On Saturday evening the COC presented a teaser concert for their 2023/24 season on the outdoor stage at Harbourfront.  The weather stayed fair and there was no more than the usual aural background to distract a little from the music.  The full orchestra under Johannes Debus was on display along with half a dozen members of the Ensemble Studio.

Things kicked off with the overture to Beethoven’s Fidelio; surely much better known than the opera it introduces!  It was played with some gravitas.  This was not Tafelmusik’s Beethoven!  The quartet “Mir ist so wunderbar” performed by Karoline Podolak, Kirsten LeBlanc, Wesley Harrison and Alex Halliday followed.  I think it gives a good sense 0f (at least the first part) of Fidelio and it was nicely done.

Ariane Cossette was up next with a nicely characterised “Quando me’n vo’” from La Bohème followed by the prelude from Leoš Janáček’s Příhody lišky Bystroušky (Cunning Little Vixen).  OK, I love Janáček’s music with a passion and this was gorgeously played but way too short!  If you only see one opera at the COC this season make it this one!

Alex Hetherington and Alex Halliday were next with “La ci darem la mano” from Don Giovanni.  If you can sing and look reasonably sexy it’s a winner and they can.  So definitely in “greatest its” territory at this point.  Then Ariane Cossette was back with Glauce’s aria “O amore, vieni a me!” from Cherubini’s Medea.  I shall spare you the rant about modern performances of the Italian versions of early 19th century Paris operas and merely remark that Ms. Cosette is starting to sound like a proper dramatic soprano.  One to watch I think.

The next piece was a bit of a curiosity.  It was “Crystal Stair”; an orchestral excerpt from Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White by HAUI x Sean Mayes.  My understanding is that this a sung part of the opera arranged here for orchestra by Mayes.  The opera will premier in the COC Theatre; presumably with a much smaller instrumental ensemble, so it’s hard to get a feel for what it might really sound like.  With the full orchestra it sounded tonally lush with hints of the blues.  We’ll see.

To close things out there was the patter song duet “Cheti, cheti immantinente” from Don Pasquale
by Donizetti performed with some humour  by Alex Halliday and Korin Thomas-Smith.  A pleasing end to a fun short concert.