Music of Hungary
St. James United Church
October 5, 2019
Tonight I found myself amidst an audience of serious music lovers. I would estimate the crowd to be somewhere in the range of 800 to 1000 people. The venue was the pristine St. James United Church where the acoustics are second to none.
I personally am not an opera buff, but I can appreciate the quality of the performance. One fact that is certain is that one doesn’t need to understand the language to appreciate the quality of the performer.
The performers, in this case, were Sebastian Haboczki, Lyric Tenor and Melissa McCann, soprano. Haboczki is also an Artistic Director. Both have powerful voices as they perform individually, but really shine when they sing duets. Both are accompanied by Paul Digout on the piano. Mr. Digout has worked across Canada and internationally with the Yorkshire Opera workshop (Yorkshire U.K.)
Ms. McCann was accompanied as well by Istvan Lakatos a Hungarian violinist born in Budapest. He is a graduate of the Franz Liszt Music Academy of Budapest. You may have seen Mr. Lakatos with the World Symphony Orchestra in Montreal.
There was a reception hosted by the Hungarian Ambassador to Canada, Dr. Bálint Ódor, immediately following the show but sadly previous commitments did not allow me to stay.
