Author Archives: operaramblings

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About operaramblings

Toronto based lover of opera, art song, related music and all forms of theatre.

Cancellation update

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closedYesterday I received seven assorted emails about cancellations in Toronto plus news from the Metropolitan Opera.  Essentially all the major orchestras and music theatre organisations in Toronto are shuttered until at least the end of the month.  Events are also being called off elsewhere so check your location situation.  Here’s a quick run down:

 

  • The Four Seasons Centre is closed until the end of the first week of April.  So, the ballet is off, as is the free concert series.  The COC is still planning to run its spring season but we’ll see.
  • Tafelmusik and the TSO have cancelled performances until the end of the month.
  • After tomorrow the UoT and the Conservatory are cancelling public events until the end of the month.
  • Tapestry Songbook on March 21st is sort of cancelled.  There will be no live audience but the show will be live streamed at 8pm and the performers are being paid.  Go Tapestry!
  • Amici Chamber Ensemble’s show on the 29th is off.
  • The Metropolitan Opera is closed so no Live in HD but they are doing free nightly web casts of the HD back catalogue.  Details here.

More news when I have any…. Stay safe!

 

Mansfield Park

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Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park opened last night at UoT Opera in a production by Tim Albery.  It’s a really interesting show that builds up in “layers” to a very satisfying whole.  The Austen  novel, of course, is very self consciously a novel.  There’s no pretence at “immersion”.  The author is both telling the story and commenting on it for the benefit of you, the reader.  Librettist Alasdair Middleton both builds on this and does a quite brilliant job of compression to bring in a condensed, and only slightly simplified, version of the story in under two hours.

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Judith’s Saga

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judith_sHubert Parry’s Judith has been making something of a comeback.  A new performing edition by Professor Stephanie Martin was performed at Koerner Hall by the Pax Christi Chorale in May 2015.  That seems to have sparked some interest since the piece was transplanted to the Royal Festival Hall in London in April 2019 where rather larger forces presented the piece to generally good reviews.  Subsequently the same forces mad a studio recording which has just been released as a hybrid SACD/CD release.  If you want to know more googling “Parry Judith” will bring up a small library of articles on the “Judith Project” and how this piece has been unfairly neglected.

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Pinafore at TOT

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Toronto Operetta Theatre’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore opened last night.  Director Guillermo Silva-Marin has chosen to translate the piece to a cruise ship in the 1920s which has its incongruities but they aren’t particularly disturbing (except perhaps for Sir Joseph Porter’s shoes!).  In fact what we get is basically a crisp, well paced and idiomatic Pinafore which is what I want in G&S.  It’s also genuinely funny, though some jokes age better than others, and occasionally even quite moving.

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The Diary of One Who Disappeared

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Janacek - Diary CDPavol Breslik headlines on a new recording of Janáček’s Diary of One Who Disappeared; a song cycle about a young man who runs off with a gyosy girl.  The piece is given in its original arrangement which, besides tenor and piano, features a mezzo in several of the songs and a brief appearance by a three member female chorus.  No doubt this is one reason it’s performed less often than it might be.  Breslik is pretty much ideal for this music.  Obviosly he’s completely at home in Czech and he sings with clear articulation and has a rather beautiful instrument.  He’s well supported by Robert Pechanec on piano plus mezzo Ester Pavlu; who has quite a bright sound for a mezzo but works well enough with Breslik.  Dominika Hanko, Zuzanka Marczelová and Mária Kovács make up the chorus.

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New season announcements

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Johann-Sebastian-Bach-oil-canvas-Elias-Gottlieb-1746The 5th Annual Toronto Bach Festival will take place from May 29th to 31st.  All the details are at www.TorontoBachFestival.org. The big event is a performance of the B minor Mass on the 31st at 4pm at Eastminster United Church on the Danforth.  The line up of soloists is quite impressive; Hélène Brunet, Ellen McAteer, Daniel Taylor, Charles Daniels and Joel Allison.  They will be joined by a small choir and period instrument ensemble.  John Butt conducts.  In addition there’s a line up of recitals, concerts and lectures.

 

 

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A couple more shows in March

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440px-H_m_s_pinafore_restorationNot noticed by me when posting a week or so ago….

Toronto Operetta Theatre are doing that infernal nonsense Pinafore.  It’s at the St. Lawrence Centre on March 4th, 6th and 7th at 8pm and 8th at 2.30pm.  It’s a nice looking cast includingb Ryan Downey, Bradley Christensen and Holly Chaplin.  Derek Bates conducts.

On the 27th the Exultate Chamber Singers are doing Brahms’ German Requiem in the four hands piano version.  Pianists are Mira Jung and Elaine Choi while the soloists are baritone, Parker Clements, and soprano, Julia Frodyma,  It’s at the rather lovely St. Thomas’ Anglican Church on Huron Street at 8pm.

 

Bullet Train/Witch on Thin Ice

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Another unusual and interesting show from Larry Beckwith’s Confluence Concerts last night at the Aki Studio.  The first half of the programme was a reading of Madeleine Thien’s short story Bullet Train.  It’s sort of a double coming of age story that also looks at what we hang onto and what we don’t as we move through life.  It was beautifully read by Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster with cunningly chosen piano interludes played by Gregory Oh.

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After the interval it was Alice Ping Yee Ho’s Yoko Ono inspired piece; Witch on Thin Ice.  At it’s centre was virtuoso percussionist  Beverly Johnstone who displayed great skill on a range of untuned and tuned percussion while executing parts of Melissa Bettio’s choreography and producing all but indescribable vocals!  She was supported by soprano Vania Chan and dancer Jessica Mak with a rap number by Gregory Oh.  Playing over all of this were really rather striking videos and electronics designed by Alice.  It was a bit overwhelming really.  Maybe like being in the middle of an immersive video game and a very complex percussion piece at the same time.  Anyway, great fun and totally unexpected!

There’s another chance to catch this programme tonight at 8pm at the Aki Studio.

Digital technology and the performing arts

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I was at the second Digital Symposium hosted by the COC and the National Ballet this morning.  I was at the first round back in September which was basically an environmental scan that didn’t really evoke much of a reaction beyond noting that there were a lot of shiny technologies and they were expensive so I didn’t write about it.  Today was different.  In both the plenary session, in which KerrSmith presented their “Horizon Scan”, and the break out groups I was involved in some really deep conversations.  I want to try and share some of that with you along with some thoughts of my own.  I should stress that anything I’m writing here is personal and provisional and certainly doesn’t represent the views of the COC, the National Ballet or KerrSmith.

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