The Barber of Seville is back at the COC with an excellent cast;, young and old, and it’s as lively, colourful and energetic as ever. My full review is now published at bachtrack.com.
The Barber of Seville continues at the COC until February 21st.
Photo credit: Michael Cooper
Wednesday night I attended the second performance of the current run of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the COC. This is a revival of the Christopher Alden production first seen in 2011 (first cast, second cast) and again in 2018. So the basic concept is the same. All the action is played out, quite publicly, in the “gaming room” of a Victorian gentlemen’s club. I think the production has grown on me over time. I felt the tweaks in 2018 were improvements and I suspect some more tweaks this time. Certainly from where i was sitting in the Orchestra the set seemed bigger than I remember. It’s huge and very painterly. It also has great acoustics.
There’s a lot to like in the COC’s revival of Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice that opened at the Four Seasons Centre on Thursday evening. I don’t think Gluck gets much better. Full review at bachtrack.com.
Photo: Michael Cooper
Amy Lane’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the COC is eye catching and enjoyable but doesn’t offer the same level of insight as her Faust last season. My full review is posted at bachtrack,com.
Photo: Michael Cooper
On Friday night the COC presented a one-off concert style performance of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Concert style, in this case, meaning the orchestra on stage with the chorus behind them and the soloists singing from music stands at the front of the stage. There were some projections behind the stage.
On Wednesday evening I went back to the Four Seasons Centre for another look at the COC’s production of Berg’s Wozzeck. I was really impressed with the show on opening night (my review on bachtrack.com) and was interested to see whether a second look would give some insights into a production that is visually fascinating almost to the point of overload.
Michael Kupfer-Radecky as Wozzeck and Anthony Robin Schneider as the Doctor
My review of the COC’s revival of the Robert Carsen production of Eugene Onegin is now posted at bachtrack.com.
Photo: Michael Cooper
#bachtrack
My review of the COC’s production of Berg’s Wozzeck that opened on Friday is now up at bachtrack.com.
Wozzeck continues at the Four Seasons Centre until May 16th.
Photo credit: Michael Cooper
#bachtrack
My review of Bilodeau/Bouchard’s La Reine-garçon at the COC is now up at Bachtrack.
TL:DR everything I want in a new opera pretty much.
Photo credit: Michael Cooper
The Canadian Opera Company opened it’s “new to Toronto” production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on Friday night. It’s a production that’s been around for a while having premiered in Houston in 2010. It’s almost entirely traditional. The one concession to critics of Puccini’s rather sordid tale is that Butterfly’s age is raised from fifteen to eighteen. The original concept was Michael Grandage’s but it’s revival directed here by Jordan Lee Braun.
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