Additional Information
The journey of this flamboyant 60 something-year-old does not seem to be coming to an end anytime soon, and it will be beautifully summarized on stage this Tuesday, February 17, at 5 p.m., at Le 9e in the Eaton Center.
Soprano Sharon Azrieli is a key figure in Montreal, Quebec, and Canadian culture. A vibrant opera singer, well versed in the classical repertoire as well as the Great American Songbook, modern jazz, and sacred Jewish music, Sharon Azrieli has enjoyed a long career and has also been one of the most influential patrons of the arts in the local music scene. She is responsible for the AMACC (Azrieli Music Arts and Culture Centre), a natural extension of the Azrieli Foundation, which was started in 1989 by her late father David J. Azrieli (1922-2014), a wealthy architect and real estate developer.
On the eve of what promises to be a packed show (one hour long), PAN M 360 caught up with Sharon to find out more.
PAN M 360: How did you design your menu for Le 9e?
Sharon Azrieli: It will be a true Montreal concert, a true Quebec concert, even featuring excerpts from Gilles Vigneault! With my musical director, the wonderful pianist John Roney, I assembled (not composed) a song for Canada. I was looking for a pro-Canada song, but couldn’t find one, so John and I put one together from several Canadian songs.
PAN M 360: So you took a few fragments from each song. Today, we call that a mashup!
Sharon Azrieli: Exactly, that’s it! I hope we did this mashup right, you’ll have to let me know after the concert!
PAN M 360: Okay!
Sharon Azrieli: In any case, we really worked hard… I did a lot of research to find songs that were pro-Quebec and pro-Canada. But that song didn’t exist, so we made it from several well-known and lesser-known songs.
PAN M 360: What is the core of this show?
Sharon Azrieli: Basically, this show tells the story of my life. And I’m not a young woman! But what John Roney and I have put together is fantastic! I’ll even be dancing with four wonderful men who will twirl me around!
PAN M 360: Not exactly a recital!
Sharon Azrieli: This is the first time I’ve done this. The first time I’ve danced. The first time I’ve spoken to the audience like this, with monologues between songs. Yes, it’s completely new to me!
PAN M 360: What instruments will be featured in the concert?
Sharon Azrieli: It will be piano and vocals, not counting the men who will join me on stage. I am very fortunate to be working with John Roney, my pianist and musical director. In addition to being an excellent pianist, he is so patient , so just with me and gives such sound advice… In short, he is perfect!
PAN M 360: An overview of the repertoire?
Sharon Azrieli: As I said, this is my life. I sing a varied repertoire, I will perform an excerpt from a piece by André Previn (Magic To Do), then the aria “O Mio Babbino Caro”, a very famous aria by Puccini (Gianni Schicchi ), perhaps the first opera aria I ever learned. We’re starting at the beginning of my life!
I then perform a song simply titled Chanson, from the film The Baker’s Wife (an American adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s French film La femme du boulanger), composed by Stephen Schwartz, which is performed half in French and half in English.
What follows is jazz, for example, “C’est si bon,” which I perform in French, as well as excerpts from George Gershwin (“S’Wonderful,” “Our Love Is Here to Stay”). We continue with the mashup in tribute to Canada, then I will sing “Get Happy” (Harold Arlen/ Ted Koehler) as performed by Judy Garland.
And then my male colleagues will take to the stage to sing. And it will be the first time, old woman that I am, that I will dance on stage Broadway style. Incredible… so much fun! Of course, I might stumble, put the wrong foot forward… anyway, the audience will be amazed to see me dancing on stage!
PAN M 360: It’ll be entertaining, no matter what happens!
Sharon Azrieli: I hope so! So there will be this tribute to Judy Garland and then a “Rainbow medley”, made up of all my favorite songs about rainbows that I have been singing for a long time and still sing to my grandchildren.
PAN M 360: There is also some very good Jewish music on the program, since that is also part of who you are.
This is my life: I learned Jewish music from my parents, then I learned opera singing, and then… at my age it becomes very difficult, nobody sings opera at my age. I consider myself very lucky to still have a voice! I can still sing, but I’m not stupid (laughs), and I still try to sing the classical repertoire and also vary the repertoire towards Jewish music, Broadway music, or jazz. You know, you can be in your sixties or even eighties and still sing jazz!
PAN M 360: And what will be the Jewish inspiration for this program?
Sharon Azrieli: Of course! There will be, among others, “Sabbath Prayer”, a song from the movie Fiddler on the Roof, and it’s very beautiful when the men sing on stage. And then I’ll do Michel Legrand, “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” from the movie Yentl (Barbra Streisand). I myself recorded a tribute to Michel Legrand that I still find relevant, never boring or redundant, always creative. And then I’ll do “Everybody Says Don’t”, an incredible song by Stephen Sondheim (from the musical Anyone Can Whistle). Another song with a Jewish flavor, but which isn’t actually Jewish, is a song from Leonard Bernstein’s opera Candide that I often perform, called “I’m Easily Assimilated”, completely revisited with four dancers who throw me into the air—you won’t believe it! Obviously, I’m not a dancer, and I might end up laughing at myself!
Finally, there will be sacred Jewish music, the real thing, which I learned from the great cantor Sol Zim (Solomon Zimelman), who was my teacher.
PAN M 360: In summary?
Sharon Azrieli: Everything you see and hear will be authentic. It will only be about the truth about me as a singer, but also as a mother and grandmother. It’s all true, all these songs, it’s me… because otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to memorize them, haha!
