adrianne wins National Lyric Prize for Best Female Opera Singer of 2008 at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo

Awarded to Adrianne for her performance in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos in October 2008, the prize is one of Spain's most prestigious arts awards, determined by panel of Spanish critics and theatre representatives. The awards will be handed out at a special ceremony and concert in Oviedo on July 3, 2009. Other winners include Marcello Alvarez (2008 Best Male Opera Singer) and a special award to Christa Ludwig honouring her long and illustrious career.

Adrianne makes a powerful debut as Leonore in Fidelio at the COC

"Adrianne Pieczonka sings the title role of Leonore with dramatic and musical purpose. Pieczonka, one of the top Wagner interpreters of our time, has an expressive, flexible, velvet-trimmed voice backed up by ample reserves of steely resolve. Every phrase is gorgeously shaped, every emotion conveyed with a minimum of fuss and maximum effect." (Toronto Star, 26 January 2009)

"Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka...has such deep resources (including a powerfully eloquent voice) for projecting an invented life." (Globe and Mail, 25 January 2009)

"Adrianne Pieczonka is superb as Leonore. ...full marks go to the flawless Pieczonka and Ketilsson." (Toronto Sun, 26 January 2009)

"Vocally and dramatically, Pieczonka finds the woman behind the archetype." (NOW magazine, 28 January 2009)

Adrianne has just finished recording her second solo CD which features 16 of Puccini's most famous arias for the ORFEO label. She is accompanied by the Bavarian Radio Orchestra conducted by Dan Ettinger.
Look for the release in early 2009!

"...Simply superb as Ariadne" in Bilbao

"Her elegant interpretation was the greatest distinction in this production." (El Correro)

"Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka is one of most important artists working today and her Ariadne was simply superb. Last July I wrote about her Ariadne in Munich (with Damrau as Zerbinetta) and I well remember the audience’s appreciation of both ladies. This performance equalled that of Munich. When Ariadne is sung with such beauty, and in such a natural way, everything seems to be so easy that the audience does not realize just how exceptional she is. Here we heard a truly wonderful performance from a great artist in her prime." (Seen and Heard International, 18 October 2008)

Adrianne's Tosca on Radio-Canada and CBC

Adrianne's critically acclaimed debut as Tosca will be broadcast on both Radio-Canada's Espace Musique with Sylvia L'écuyer on October 11, and on CBC Radio 2's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera on November 15. Check local listings for details.

"Adrianne a touching and noble Ariadne"

"As Ariadne and the Prima Donna, Adrianne Pieczonka was completely convincing, growing stronger vocally from minute to minute, singing her final scenes with searing intensity." (Opera News, November 2008)

"Ariadne by contrast is one of Strauss's imperishable masterpieces, and Munich could hardly fail with the superbly cast ladies of Robert Carsen's new production: Adrianne Pieczonka's lyrical, brightly gleaming Prima Donna, Diana Damrau's dazzlingly sung Zerbinetta and Daniela Sindrams's painfully introverted but rapturously soaring composer."(The Sunday Times, 3 August 2008)

"Adrianne Pieczonka's singing was impeccably pure and iridescent vocally, the kind of silvery tone one imagines in the abstract for Strauss" (London Financial Times, 31 July 2008)

"And Adrianne Pieczonka embodied in voice and stature what the Composer, Poet and audience had anxiously awaited: with her elegant velvety soprano, she filled the theatre with her gleaming soaring sound which could also move with lightness and grace." (Münchner Merkur)

"Adrianne Pieczonka sang with a wonderfully clear sound, at times intimate at times generous with a round soaring Strauss line." (Die Welt)

" Canadian Adrianne Pieczonka sang Ariadne with a wonderfully warm timbre, full of colours..." (Süddeutsche Zeitung, 26 July 2008)

"…it was a triumph (for Diana Damrau), and no less for Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, another Bayerische Staatsoper favourite, who portrayed an particularly generous and touching Ariadne" (Cyberpress, 25 July 2008)

"Adrianne Pieczonka regally mastered the role of Ariadne with a touching nobility which was present even in the most delicate passages..." (Münchner AZ)

Adrianne stars in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos!

Festival première: Ariadne auf Naxos The Bayerische Staatsoper new production of Ariadne auf Naxos Premières July 24th at the Prinzregententheater. Staring Adrianne Pieczonka as Ariadne with Diana Damrau, Burkhard Fritz, Daniela Sindram, Martin Gantner, Nikolay Borchev Conductor: Kent Nagano Stage director: Robert Carsen Première: Thursday, July 24 2008, 7.00 p.m. Further performances: Sunday July 27, 7.00 p.m. Wednesday July 30, 7.00 p.m.   Live Radio Broadcast: Ariadne auf Naxos On Thursday, July 24 at 7.00 p.m., the Radio Bavaria 4th Program will broadcast the première of Ariadne auf Naxos.

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(Photos: Anne Kirchbach, Germany)

New recording of Lohengrin

Adrianne stars as Elsa in a new recording of Lohengrin on the Hännsler label, due to be released in 2009 which also features Johan Botha as Lohengrin, Petra Lang as Ortrud, and Falk Struckmann as Telramund. Semyon Bychkov conducts the WDR Orchestra and Chorus.

Adrianne heats up LA in her debut as Tosca

Adrianne 'radiant' as Tosca

Adrianne Pieczonka as Tosca with Juan Pons as Scarpia in the LA Opera production of Tosca, May 2008 (photo: Robert Millard)

"Pieczonka was consistently compelling, a popular and charmingly self-absorbed Tosca drawn, through her ignorance, into intrigues beyond her ken. Vocally, she delivered a full-bodied precision and effortless legato throughout the range. Her "Vissi d'arte" was strong and determined, yet wrung the heart. It was just the right mix of confidence and vulnerability." (Downtown LA News, 23 May 2008)

"The company's "Tosca" has been around. Ian Judge's regularly revived production is 19 years old and returns with its original tenor, Neil Shicoff, and veteran Juan Pons. But Tosca is new: Adrianne Pieczonka sang the role for the first time Saturday. The Canadian soprano will surely be singing it for a long time. She was radiant. (LA Times, 19 May 2008) Read more here

"Our Tosca, Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, was imperious and imposing, mercurial and gorgeous, impetuous and smitten. A Diva-in-Full. She has a creamy mid-range, a crystalline top, solid anchoring, she projects effortlessly, she's got power to burn. In a world in which the value of an extended ovation has seen continuous hyperinflation, the cheering she received for "Vissi d'arte" was fully earned. Desperate lyricism defined." (OC Register, 19 May 2008)

"L.A. Opera accessorizes 'Tosca' revival with Maria Callas' jewelry"

"HOW do you add sparkle to a fatigued operatic war horse? Bring out the jewelry and let it shine under the spotlight...

"To wear this talisman -- I have to pinch myself," says soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, who shares the role of Tosca in this revival with Georgina Lukacs. "People were taken aback by how bright they were during rehearsals. It doesn't bother me, but I hope it won't be a distraction for the audience."" Read the full LA Times article
See Adrianne in the beautiful jewels here

Behind the Curtain with the LA Opera

Adrianne speaks on the LA Opera podcast, Behind the Curtain, about her role debut as Tosca. "She describes this monumental moment in her career and why she chose LA Opera to make such an important step. She talks about her approach to Tosca and how she tackles the role’s most poignant passages."Listen to it here

Downtown LA News

Adrianne spoke with the Downtown LA News about her role debut in Tosca.
"Blood, Passion and the Soprano. Why Adrianne Pieczonka Gets Emotional Over Puccini's Cinematic 'Tosca'" Read the full article

Adrianne has a new recording!

Beethoven: Ideals of the French Revolution
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano, Adrianne Pieczonka, Maximilian Schell

Original work written by author, critic, librettist, and musicologist Paul Griffiths as a tribute to Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, features the OSM and Kent Nagano

"Adrianne Pieczonka makes crystalline sounds" (The Montreal Gazette, 5 April 2008)

Buy or download the album here

Adrianne in Ariadne at the Staatsoper

".....with her lovely timbre, Adrianne Pieczonka sang movingly into the hearts of the Staatsoper audience" (Wiener Zeitung, 29 March 2008)

"Adrianne Pieczonka was the highlight of the evening. Her voice is equally at ease in the highest and lowest registers and her middle voice simply blooms. Her technique is flawless, and her clarity of text, her delicate "piani" are to be marveled at. We have not had such a wonderful Ariadne in a very, very long time. What a Strauss voice!" (Der Neue Merkur, 27 March 2008)

Adrianne on the lastest Aldeburgh Connection CD "Our Own Songs"

Marquis records have just released the Aldeburgh Connection's newest CD called "Our own Songs" featuring commissioned works and various Canadian singers.

Adrianne Pieczonka soprano, Monica Whicher soprano
Elizabeth Turnbull mezzo, Colin Ainsworth tenor,
Mark Pedrotti baritone
Stephen Ralls & Bruce Ubukata pianos

This CD may be ordered from Marquis Classics

JANUARY 2008
Adrianne makes a "thrilling" Sieglinde in the Met's Die Walküre

"The most impressive voice belonged to American [sic] soprano Adrianne Pieczonka. If Wagner could have a bel canto soprano, she was it, with a voice of an almost unearthly purity...her farewell to Brünnhilde (much of it lying down) was as thrilling as anything I have ever heard in Wagner. Her replacement for the last performances will be the great Deborah Voight, but I don’t see how she could be improved upon." (ConcertoNet, 8 January 2008)

"Adrianne Pieczonka...has a clear, silvery lyric sound that easily penetrates the orchestra, and her acting is forthright and altogether winning." (Associated Press, 8 January 2008)

"...the lustrous soprano Adrianne Pieczonka as Sieglinde." (New York Times, 9 January 2008)

"Adrianne Pieczonka [was] a strong, strikingly sensuous Sieglinde." (Time Out New York, 9 January 2008)

"Adrianne Pieczonka is a lovely Sieglinde, her voice as fresh and pliable as her youthful appearance." (Musical America, 9 January 2008)

"[Adrianne Pieczonka] was a touching, affecting Sieglinde, as well as a strong one. And she showed considerable musical smarts." (New York Sun, 9 January 2008)

"Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka was radiant as Sieglinde recognised and fell in love with Siegmund, the twin brother from whom she had been separated in childhood, and her voice was thrilling in the third act when, upon being told that she bears Siegmund's son, Sieglinde abandons her wish to die and beseeches Brünnhilde and her Valkyrie sisters to save her." (ClassicalSource, 14 January 2008)

"Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka offered an exquisitely musical Sieglinde." (Gay City News, 17 January 2008)

"...a strong-voiced Sieglinde." (New York Post, 9 January 2008)

"Clifton Forbis as Siegmund and Adrianne Pieczonka as Sieglinde were in radiant voice throughout." (New York Daily News, 8 January 2008)

"As the sibling lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, Clifton Forbis and Adrianne Pieczonka were youthful and eminently watchable." (Bloomberg, 8 January 2008)

DECEMBER 2007
Adrianne appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada

Ottawa, December 28, 2007....She is recognized "for her contributions as one of the top opera singers of her generation and as an artistic ambassador for Canada." Adrianne will be invited by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, to Rideau Hall to accept her insignia at a ceremony to be held at a later date.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967 to recognize outstanding achievement and service in various fields of human endeavour. Appointments are made on the recommendation of an Advisory Council, chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada. The Governor General is Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order.

MARCH 2007

Kammersängerin Award from the Minister for Education, Arts and Culture, Dr. Claudia Schmied, 27 March 2007

Adrianne Pieczonka Named a Kammersängerin

Adrianne has been invested as the newest Austrian Kammersängerin - the highest award a singer can receive in Austria. The official ceremony took place in Vienna on March 27, 2007. Adrianne and tenor Michael Schade (who was also invested the same day) are the first Canadians to be given this honoured title.

Originally bestowed by the royal courts, the title "kammersänger", or chamber singer, is given by the Austrian government to distinguished singers who have made significant careers in Austria. On the recommendation of Ioan Holender, Director of the Vienna State Opera, Adrianne joins an illustrious list of "kammersängers" including Fritz Wunderlich, Edita Gruberova, Richard Tauber, José Carreras, and Placido Domingo.

Adrianne has appeared on the stage of the Vienna State Opera over 100 times.

FEBRUARY 2007
Adrianne's Wagner & Strauss CD Nominated for a 2007 JUNO

Adrianne received her 1st JUNO nomination in the category of Classical Album Of The Year: Vocal or Choral Performance for her recording of arias by Wagner and Strauss.

DECEMBER 2006
Adrianne Named one of the Top 10 Artists of 2006 by the Globe and Mail

Classical Music critic Robert Everett-Green picked Adrianne for her banner year of successes, particularly for her world-renowned performances as Sieglinde both in Bayreuth and Toronto.
Find out more about Adrianne's spectacular year in the full article

INTERVIEWS WITH ADRIANNE

ADRIANNE PIECZONKA TALKS ABOUT HER CAREER & BEING SIEGLINDE
ON THE COVER OF OPERA CANADA - September 2006 issue
In conversation with Toronto Star chief Music Critic John Terauds
About her phenomenal success as Sieglinde and her recital program with Robert Everett-Grenn of the Globe and Mail

OTHER RECENT PRESS ACCOLADES

Adrianne "radiantly warm" in Munich Marschallin

“Canadian Adrianne Pieczonka was radiantly warm and elegant as the Feldmarschallin; her rich, glorious voice was totally natural with no operatic pretensions, just like her acting.” (American Record Guide, November-December 2007)

Verdi Requiem in Los Angeles

“Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, whose previous LAO appearances include Countess Almaviva and the Marschallin, was riveting in the Libera Me, singing with steely resolve and credibly portraying a character pleading for salvation. Throughout the Requiem, she displayed focused, gleaming tone, secure top notes and beautifully floated high pianissimos.” (Opera News, December 2007)

A "radiant" Elisabeth in the Canadian Opera Company's Don Carlos

"Pieczonka's powerful soprano positively glowed with emotion and deep understanding, climaxing in an exquisitely phrased "Toi qui sous le néant." Pieczonka and Hendricks offered clear French diction and proved themselves natural, involving actors." (Opera News, January 2008)

"Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka was looking radiant and singing magnificently, developing the character of Elisabeth, Philip's reluctant young queen, visibly and touchingly." (The Globe & Mail, 15 October 2007)

"The undisputed vocal stars are soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, as Elisabeth, and bass-baritone Terje Stensvold, making his COC debut as Philippe II. Both had the vocal power and dramatic depth to shine in these difficult roles." (Toronto Star, 15 October 2007)

‘Radiant’ Sieglinde – Adrianne once again seduces Bayreuth in Die Walkure

"Adrianne Pieczonka's feminine, radiant and musical Sieglinde proved an oasis of lyricism in a desert of high voices. " (Opera, November 2007)

"In this wonderful atmosphere, Sieglinde, radiantly portrayed by Adrianne Pieczonka, creates a very complete character , vigorous, not deprived of dreams, but with a fragility that is both passionate and real."(Altamusica, 10 August, 2007)

LUNA, Luminato Festival's Opera Gala

"The Rusalka excerpt (Song to the Moon) and the famous aria from Catalani's La Wally were sublime in a different way, so beautifully clear in sound and intention. Pieczonka is one of those singers whose invocation of the ideal values of her art somehow makes you feel like a better person, for participating even vicariously in that appeal." (Globe and Mail, 11 June 2007)

Last Updated: June 22, 2009

© 2000 Moira Johnson Consulting, All Rights Reserved