Toronto Operetta Theatre’s last show of the season is Johan Strauss II’s A Night in Venice with the libretto lightly updated by Guillermo Silva-Marin; who also directs. It opened on Friday evening at the Jane Mallett Theatre. Loyal fans will not be disappointed. It’s a typical frothy, colourful TOT offering with chamber ensemble and singing that ranges from very decent to really rather good.
Clare Barron’s Dance Nation is a grimly hilarious examination of how cut-throat competition culture affects the lives of children in small town America. It’s currently playing at Coal Mine Theatre in an Outside the March production directed by Diana Bentley.
Opera Atelier opened a production of Debussy’s symbolist opera Pelléas et Mélisande at Koerner Hall on Wednesday evening with direction by Marshall Pynkoski and choreography by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg. Let’s start by making it clear that this is not an attempt to present the opera as it was seen or heard when it premiered in 1902 or even to try and reproduce that aesthetic with more modern technology which, I think, is what’s usually meant by “Historically Informed Performance” (HIP). The extent to which any recent Opera Atelier production is HIP is a discussion perhaps left for another day.
Marco Arturo Marelli’s production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde first appeared at the Semperoper in Dresden in 1995. It was revived in 2024 and recorded for video. It’s an elegant, straightforward production. There’s no “concept” but equally there’s not much attempt at “realism” either. Sets are monumental and abstract. Costuming is opera house medieval. On the few occasions props are needed they are what they are; a cup, swords etc. Atmosphere is mostly down to the lighting and the focus is on the singing and acting.
My review of Californian composer Mark Abel’s CD 4.4.2 featuring Canadian mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh is now available at La Scena Musicale.
My review of the recent CD release of Aribert Reimanns’s first opera Ein Traumspiel is now on-line at La Scene Musicale. The disk also includes his rather unusual Denn Bleiben ist nirgends.
My review of the recording of Art of Time Ensemble’s adaptation of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale is now on-line at La Scena Musicale. Sankofa is a very moving reframing of the story to relate the experiences of a young man from the Caribbean trying to join the Canadian Army in WW1.
Canuck Cantatas is the first live show from Against the Grain Theatre since, I think, 2023. It’s good to see what was once a staple of the Toronto indy scene in action again. This show is three short monodramas. Each features a soprano singer who is also either composer or librettist and all are based around the story of one, Canadian, character. The accompanying ensemble consisted of piano (Spencer Kryzanowski), string trio (Julia Mirzoev, Russell Iceberg, Peter Eom) and bass clarinet (Brad Cherwin). Since the show was at the Redwood everybody was miked and amplified with speakers all around the performance space which was an interesting effect.
Soundstreams’ penultimate concert of the season at the Jane Mallett Theatre on Thursday evening featured “love songs” from a range of (more or less) contemporary Canadian composers under the overall direction of David Fallis.
Jen Silverman’s The Moors is a sort magic realist comedic parody of the Gothic novel in general and the Brontës in particular. It’s currently playing at The Theatre Centre in a Riot King Art Market production directed by Bryn Kennedy.
operaramblings 