Category Archives: Performance review – miscellaneous

Our saucy ship’s a beauty

Posted on by
Reply

hms_pinaforeAnd 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.

Continue reading →

Elizabeth Krehm Memorial

Posted on by
Reply

Last night was the second annual fundraiser for St. Michael’s ICU in memory of Elizabeth Krehm.  The work for the evening was Beethoven’s 9th symphony; an ambitious project for what amounts to a pick up orchestra and chorus with minimal rehearsal time.  The orchestra, most competently conducted by Evan Mitchell did not disappoint.  Ensemble was excellent and the sound at times thrilling.  The choir sang with great enthusiasm and obvious enjoyment but the sound was a little “churchy” where something richer might have been preferred, though maybe in not in the resonant church acoustic.  In any event that’s a nit in the overall scheme of things.  The quartet of soloists was very good indeed.  The guys get the exposed bits and both bass Jeremy Bowes and tenor Adrian Kramer sang out clearly and powerfully with excellent diction.  The ladies too; soprano Rachel Krehm and alto Erin Lawson, clearly projected their lines over and through the orchestra and chorus.  All in all it was most impressive and enjoyable.  It was also well attended so hopefully the goal of raising lots of money for St. Mike’s was achieved.

muc Continue reading →

Tapestry Briefs: Booster Shots

Posted on by
2

briefs-web-bannerLast night I saw the second performance of Tapestry’s latest compilation of short works.  As before it was a mix of excerpts from works in progress and potential projects plus stand alone short scenes developed during the LibLab.  This year there was an additional refinement.  The works were staged in different parts of the building (part of the Distillery complex) and samples of the local goodies were provided at strategic points along the way.

Continue reading →

Extensions of Us

Posted on by
Reply

There were crazy choices available to concert goers in Toronto last nigt but enough chose Extensions of Us at the Extension Room (where else) to fill the joint.  We were there to see a performance of piano, song and dance provided by the team of baritone turned tenor Adrian Kramer, soprano Lucia Cesaroni, dancers Jennifer Nichols (who also choreographed) and Justin De Bernardi with pianist and music director Maika’i Nash.  The complex motivations for the show and the full line up of music is contained in my interview with Adrian and Lucia here.

Continue reading →

A Walk on the Dark Side

Posted on by
Reply

Recitals at Rosedale opened the season yesterday afternoon with a program entitled A Walk on the Dark Side featuring Leslie Ann Bradley, Alysson McHardy and Geoff Sirett with Rachel Andrist and Robert Kortgaard at the piano.  It was an extremely well put together program with a range of pieces on the themes of myths, legends and fairy tales.

130-recitals-at-rosedale-nov0914-artists Continue reading →

Galicians I

Posted on by
Reply
stephania

Stefania Turkewich

Yesterday, for the second time inside a week, I found myself at a musical event celebrating a nation and a nationalism not my own.  It’s a rather weird experience (1).  The first had been a performance of Dvoràk’s Jakobin, not reviewed here as I was reviewing for Opera Canada, and yesterday was the launch of the CD set Galicians 1; the fourth instalment of the Ukrainian Art Song Project.  This latter is the lovechild of British Ukrainian bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka.  Indeed it’s almost an obsession.  He has tracked down scores for 1000 largely unknown art songs by Ukrainian composers and has plans for them all to be recorded by 2020.  The latest bunch are by Galician composers Denys Sichynsky, Stanyslav Liudkevych, Vasyl Barvinsky and Stefania Turkewich.  The party line reason for the neglect of this music is, unsurprisingly, persecution under both Tsarist and Soviet regimes.  This was mentioned in at least one of the many introductions and speeches of thanks yesterday and provoked a loud “Absolute rubbish!” from the rather scholarly looking gentleman two seats to my right.  It does rather look a bit more complicated with composers holding prestigious conservatory posts but eventually falling foul of someone in the apparatus and getting sent to a labour camp for obscure reasons.  I don’t think that was unique to Ukrainians.

Continue reading →

Songs of Travel

Posted on by
Reply

acrTalisker Players’ first concert of the season was an interesting mix of material around the general theme of travel; the music neing intersperse with related texts read most pleasingly by Derek Boyes.  First up was soprano Virginia Hatfield with a French baroque rarity; Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s Le Sommeil d’Ulisse.  This piece is scored for flute, violin and harpsichord continuo and the violin part in particular, very well played here, takes an important role.  The piece, which is largely recitative, was sung stylishly, beautifully and, as always, extremely accurately by Ms. Hatfield.  One quibble though.  If one is expecting the audience to use the provided translation of the text it might be advisable to leave the lights up enough to allow them to be read!

Continue reading →

Opera Atelier projects a new approach

Posted on by
2
141021-49266

Artists of Atelier Ballet with image of Meghan Lindsay as Alcina. Photo by Bruce Zinger.

Opera Atelier’s first real venture into Handel is accompanied by some significant shifts in aesthetic coupled with some slightly puzzling throwbacks.  The work chosen is Alcina.  It’s not Handel’s best known (or, indeed, best) but it’s a perfectly serviceable example of Handel’s Italian works for the London stage.  The plot, ultimately from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, concerns the sorceress Alcina who has an illusory kingdom made up of the souls of men she has ensnared.  Her most recent conquest is the knight Ruggiero.  His betrother, Bradamante, disguised as her brother, Ricciardo, shows up with Ruggiero’s former tutor, Melisso.  Melisso has a ring which shows things as they are, shorn of illusion.  Eventually they use this to return Ruggiero to his duty and Alcina’s kingdom goes up in smoke.  Along the way there’s also a sub-plot involving Alcina’s sister, Morgana, who falls in love with Ricciardo to the dismay of her lover Oronte.  In the original there’s also a boy looking for his father and a lion but they got cut in Marshalll Pynkoski’s version.  In fact there’s probably close to an hour in total cut from Handel’s score.

Continue reading →