If there’s one factor within the opera world that one can say with certainty, it’s the truism that “a great tenor is difficult to search out.” And once you do discover one who’s blessed with a stupendous, ringing tone, strong method, innate musicality, to not point out main man attractiveness and surefire dramatic instincts? Nicely, you’ve hit the jackpot!
Such was the case final February, when the Canadian Opera Firm engaged Australian Chinese language tenor Kang Wang because the second forged Rodolfo in La Boheme. Because of a number of ideas from my huge community of opera acquaintances, I made positive that I’d be in the home to catch his COC debut. Mr. Wang gave an distinctive efficiency. His “Che gelida manina” was among the many finest I’ve heard in my 57 years of attending dwell opera.
Toronto opera followers are very fortunate to have him again this season as Pinkerton in Madama Butterly. I had a sneak peek of it on the Bravissimo opera gala live performance on New Yr’s Eve at Roy Thomson Corridor, when he sang the Act One love duet with Japanese soprano Eri Nakamura as Cio-Cio San. It actually took my breath away.
Tenor Kang Wang
Born in Harbin, China, Wang grew up steeped in music, as each dad and mom are opera singers. He attended the Royal Northern School of Music in Manchester, UK, in addition to the Queensland Conservatorium in Australia. It was at Queensland that he made his operatic debut, as Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He was additionally a member of the celebrated Lindemann’s Younger Artists Program on the Metropolitan Opera, and a finalist within the 2017 Cardiff Singer of the World.
In case you missed his look in Bravissimo, he’ll be making visitor look within the Li Delun Music Basis’s Benestone East Meets West New Yr’s Live performance on January 5; data right here. Additionally to not be missed is his upcoming run of Madama Butterfly on the 4 Seasons Centre beginning on January 24.
This week, I managed to achieve him for a bit catching up.
The Interview
LvT: Welcome again to Toronto!! We’re thrilled that we’ll get to listen to your marvellous tenor.
KW: It’s such a pleasure to be again on this fantastic metropolis! Each my spouse and I cherished it right here final 12 months and we’re loving it much more this time.
LvT: I learn that you simply have been born in Harbin, China, and that your dad and mom are each opera singers. You could have grown up with numerous music at dwelling. Are you able to inform us a bit extra about them? What’s your earliest reminiscences of singing? When did you first begin taking singing classes? Who have been your voice lecturers, then and now?
KW: Sure, I used to be born in Harbin, and my dad and mom are each opera singers. My father’s identify is Wen Wang, a tenor, and my mom, Dongmei Qu, a soprano. My earliest reminiscence of opera was my father taking part in VHS tapes of operas comparable to Otello and Pagliacci with Mario del Monaco, Placido Domingo and others, after I was round 5 or 6, I feel. My dad and mom gave me my first voice classes after I was 16 years previous. Then I went to Australia and studied Info Expertise, and I turned a programmer as a result of my ardour had at all times been in pc programming. Throughout these years whereas working as a programmer and ending my diploma, I studied singing with a trainer named Kathy Banks. Later with the advice of a baritone pal, I stop my job and went into formal musical coaching on the Queensland Conservatorium and studied with the very esteemed voice trainer, Joseph Ward. Whereas I used to be within the Lindemann Younger Artist program on the Met in New York, I studied with the fantastic tenor Frank Lopardo.
LvT: You’ve got had nice successes in competitions. I went to your YouTube channel and located your “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” from Cardiff in 2017 — wow, nice ringing tone! Bravo! What’s your secret to being so profitable in competitions?
KW: Thanks! Really, I actually struggled with competitions early on, as a result of I didn’t know what repertoire I ought to select, and I sang quite a lot of bizarre stuff (laughs)! I lastly sorted out my repertoire and put collectively a strong program that I felt extraordinarily assured about. Then the competitions turned a bit simpler. However in the end, there’s at all times a bit luck concerned with competitions. All you are able to do is to choose probably the most comfy program, put together it rather well along with your coach and trainer, and attempt to benefit from the moments whereas performing them.
LvT: Is Pinkerton in Toronto a task debut for you? Give us your ideas on singing Pinkerton, and on singing Puccini basically. This function is a little bit of an anti-hero, and it’s fairly brief, in comparison with all the opposite roles you’re well-known for, like Rodolfo and Alfredo.
KW: Sure, that is my first time singing Pinkerton. Whereas the singing may be very satisfying and the music extraordinarily lovely, it’s not simple to behave like a macho navy bro if you find yourself not like that in actual life in any respect. I did fairly a little bit of analysis on the historic background of the story, simply to make sense of why he did what he did. Puccini gave him and Cio-Cio San such lovely melody and concord, it’s simply pure pleasure being a part of this spine-tingling music.
LvT: Do you’ve got a favorite composer? A favorite function?
KW: I don’t have a favorite composer but, however my favorite function is definitely Hoffmann. I did it for the primary time in Palm Seashore and I simply cherished all the pieces about this function. He’s so difficult and there’s a lot to play with, and the singing and music are simply divine. I actually can’t wait to sing Hoffmann once more.
LvT: How do you take pleasure in singing on the COC? What do you consider the 4 Seasons Centre? Your impressions of Toronto? We’ve a really massive Chinese language group in Toronto. Have you ever managed to do any sightseeing the final time you have been right here?
KW: It’s actually pretty singing on the COC, and the 4 Seasons Centre has unbelievable acoustics! Each my spouse and I like Toronto — the folks, the eating places, the canine and Tim Hortons’ Nitro chilly brew (laughs)! We managed to go to Niagara Falls final time, and we’ll attempt to go to extra locations this time. By the best way, there’re some critically genuine and scrumptious Chinese language eating places serving northern Chinese language delicacies right here in Toronto; a few of them style even higher than those in my hometown…it’s simply superb.
LvT: Do you’ve got a dream function, one thing that you simply hope to sing sooner or later? You’ve got an enormous lyric tenor with an exciting prime. The place do you see your voice going within the subsequent 5, ten years? What roles do you assume are in your future? Maybe extra dramatic tenor roles? Maybe Calaf, or possibly Verdi’s Don Carlo?
KW: My dream function can be Canio in Pagliacci. It’s not likely my fach, however I actually do hope to sing it a minimum of as soon as earlier than I retire… Its music is in my earliest reminiscences of opera, so heart-breakingly lovely. I feel for the following 5 to 10 years I’d like to carry out many of the well-liked Verdi roles if doable — possibly not Otello (laughs)! I’d additionally like so as to add some extra French repertoire comparable to Romeo, Faust, Des Grieux and so on. I’ve truly had a suggestion for Don Carlo as soon as, nevertheless it was actually too early, and I needed to refuse. It might be pretty to sing it sooner or later! [Note: It just so happened that Wang and baritone Mihai Damian sang the Carlo-Rodrigo duet from Don Carlo at Bravissimo, and it was stunning.]
LvT: The place are you based mostly nowadays? Nonetheless in Australia, or are you based mostly in North America or Europe?
KW: We have been based mostly in Australia because the Pandemic, nevertheless it has actually turn out to be an excessive amount of to journey — 30 hours a technique every time we have to come to North America or Europe; and shedding hundreds of {dollars} when we’ve got final minute journey plan modifications. Though we love Australia a lot, we realized that we would have liked to maneuver. We took my supervisor’s advice and transfer to Warsaw, Poland final October. It’s been actually superb thus far, each my spouse and I cherished all the pieces there, particularly after we found that Poland shared quite a lot of the frequent conventional meals with my hometown of Harbin! And now it’s a lot simpler to journey to my gigs: direct flights of 1-2 hours to European cities, and direct flights of 9 – 12 hours from Warsaw to North American cities — pure bliss!
LvT: Thanks a lot for talking with me. I sit up for listening to you on the East Meets West New Yr’s Live performance, and naturally, in Madama Butterfly. Toi toi toi!
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Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent College and Affiliate Editor of Opera Canada.He’s additionally a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His curiosity in music journalism focuses on voice, opera in addition to symphonic and piano repertoires. He seems often as a panel member of the Large COC Podcast.He has co-edited a e book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Tradition, Efficiency, printed by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).