Author Archives: operaramblings

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About operaramblings

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

Another look at Così

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I was back at the Four Seasons Centre last night for another look at the COC’s new production of Così fan tutte.  Broadly speaking, I stand by what I wrote about Saturday’s opening performance.  There were a few things I noticed or paid more attention to this time though.

  • The girls in on the plot? – There’s a lot of silent business between Don Alfonso and the girls right at the beginning.  Is he giving them rings?  Is it a token that it will be all right on the night?  The girls may know about the bet but do they know the details?  Does it get a bit out of control and the emotions unleashed become genuine?  All, I think, valid questions and none clearly resolved.
  • The chemistry between the girls is extraordinary.  They really do feed off each other and are totally credible as teenage sisters.  This has to be seen to be fully grasped.
  • Robert Gleadow is a very interesting combination of sexy and dangerous.  He showed his abilities as Publio last year; making of the role more than I would have thought possible.  Here, Guglielmo comes off as a just about in control sociopath.  I really want to see this guy sing Don Giovanni.
  • The house was full on a truly filthy Toronto winter evening.  People were enjoying themselves.  There was laughter.  Sure, I heard the occasional snooty remark about Egoyan’s OTTness but overall I think it showed that there is a market for smart, sexy opera that doesn’t assume that the audience is firmly stuck in the 1950s.  Canada’s regional companies might take note.
  • That said, two of the three performances that aren’t padded by season subscribers have lots of tickets available.  The “new” COC season model relies heavily on single ticket sales so it will be interesting to see whether that inventory moves.

1551 - Cosi - Fiordiligi - credit Michael CooperPhoto credit: Michael Cooper

Grimes on the Beach

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A performance of Peter Grimes in Aldeburgh to celebrate the Britten centenary seems loike one of those things that had to happen. The snag, of course, being that none of the performance venues there is remotely suitable.  The idea of staging it on the beach was a brilliant, if problematic, idea and it’s good that it was captured on film and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
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New operas at UoT

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The University of Toronto Student Composers Collective presents a free programme of short comic works at the Macmillan Theatre at 5pm on January 30th.

Encounters is an hour long operatic entertainment comprising five operatic samplings. Grief Encounter, composed by Robert Drisdelle, is a cheeky nod to the operatic convention of surtitles while The Proposal chides us not to take situations at face value. In the Shadow of Rob Ford is a romantic scenario composed by Keyan Emami. Two lonely, young people meet during a protest in Nathan Philips Square while Rob Ford, reduced metaphorically to an off-stage voice, provides editorial comment as he packs up his City Hall office. The Box Office, composed by Bekah Simms, pits an aggravating customer against a heroic box office attendant and the program concludes with Shelley Marwood’s setting of Say No to the Dress, a parody of the rabid obsession with finding just the right bridal gown.

I hope someone goes and reviews this because I have work commitments that make it impossible for me to attend.

Opera Atelier announces 14/15 season

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alcina.jpgOpera Atelier announces its usual two production season.  The fall 2014 production will be Handel’s Alcina with Meghan Lindsay in the title role.  She will be joined by Allyson McHardy as Ruggiero, Marie Lenormand as Bradamante, Mireille Asselin as Morgana, Krešimir Špicer as Oronte and Olivier Laquerre as Melisso.  Despite the absence of Curtis Sullivan, the advance publicity suggests that the trend to ever increasing amounts of bare flesh will continue.

The spring 2015 production will be Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice in the Berlioz orchestration.  This will push Tafelmusik even further into 19th century romantic rep.  Is Tannhäuser on the cards?  Mireille Lebel will sing Orpheus, Peggy Kriha Dye appears as Eurydice with Meghan Lindsay as Amour.

In many ways this is the most interesting season OA have offered for some time and the venture into Handel is very welcome.  More details and tickets can be found here.

New song commission from CASP

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News just in that the Canadian Art Song Project (CASP) has commissioned Montreal-based composer Ana Sokolović to write a new song cycle. The new work is being composed for piano and a quartet of singers from the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio. The world premiere will form part of the COC’s Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre and will form part of the company’s celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial anniversary in 2017 (along, it is said, with a revival of Harry Somer’s Louis Riel).

The new song cycle from Sokolović adds to previous works commissioned by CASP include Sewing the Earthworm (2011) by Brian Harman (review), Cloud Light (2012) by Norbert Palej, Extreme Positions and Birefingence (2013) by Brian Current (review), and Moths (2013) by James Rolfe. Other commissions that have been announced and are currently in development include new works by Peter Tiefenbach (2014) and Marjan Mozetich (2014).

Photo credit Alain Lefort

The Scottish opera

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Verdi’s Macbeth is one of those early works where he seems to be trying to grow out of bel canto but not quite making it.  There is some splendidly dramatic music and some that just seems completely incongruous given the subject matter.  The witches’ chorus at the beginning of Act 3 is a case in point.  That said Phyllida Lloyd’s production for the Royal Opera House takes the piece seriously and does a pretty good job of presenting the drama in a straightforward but visually attractive way.

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Is this a blogger I see before me

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macbethI really struggle with early Verdi.  I want to like it.  I want to like anything by the guy who wrote Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra.  Also, there’s so much of it about that avoiding it is tedious.  But, and it’s a big but, I really struggle with the combination of deadly serious stage action and upbeat, bouncy music.  There are all these arias that go something like :

 

We’re going to murder you,
Rum, tum, tum, tumpty tum.
We’re going to chop you up
Rum, tum, tum, tum.

Cognitive dissonance is killing me and that’s my thought for the day brought to you by Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Plava and a very puzzled William Shakespeare.

A School for Lovers

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Atom Egoyan’s new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte opened at the Four Seasons Centre last night.  It’s a visually appealing production with an interesting concept and some glorious singing and acting.  One may question aspects of the concept but nowhere does it do serious violence to da Ponte’s libretto and the end result, coupled with some outstanding performances makes for a most enjoyable evening.

0884 - Guglielmo_Ferrando_Dorabella_Fiordiligi - credit Michael Cooper

Photo credit Michael Cooper

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Pricing strategies

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Pretty much unremarked in the general houha of the COC’s season announcement is a rather interesting change in pricing strategy.  Clearly something had to be done as the switch to a six performance season has consequences.  The COC appears to have something over 7000 season subscribers and a further, say, 3500 select subscribers who buy tickets for five performances.  The five performance package isn’t offered for 2014/15 so let’s assume that group split 50/50 into six and four package buyers for no net effect on ticket sales.  The switch then means a loss of 7000+ ticket sales.  The number of performances has only been reduced by 1 so that means the company has 5000 or so more tickets to sell to single ticket buyers or net new subscribers than last year.  That is, of course, on top of last year’s unsold capacity of around 12,000 seats.  For reference last year’s single seat sales were just shy of 40,000.  So, unless subscription sales rise, single ticket sales per show have to rise from 6,500 to 7,500 (more or less) just to stand still.  That’s actually a pretty tough ask.

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