I don’t usually take much notice of awards like the Grammys but this year there is an odd coincidence. As usual, CanCon is in very short supply across the 95 categories of awards but the three that I could find were all familiar to me.
In Category 89 “Best Opera Recording” there are two nominees with Canadians in the leading role. Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Adoration has Mirian Khalil as its leading lady and Royce Vavrek as librettist and it’s based on an Atom Egoyan film. It’s pretty good. Continue reading
The Met HD in cinemas line up has been announced for 2024/25 so here’s my take on it. The first thing to notice is that there are only eight shows. There have been ten per season since 2012/13 and twelve before that. This is likely a reflection of the problems with audience numbers that all North American opera companies have been having. In the same time period the COC has cut back from 65-70 main stage performances per year to 42 and the Met’s “in house” audience problem has been well publicised. So what does that leave us with?
To be perfectly honest I haven’t been to a Met in HD broadcast in ages. Regular readers will perhaps have noticed that I’m usually insanely busy on weekends as it is! That said, I know that people appreciate a few thoughts on what;’s upcoming so I took a look at the 2023/24 season offering. It’s an intriguing season. The first three productions are more or less contemporary which must be some kind of record. They are:
Here’s my quick preview of the recently announced 2022/23 Live in HD series from the Met.
There’s a Met in HD season again with ten shows starting in October. All shows start at 12.55pm New York time. Three out of ten performances are 21st century operas which is as surprising as it is welcome. There are some interesting looking new productions and one or two that fit into a Met formula that doesn’t work for me usually. And there are two remarkably venerable productions that surely are past their sell by date. Here are my thoughts on each:
First the bad news. Calgary Opera have cancelled their fall production of Fidelio citing uncertainty over rehearsal, performance and audience management issues. I’m not surprised and I expect we will hear something similar from the COC next week. The performing arts really don’t seem to figure at all on the Ontario government’s priorities or plans which isn’t a surprise but is a bit depressing. 
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