Moonlight and Love Songs:
Music by Bellini, Debussy, Joseph Marx, and Stefano Donaudy

Featuring Janet Catherine Dea (soprano),
Tomoko Okada,(piano)

Toronto, ON – February 15, 2008 -- Muzent Productions continues its vocal music series in the intimate setting of Heliconian Hall with Moonlight and Love Songs: Music by Bellini, Debussy, Joseph Marx and Stefano Donaudy, with Canadian soprano, Janet Catherine Dea, and Munich-based pianist, Tomoko Okada, in her Toronto recital debut. Janet Catherine Dea continues to delight audiences both here and abroad with her luscious voice and sparkling stage presence. Tomoko Okada, originally from Japan, studied at the famous Vienna Music Academy, and for many years was on the musical staff at the Frankfurt Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Currently she is a freelance vocal coach and accompanist traveling frequently to Hamburg, Berlin, London (UK), Toronto and New York working with established international vocal artists and nurturing the next generation of aspiring opera singers.

The programme opens with one of the most beautiful melodies ever written, the haunting Casta Diva from Bellini’s Bel Canto masterpiece, Norma. The artists will then highlight and contrast songs by two musical impressionistic composers Claude Debussy and Joseph Marx. Debussy’s Proses Lyriques is unique in that the composer, writing in the style of the French symbolist poets, also penned the words. Austrian Joseph Marx set some of the greatest poets of his day in his own hyper-romantic style. The vocal line ranges from great simplicity to operatic sweep, and in the virtuosic piano part one can detect the influences of Debussy, Rachmaninov and Strauss. The programme is rounded out by a charming group of Neapolitan-like Italian songs by Stefano Donaudy.

Muzent Productions, in its fifth season, is dedicated to the production and public performance of classic vocal concerts. Artistic Director, Janet Catherine Dea commented:

“Our goals include promotion and support of Canadian and international artists, with an emphasis on vocal chamber music. We believe strongly in the educational, entertainment and cultural value of live performance, and our programs are reasonably priced, accessible and fun.”

8:00 Saturday, May 3, 2008
at Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto
Tickets: $30 / $25 (st/sr) available in advance and at the door
information (416) 429-4502 or info@muzent.com