| "Henri's voice possesses an outstanding timber as well as an ability to modulate and colour the sound... extraordinarily powerful and of an outstandingly beautiful quality." |
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-Professor Heinz Anton Hohnen
Head of Department of Music
University of Koblenz Landau, Germany |
| "...charmed the audience with his charismatic personality, quick wit, engaging pantomine..." |
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-The Tisdale Recorder
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| "...ce baryton est maitre de son art... la puissance et la clarte... faisaient penser a un Leonard Warren ou a un Tibbet..." |
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-L'Eau Vive
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| "Loiselle brought the house down with his rendition of If I Were A Rich Man, Bring Him Home and completely captivated the audience with You'll Never Walk Alone." |
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-The Southwester
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The following is a review from the Kelowna Daily Courier:
Singing farmer no bumpkin
By Charles E. Velte
ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, Henri Loiselle, Saskatchewan’s “singing farmer,” wowed the crowd at Kelowna’s Immaculate Conception Church. He was ably accompanied by pianist, Greg Schulte, who happened to be celebrating his birthday.
The recital, sponsored by Friends of the Alphonse Gerwing Foundation for the benefit of the Rainbow of Hope for Children, featured both classical arias and folk favourites.
Loiselle is not exactly a household name, so when I found that he makes a living as a farmer, not a singer, any expectations of excellence I might have had quickly evaporated.
Wrong, Loiselle’s voice, musicality, presentation and personable demeanour are all first rate, so the next question in my mind was: why is this man not a greater star in Canada’s musical firmament?
True, he has a vocal performance diploma and has studied with the late, great Louis Quilico. He even did some touring with the Canadian Opera Ensemble and has recorded a few CDs. But his appearance at Immaculate Conception turned into a treat beyond all anticipation.
Loiselle’s voice is a rich and resonant bass-baritone characterized by fascinating overtones. Despite his selection of some pop country tunes of the recent past, and his early fascination with Patsy Cline, you would not consider Loiselle a country-western singer by any stretch of the imagination.
What about Loiselle’s range? Are his top tones forced? What about his dynamics? Does he just bellow? Or maybe he chops away at every note without any phrasing? Again, I was unable to find his Achilles heel. His performance was superior in every respect.
The mostly classical first half of the program opened with Handel’s Ombra mai fu. I was especially taken with the next number, O del mio amato ben by Stefano Donaldi. Then came another love song, Annie Laurie, enunciated with a touch of brogue and dedicated to Mrs. Loiselle, Henri’s wife.
In honour of the sesqui-bicentennial of Mozart’s birth, Loiselle sang three arias from Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Mozart’s melodic lines are quite transparent, and if there had been any vocal indiscretions, they should have emerged here.
The second half of the program contained western and folk songs and show tunes in a relaxed mood. The final selection on the programme was from Gershwin’s folk opera, porgy and Bess. The appreciative audience was not yet satisfied and demanded several encores, finishing with Reginald de Koven’s Green Eyed Dragon.
-Charles Velte is a former opera singer
who holds a masters’ degree in music theory.
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