Author Archives: operaramblings

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About operaramblings

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

The latest Opera Canada

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Vol-58-2-Front-Cover.jpgThe latest issue of Opera Canada arrived in my mailbox yesterday.  It’s the first issue produced by Gianmarco Segato as editor and there are a few noticeable changes.  The general structure and look is the same but there are some new bylines.  I noticed Sara Schabas has a rather good piece on Marie Clements.  I’d bet a fiver that Sara is the youngest contributor to the mag in a while.  There’s also an article by Dean Burry on the Canadian Children’s Opera Company tour of Brundibár to the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary including a trip to Terezín.  The obituaries include, sadly, Émile Belcourt who I saw sing Loge at ENO back in the 70s in the memorable run of The Rhinegold conducted by Reginald Goodall.

There’s lots more including my contributions; a piece profiling Marion Newman, plus reviews of a live performance, a CD and a DVD.  And finally, there’s mention that Alexander Neef saw Gerry Finley in Reimann’s Lear in Salzburg.  He couldn’t could he?  No he couldn’t.  Does to dunk head in cold water…

A preview look at the UoT’s Don Giovanni

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UoT Opera’s fall production of Don Giovanni will open in three weeks time.  Today, in Walter Hall we got a few hints on what we may be seeing plus some semi staged excerpts.

For director Marilyn Gronsdale one way into Don Giovanni (and she accepts that there are many) is to see it as being about how the actions of the powerful impact the lives of the many.  In a sexual context it’s clearly of relevance to our times with a serial groper in the White House, a British cabinet minister out on his ear for sexual impropriety and one of Hollywood’s most powerful figures rapidly being cast into outer darkness.  One technique to be used to emphasise this is a silent chorus of women who will witness/bear witness to the action.  Maybe this is something like the Land Assembly in Peter Hinton’s take on Louis Riel?  We also learned that the design aesthetic will be stylized 1940s film noir and that we may be in for a surprise with the ending.

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Act 2 sextet: Brendan Friesen, Matthew Cairns, Alyssa Durnie, Jamie Groote, Sarah Abelard, Alex Halliday (I think)

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Centre Stage

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So last night was this year’s iteration of the COC’s glitzy competition with cash and places in the Ensemble Studio at stake.  It’s a bit of a weird thing to write about because the public, and this year the media, only see a fraction of what the judges are judging.  We saw each singer do one aria.  There had been a closed round earlier in the day to which, unlike in previous years, the media were not invited.  Then there’s what the judges have seen in rehearsal, reputation etc.  All in all what happens on the night influences the outcome about as much as at an Olympic figure skating event.  So, in many ways it’s surprising that my picks were as close to the judges as they were.

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Spooktastic

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My second concert of the day was a Halloween themed recital given by soprano Jennifer Taverner at Atelier Rosemarie Umetsu.  Now previously I had only heard Jennifer sing operetta, at which she is very good, so I had little idea what her range is.  Last night I found out.  The first part of the program was pretty normal recital fare.  Ombre pallide from Handel’s Alcina was knocked off with flair and some bravura in the repeat.  Then came some French chansons of spookiness including Saint Saens’ Danse macabre where Jennifer and pianist Andrea van Pelt were joined by Jennifer Murphy on violin.  All nicely done with fine diction.

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From another planet

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Yesterday lunchtime in the RBA soprano Lauren Eberwein and the Rosebud String Quartet (Sheila Jaffé, Aaron Schwebel, Keith Hamm and Rachel Desoer) entertained us with a program of Haydn and Schoenberg.  First up was an arrangement of Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos.  We got the recitative, Teseo mio ben, and the two arias, Dove sei and Ah! che morir vorrei.  It’s basically a cantata with tessitura that sits very nicely for Lauren’s voice.  It was an elegant performance all round with some passion in the concluding aria.  And it’s always good to hear a Haydn vocal work.

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Eastern breezes, western winds

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That’s the title of a new CD from soprano Kira Braun and pianist Peter Krochak.  Yesterday I got to hear them perform music from it at Rosemarie Umetsu’s new digs on Davenport.  This is a great venue for small scale concerts and recitals and has a really good Yamaha piano.  It’s also less awkward to get to than, say, Gallery 345 so check out their website and facebook page to see what’s happening.

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Musik für das Ende

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Claude Vivier’s Musik für das Ende had to wait until 35 years after the composer’s death for its first fully staged performance.  That happened last night at Crow’s Theatre under the auspices of Soundstreams.  It forms the main and concluding part of a really interesting show  directed by Chris Abraham.

The first part of the program is a monologue, Il faisait nuit, of Vivier returning to his Paris apartment and describing his life and his final composition.  Written by Zack Russell and brilliantly played by Alex Ivanovici it’s a French/English piece based on extensive discussions with people who knew Vivier and is said to capture his verbal and physical mannerisms with uncanny accuracy.  It also introduces us to key design elements of the evening.  We, the audience, are lining the walls of a “black box”.  The set is created by lighting effects and there is an electronic sound track.  It’s a very immersive experience. Continue reading →

Announcements round up

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ChurchHere’s an assortment of announcements from my In Box…

December 10th at 4pm Rosedale Presbyterian there’s a fundraiser for the church.  The program is called Respite and Dream and will include Santoliquido songs, Tosti and Verdi songs, French and English songs, Brahms, Strauss, some excerpts from Rosenkavalier and some Xmas stuff.  Rachel Andrist will be at the piano with Sara Schabas, Danielle MacMillen, Jessica Scarlato, Jonelle Sills, Nicole Percifield and Jocelyn Fralick singing.  Not sure about ticketing yet but take a cushion.

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Into November

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eberwienSo coming up in the next week or so…

On Monday LooseTEA have another Whose Opera is it Anyway? show.  It’s at 9.30pm at Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor West.  Alaina Viau directs with hosting by Greg Finney, Natasha Fransblow at the piano and Jeff Boyd, Amanda Cogan, Adanya Dunn, Gillian Grossman, Rachel Krehm, Jonathan MacArthur, Erin Stone, and Lindsay Sutherland Boal doing silly things.

On Tuesday Lauren Eberwein and the Rosebud Quartet have a noon time concert in the RBA including the fascinating and very difficult Schoenberg String Quartet No.2.  Barbara Hannigan was the last person to do that in the RBA so no pressure.

Wednesday evening is Centre Stage, the COC’s Gala/Singing Competition/Audition for the Ensemble Studio.  Things kick off with booze and snacks at 5pm.  It’s at the Four Seasons Centre of course.

Thursday, UoT Opera are previewing their Don Giovanni in a free concert at 12.10pm in Walter Hall.  Later, at 9pm, it’s AtG’s Opera Pub Night at the Amsterdam Bicycling Club.

In the continuing runs department, Arabella closes out tomorrow at the COC but The Elixir of Love runs through the 4th.  Soundstreams’ Müsik für das Ende, which opens tonight, runs all week at Crow’s Theatre and Opera Atelier’s The Marriage of Figaro also runs through the 4th.

 

Four marriages and a Figaro

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Opera Atelier’s remount of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro opened last night at the Elgin.  It’s a curious production made up of parts that don’t really fit together, hence the review title.  At the core is a rather elegant traditional production.  It’s wigs and crinolines and might have been seen almost anywhere almost any time in the last fifty years or so.  Most of the excessive baroque gesturing is gone and the acting is stagey but no more so than in many opera productions.

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