Soprano Simone Osborne (photo: Connor Beaton)
It has just been announced that Vancouver soprano Simon Osborne will be making her Vancouver Opera debut as Juliette in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette next season. Below is the Press Release from Vancouver Opera. Osborne burst onto the scene after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008, and has since taken on major assignments. Currently she is Pamina in the COC production of The Magic Flute. Upcoming engagements include an Atlantic Canada recital tour, Gilda in Rigoletto for the COC next season, and Mozart Requiem for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in January 2012.
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Vancouver Opera Press Release
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE
French opera at its most romantic
Canadian soprano Simone Osborne makes her company and role debut as Juliette in Gounod’s
romantic Roméo et Juliette. A winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions and the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition in 2008, she has been praised for her “sweet and clear sound, sensitive phrasing and sustained high notes” (New York Times)
Singing alongside her will be dashing Canadian tenor Gordon Gietz as Romeo. ” Gordon Gietz has one of the most gorgeous tenor voices heard in some time, as full as it was sweet” raves the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.
Montreal mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne, who charmed VO audiences as Cherubino in 2010’s The Marriage of Figaro will sing Stéphano. “Her voice has both sweetness and bite, with hints of darker and deeper notes to come, all boding well for meatier roles down the line,” praises the Globe and Mail.
Jacques Lacombe returns to VO to conduct this emotional and exquisite production.