Description

“An appealing and musicianly singer” « Un chanteur séduisant et très musical » -The New York Times ATMAClassique takes great pleasure in presenting the first ever recording made by Korean countertenor David DQ Lee, now living in Montreal. Considered to be one of the leading countertenors of his generation, David DQ Lee is graced with an ample, powerful voice, and a very expressive artistry of song, as so eloquently revealed in this program. In addition to Italian melodies by Mozart and Beethoven, David DQ Lee performs Haydn’s dramatic cantata for voice and piano titled Arianna a Naxos. Composed in 1789, the storyline relates how Theseus abandoned Arianna on the desert island of Naxos. The work became very popular – indeed, it was Rossini’s favourite vocal work by Haydn – and the illustrious castrato Pacchiarotti performed it in London in the year 1791, with the composer on pianoforte. Several arie antiche (ancient airs) set to different affective registers, and which have come to define Italian vocal art of the 17th and 18th centuries for generations of singers, complete the program of countertenor David DQ Lee’s debut recording, with a piano accompaniment by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal.