My review of Matthias Goerne singing the orchestral version of Shostakovich ‘s Suite on Verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti is now published at myscena.org.
Michelangelo Sonnets
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Author Archives: operaramblings
Electric Fields
My review of the upcoming album Electric Fields from Barbara Hannigan and friends is now up at myscena.org.
Catalogue information: Alpha Classics ALPHA980
Ambur Braid masterclass
So it’s April Fools Day in Walter Hall and Ambur Braid is scheduled to give a masterclass to UoT Opera students. Were they having us on? I was doubly suspicious having just finished the really annoying Guardian April Fool crossword. But, no, it was real; though frankly funnier than most April Fool pranks. You can check it out for yourself because it’s all up on Youtube.
Since you can check it out for yourselves I’lljust make a few observations:
- The six students taking part; Christian Matta, Camille Labonté, Frank Yu,Teresa Tucci, Cameron Mazzei and Katherine Kirkpatrick, plus pianist Helen Becqué, all really entered into the spirit of the thing which meant giving as much of themselves as Ambur gave; which is saying a lot. Good for them!
Young artists do Dido and Aeneas
This week the Young Artists Studio at the Canadian Children’s Opera Company gave two performances of Purcell’s classic Dido and Aeneas. The YAS is a new initiative designed to give young singers (16-19) additional opportunities to the CCOC’s usual fare and maybe provide a pathway to serious professional study.
Ninety fascinating minutes with a grumpy bastard
RED by John Logan is a ninety minute play about Mark Rothko and the Seagram Building murals. It premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 2009 and it’s currently playing at the Theatre Centre in a production designed and directed by Kenzia Dalie. It’s a two person show in which Lindsay G. Merrihew plays Rothko and Brendan Kinnon plays his young assistant Ken.
Il Bajazet
Vivaldi’s pasticcio Il Bajazet was composed for carnival season 1635. It sets an earlier libretto by Agostino Piovene concerning the defeat and capture of the Ottoman sultan Bajazet (Bayezid I) by the Tartar leader Tamerlano (Timur) in 1403. Tamerlano is contracted to marry the Princess of Trebizond, Irene, but falls for Bajazet’s daughter Asteria to the consternation of his Greek ally Andronico who is in love with Asteria. Various plot twists and turns happen before Bajazet poisons himself, Tamerlano marries Irene after all and Asteria returns to Andronico. Andronico also has a sidekick Idaspe.
Not really a review at all
So Thursday lunchtime I went to see Karoline Podolak and Wesley Harrison supported by Mattia Senesi and Brian Cho in the RBA. It was a “schmaltzy” programme (Wesley’s description not mine!). The whole thing consisted of arias and duets from La Traviata, The Barber of Seville and Don Pasquale with a bit of Lehar and a final Prayer chucked in.
It was the sort of rep that if it came up on University Challenge any opera goer would be hitting the buzzer in under two seconds! And it’s all lovely of course. It was beautifully sung by two beautiful people with two excellent pianists. They sing beautifully separately and wonderfully together and Karoline’s coloratura is spectacular. It’s rep that fits them like a glove at this stage of their careers and I’m not going to bore you with a blow by blow account. It was unalloyed, undemanding enjoyment made all the better by being in the RBA on a sunny day!
Photo credfit: Karen E. Reeves.
A Public Display of Affection
A Public Display of Affection is currently being presented by Studio180Theatre in the Studio at Crow’s Theatre. Jonathan Wilson plays himself in monodrama-documentary directed by MarkMcGrinder about Gay life in Toronto before, during and after AIDS.
All the news that fits…
There have been a lot of announcements in the last few days. Tapestry announced that they had two companies “in residence” for next season at their new home at 877 Yonge Street. They are Opera Q ;led by Ryan Macdonald and Camille Rogers, who produced the pandemic video Medusa’s Children and Cultureland which is led by Afarin Mansouri and was responsible for Echoes of Bi-Sotoon. Continue reading
Game of Life
Game of Life is a two part exhibit/performance based on the personal story of bluemouth inc. artist Lucy Simic. Shortly before the pandemic she was diagnosed with brain cancer and the piece explores what it’s like to live with cancer against a backdrop of Lucy’s artistic life and relationships in Canada, and more recently, Brooklyn.
The first component of the piece is an installation; Lucy AI. This consists of an interactive AI model into which aspects of Lucy’s personal history, beliefs and values have been fed (I understand an 800 question questionnaire was involved). The piece loops for about 90 minutes alternating opportunities for audience members to interrogate the model with video clips, with voiceover, about Lucy’s life and journey. I spent the suggested 90 minutes with the installation but I could probably have done pretty much as well with 20-30 for reasons that will become apparent later.
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