NEWS

NEWS FLASH

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

Artist talk at the Wiener Staatsoper

Adrianne will be giving a Künstlergespräch (Artists talk) at the Wiener Staatsoper on
March 29th at 11am. €6 for members and €12 for non-members.

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: May 8, 2008

© 2000 Moira Johnson Consulting, All Rights Reserved