This one’s a bit different. COSA (Centre for Opera Study and Appreciation) have a stream of a new opera by Norbert Palej coming up. It’s called The Art of Love and it’s drawn from various works by Ovid including the obvious one but also, as best I can tell, Medicamina Faciei Femineae and Metamorphoses. It’s sung in Latin (there are subtitles for those whose Latin is less than fluent) with animations by Sean Stanley. There are two overlapping casts with some very decent singers including Ryan Downey and Alex Hajek. It’s playing tonight and the next three nights at 7.30pm with alternating casts.
Debut albums from young singers usually play it fairly safe but mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo’s is anything but. Her new album, enargeia, on the Deutsche Grammophon label is bold indeed. All twelve tracks on the album feature works by contemporary female composers, though with a nod to Hildegard von Bingen. The accompaniments vary from solo cello to orchestra augmented with electric guitar, electric bass and drum kit. Singing style varies from austerely classical to verging on rock opera.
Here are a couple more shows I missed one way or another.
As the rest of the world moves to live in-person performance Toronto is still mostly stuck in Covidland. My calendar for the month currently has two in-person shows (both courtesy of the RCM) and three streams. So:
Back to the Royal Conservatory yesterday for the first time since the plague struck. Ironically the programme, which had originally featured the Dover Quartet with Davóne Tines, had to be rearranged at less than 24 hours notice due to one of the Dovers testing positive for COVID. What we got instead was two mini concerts. In the first half the New Orford Quartet performed works by Caroline Shaw and Mendelssohn and in the second Davóne Tines, with Rachael Kerr, performed excerpts from his Recital No. 1: MASS. 
operaramblings 