Opera Star Taras Kulish related to Ukraine’s great Poet Panteliemon Kulish |
Ukrainian-Canadian bass-baritone Taras Kulish stars in the Canadian Premiere of Glinka’s great opera RUSLAN I LYUDMILA on Sunday, Oct. 24, at the St. Lawrence Centre. Kulish can trace his ancestry back to Ukraine through his kinship with one of Ukraine’s greatest poets, Panteleimon Kulish. The renowned poet was a close friend of composer Mykola Lysenko, whose works have been captured on disc by a group of Ukrainian and Canadian artists led by opera star Pavlo Hunka. Taras Kulish has made a name for himself in YEVGHENY ONEGIN in the Czech Repbulic, as DON GIOVANNI in France and Belgium and IOLANTA, in performances led by conductors including Kent Nagano and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Opera in Concert – Toronto’s most daring opera company – is presenting a single concert performance of RUSLAN I LYUDMILA, which is set in Kyiv in ancient times. This magnificent work is based a poem by Pushkin and is one of the most beloved of Glinka’s operas. The overture is extremely popular and several of the arias appear frequently in programmes of opera’s greatest hits. Ukrainian soprano Lara Ciekiewicz appears as Lyudmila and the cast features Luiza Zhuleva, Igor Emilianov, and Slava Serebrianik, with Raisa Nakhmanovich as music director and pianist. For tickets call the St. Lawrence Centre Box Office at 416-363-7723, 1-800-708-6754 or online at www.stlc.com. |
