There may be better video recordings of Tristan und Isolde than Daniel Barenboim and Heiner Müller’s 1995 Bayreuth collaboration but I haven’t seen one. It combines a deeply satisfying production, outstanding conducting and brilliant performances from the principals; Siegfried Jerusalem and Waltraud Meier. The only downside, and it’s not serious, is that, as a 1995 recording, it’s a bit short of the latest and greatest in audio and video quality.
“Toronto needs a second opera stage” is , in some ways, a very weird thing to write. There’s no lack of opera companies or opera performing spaces in Toronto. Besides the 800 pound gorilla of the COC we have a specialist “baroque” company, innovative indies like Opera 5 and Against the Grain and a surprisingly flourishing Canadian contemporary opera scene with Tapestry and Soundstreams. We also have two very decent student programs and any number of companies competing for the “concert peformance of mainstream rep with piano accompaniment and journeyman singers in a hall of questionable acoustics” market. So what am I talking about? I’m talking about the lack of opportunity to see staged performances with orchestra of less known works, even fairly mainstream 20th/21st century works plus contemporary opera from outside Canada. The COC seems to have settled into a pattern of doing one “modern” work per season for some definition of “modern” that covers anything post Puccini basically. Given the need to sell 15,000 tickets per run that tends to translate into fairly safe fare like Britten and Richard Strauss most of the time. I’m not grumbling (much). It’s an economic imperative but it means that works as mainstream as Wozzeck or Lulu come around about once every twenty years at best.
Toronto Operetta Theatre have announced casting for their production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado which runs December 27, 28 (mat), 31 (New Year’s Eve Gala), 2014 and January 2, 3, 4, (mat), 2015 t the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. Evening performances start at 8 pm and matinees at 2pm. The cast is headed up by Lucia Cesaroni as Yum Yum; which is kind of the effect she has on a lot of people, including Adrian Kramer who will sing Nanky Poo. Joseph Angelo takes the role of KoKo, the beleaguered Lord High Executioner and David Ludwig takes on Poo Bah, the Lord High Everything Else. Mia Lennox will be Katisha, the Daughter in Law Elect of the Mikado of Japan who will be sung by Giles Tomkins. Also featured are Greg Finney and Domenico Sanfilippo as Pish Tush, Brittany King as Pitti Sing and Daria Bukhman and Kaili Kinnon as Peep Bo. Derek Bates conducts and Guillermo Silva-Martin directs. For tickets and information call the Box Office at 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 or online at http://www.stlc.com.
On the latest Big COC Podcast you can hear Gianmarco Segato, Wayne Gooding, Paula Citron and I discuss, among other things, Sarasota Opera’s decision to put on Pagliacci without a companion piece. They are instead offering some instrumental pieces and an after party. They claim their audience has expressed a preference for shorter evenings at the opera. I was reminded of this by seeing de Falla’s La Vida Breve this afternoon. (You’ll have to wait for the next edition of Opera Canada for a review). This performance added a tribute to de Falla composed by the music director as a kind of prelude to round things out. Continue reading
Berlin based Canadian countertenor Michael Taylor’s album To Die, to Sleep is a collection of baroque arias recorded with the Quebec baroque chamber ensemble The Dansant. The 15 arias are drawn from assorted Handel operas, mostly Orlando, from Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso and Graun’s Montezuma (the Frederick the Great opera). There are also some instrumental tracks with short pieces by de Murcia, Handel and Gabrielli. As you might guess from the title the material is more contemplative than bravura which might disappoint the fireworks fans but makes for very pleasant, relaxed listening. Mr. Taylor has a distinctly full sound for a countertenor and is clearly very much at home in this repertoire. The accompaniment, on period instruments is interesting and tasteful. It’s worth a listen. It’s available on iTunes (C$9.99) or from countertaylor.com.
And so is Michael Albano’s new production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore which opened last night at the MacMillan Theatre. It’s been a long time since the UoT Opera Division did G&S but it was worth the wait. Fred Perruzza’s straight forward unit set was really brought to life by a fast paced and lively production. From the very beginning of the overture we had members of the crew cavorting and dancing (Choreographer Anna Theodosakis) in a manner perhaps owing more to Broadway than D’Oyly Carte and the better for it! The set, a quarter deck with a gallery, provided cabin doors and traps in the deck for characters to come and go (including conductor Sandra Horst appearing from “below” to take her bow). And of coming and going and dancing there was plenty. There were some more than decent dancers in the chorus too.
Good news: There’s a Black Friday sale on a wide range of upcoming concerts. Discount code BLFR14 gets you 20% off. It doesn’t cover everything but it’s pretty long list. Valid Friday only for both telephone bookings (416.408.0208) or buy tickets online at www.performance.rcmusic.ca
Bad news: Marcello Giordano’s recital on December 13th is off due to a family medical emergency.
Last night saw the second annual Centre Stage at the COC. It’s described as the “Ensemble Studio competition gala”, which is pretty much what it has become. It’s a dressy occasion and busier this year than last. Bussing in the claque from the University of Toronto upped both the noise level and the “beautiful young people” content. The competition itself is fairly conventional in that all the singers get to sing two arias of their choice. What’s a little different is that the accompaniment is the full COC Orchestra and as well as the jury prizes there’s an audience choice award facilitated by some neat electronics. Then of course there’s always the issue of a place in next year’s Ensemble Studio.
Ensemble Studio Competition finalists and winners with Centre Stage host Ben Heppner
So it’s that time of year when Christmas records start appearing. The latest to come my way consists of musical settings by Rob Kapilow of Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express and Dr. Seuss’ Gertrude McFuzz. Yes, it’s American and aimed at kids and if you were to place it on a spectrum of Christmas music that ran from Frosty the Snowman to Carols from King’s it would be decidedly closer to the former. Continue reading
Claus Guth’s 2006 production of Ariadne auf Naxos recorded at the Opernhaus Zürich in 2006 is a compelling piece of theatre. It’s one of those Regietheater pieces that combines a workable concept with compelling Personenregie to create a whole that’s extremely illuminating. The entire Vorspiel is played out, in modern dress, in front of a grey curtain. We get an immediate idea of how Guth is going to explore/exploit metatheatricality as soon as the Haushofmeister appears. He’s played by none other than Zürich Intendant Alexander Pereira. Who is calling the shots? This is reinforced when he drops the bombshell that the opera seria must be combined with Zerbinetta’s farce. This speech is delivered by Pereira from among his guests in the Intendant’s box. It’s very clever. But there’s so much more going on during the Vorspiel. The Komponist is getting seriously deranged; perhaps even more so after he begins his infatuation with Zerbinetta. There’s a moment when it looks like a love triangle is being set up. The diva just gives one look that suggests that she’s got her eyes on the Komponist. It’s a typical moment. A look, a gesture, seems to convey so much. It all concludes with the deranged Komponist shooting himself.
operaramblings 