Live Performances - The New Album From Tenor, Abdul Candao

Live Performances, the new album from Vienna-based Filipino tenor Abdul Candao, has arrived. This live compilation is a collection of 11 of his show-stopping arias performed in various opera houses and concert halls around the world, brought together on one CD for the listening pleasure of classical music lovers.

Live Performances includes the aria Un'aura amorosa from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, where Abdul captures each note perfectly with great passion. Abdul also interprets a soaring and emotion-filled version of Dein ist mein ganzes Herz from the operetta Das Land des Lachelns by Franz Lehar, and the aria E lucevan le stelle from the opera Tosca by Giacomo Puccini, recorded live at the Teatro Castro Alves, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

Referring to one of Abdul's performances, a critic describes his singing as "...[gaining] in sonority and volume... [there is] symmetry and elegance of form, as well as freshness and spontaneity, growing even more expansive and expressive".

Abdul Candao - Live Performances also contains arias and a duet from Der Freischeutz, Die lustige Witwe, Der Zarewitsch, Faust, and Zar und Zimmermann.

About Abdul Candao

Abdul's first voice teacher was Mr. George Hernandez, who recognized his potential as a soloist while he was singing with Philippine Saringhimig. After winning first prize in the NAMCYA in 1982, he enrolled at the UST Conservatory of Music as a personal scholar of his teacher Prof. Irma P.E. Potenciano. Later on Abdul was granted scholarships by the UST Music Alumni Association and the Music Promotion Foundation of the Philippines. During his studies at the UST, he was a member of the Kayumangging Kaligatan under the late National Artist Prof. Ernani Cuenco, from whom Abdul developed his love and high regard for Filipino music.

In 1991-1995, Abdul attended the opera school of the Vienna Conservatory of Music under KS Waldemar Kmentt with a grant from the CCP Young Artists Fund. He has taken lessons with Lilia Reyes in Rome, Gyorgy Korondio in Budapest, KS Walter Berry, Otoniel Gonzaga and maestro Vahan Mirakian in Vienna. After obtaining his diploma, he did a three-year stint in the Austrian musical "Elisabeth" staged at Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

To his credit, Abdul has premiered two modern operas in Vienna namely, "Jush-Tush" by T. Deszy and "Arrest" by D.D´Ase wherein he sang the lead roles. He has sung in Summer Music Festivals in Udine and Pordenone, Italy; Luebeck, Germany; Greifenstein, Germany; Zadar, Croatia; and Jennersdorf, Austria. He has given concerts in Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the U.S.A. and the Philippines.

Abdul's operatic repertoire include Mengone, Baron Kronthal, Conte Belfiore, Ferrando, Chateauneuf, Faust, Pinkerton, Max, Cavaradossi, and the Prince in "Rusalka". His roles in operetta include Graf von Luxemburg, Dr. Siedler, Stanislaus, Der Zarewitsch, Prince Sou Chong, the Governor in "Candide" and both Alfred and Eisenstein in "Die Fledermaus".

In the summer of 2008, Abdul sang the role of Cavaradossi in "Tosca" at the Teatro Castro Alves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. Last year, he took part in the world premiere of Christoph Schlingensief's "Mea Culpa" at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Most recently, he sang Almaviva at the Oper im Berg Summer Festival in Salzburg.
Abdul is a resident of Vienna for the last twenty years.

To learn more about Abdul's flourishing career, visit his website at http://www.abdulcandao.com

CD Sales and Contact Information

For orders of the physical CD, please visit http://www.abdulcandao.com (CD is not available in stores). For downloads, please visit the following online music retailers:

• iTunes (US, Aus/NZ, Canada, UK/Europe, Japan, Mexico)
• Amazon MP3 (Worldwide)
• Napster (US Only)
• eMusic.com
• Rhapsody.com (US Only)
• Zune.net (http://social.zune.net/search.aspx?keyword=Abdul%2520Candao)