This year’s Fall presentation from Opera Atelier is Charpentier’s The Descent of Orpheus. It’s a rarely seen work but, oddly enough, this will be the second time it’s appeared at Koerner Hall this year since it featured on the opening night of Toronto Summer Music. On Thursday in the RBA we got some insights into how Opera Atelier will present the piece.

Koerner Hall, of course, has no fly loft or other scenery handling equipment so there are basically two ways one can go. Les arts florissants chose the semi-staged approach but with lots of movement and pretty free use of the space. The alternative is a unit set and that seems to be what Opera Atelier will do. From what Marshall Pynkoski said it sounds like the set will be very similar to the one used for La resurrezione.

In other respects, based on excerpts we saw in the RBA, it’s going to be a fairly typical Opera Atelier production. There will be lots of dance though, unless I mis-saw, the women will be wearing pointe shoes; something I’ve noticed in recent years. The orchestra will be Tafelmusik playing on period (style) instruments at period pitch (about a tone lower than A=440).

The singers will be Opera Atelier regulars with the exception of Daniel McGrew singing the haut-contre role of Orpheus. Christopher Bagan will conduct from the harpsichord and he gave an interesting talk on the approach needed for Charpentier’s music. Summarising (brutally?) it involves “jazzing it up” by swinging the 1/8 notes; to match the rhythms of declaimed or sung French.

The Descent of Orpheus is being presented by Opera Atelier at Koerner Hall from October 22nd to 25th.

Photo credit: Karen E. Reeves