Category Archives: Toronto opera news and views

The week in prospect

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paulinThis afternoon at 3pm, at Trinity St. Paul’s, Off Centre kick off their season,  Geoff Sirett, Nathalie Paulin and others offer an all Russian programme.

Super Tuesday is a ridiculously busy day.  At noon in the RBA Array Music is presenting Love Shards, a program of music by contemporary women composers.  The full programme is here.  In the evening Adrianne Pieczonka and Kristina Szabó are singing works by Crumb and Berio at Koerner Hall.  There’s also a fundraiser for Opera 5 at The Extension Room.  I’m sorry to be missing that one as the last couple have been a blast.  Definitely worth going to if you are not going to Koerner.

Thursday there is a PWYC show by UoT Opera at The Black Box Theatre at 7.30pm.  Tim Albery and David Fallis, creators of last season’s evocative Last Days, have created The Fatal Gaze, an exploration of the dangers of looking too long or too closely, inspired by the Baroque repertoire.  Last days was really good so I have high expectations for this one.  It’s also on on Friday.

More season announcements

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russiaA few more season announcements have come in.  Off Centre Music Salon have moved to Trinity St. Paul’s.  They have announced two concerts.  This coming Sunday 27th there’s Russia Cast Adrift featuring mezzo soprano Emilia Boteva, tenor Ernesto Ramirez, baritone Geoffrey Sirett, and soprano Nathalie Paulin singing Sviridov’s song cycle Russia Cast Adrift plus works by Rachmaninoff, Gavrillin and Scriabin.  Then on Sunday, November 1st there’s a programme called The Geometry of Love featuring Joni Henson, soprano and Peter McGillivray, baritone with Mark Skazinetsky, violin, Igor Gefter, cello and pianists Inna Perkis and Boris Zarankin performing works by Beethoven, Chopin, Mahler, Strauss and Wagner.

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Coming up

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Three things on the calendar this coming week.  Tuesday 22nd sees the first free noon concert of the season in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.  As custom seems to dictate it’s the Ensemble Studio performing.  The full programme is here.  It’s also the first gig with Claire Morley in charge.

screenshot-2015-06-19-21-42-15Friday 25th  and Saturday 26th, Friends of Gravity (who curiously do not include our cats) are presenting an intriguing looking version of Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins.  The show is at 8pm at St. Bartholomew’s Church on Dundas Street East.  Tickets and details.

Also on Saturday, Metro Youth Opera have a season launch party/fundraiser at Opera Bob’s (a watering hole owned and operated by bass Robert Pomakov)  It’s at 5pm.  Details and tickets.

It’s starting to get busy again.

Pyramus and Thisbe

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The COC’s first main stage production of a contemporary Canadian work in over fifteen years; Barbara Monk Feldman’s Pyramus and Thisbe, is now in the early stages of rehearsal and, yesterday, some of us got a bit of a preview by way of a working rehearsal.  What seems to be happening here is that the COC is creating a show of a kind that has not previously been seen on the Four Seasons stage and will shake up a lot of preconceptions of what a company like COC can offer.

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Toronto Masque Theatre 2015/16 season

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2014-15 Season by Ian Donaldson - rectangle (800x615)Toronto Masque Theatre’s season features an intriguing mixture of old and new.  First up is a contemporary show.  It’s Dean Burry’s take on the mumming tradition in his native Newfoundland.  The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is the venue for this retelling of the St George legend with soprano Shannon Mercer as the saint.  It tells of his encounters with a rival knight and dragon (both played by mezzo soprano Marion Newman) and romance with the mysterious Princess Zebra (tenor Christopher Mayell). I think you get the general idea.  The Mummers’ Masque is on at 8:00pm, 17th-19th December 2015 with a pre-show event at 7:15 pm each evening.

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This week

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MLebel Color Portrait1I think it’s about time I started doing a weekly preview of upcoming Toronto events.  I’m going to try and make this in a regular slot, probably Sunday, so this is a bit late.  The main event this week is the opening of Tafelmusik’s season with a concert featuring mezzo Mireille Lebel.  It’s a pretty mixed line up.  Lebel will perform arias from Vivaldi’s Il Farnace, and Handel’s Alcina, Ariodante, and Rinaldo. Dominic Teresi performs Vivaldi’s Bassoon Concerto in F Major, RV 485, and Rodolfo Richter performs his own violin transcription of Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052.  The opening bash is tomorrow night at 7pm with repeats at 8pm on Friday and Saturday and a matinée on Sunday.  Trinity St. Paul’s of course.

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Exciting 2015/16 season from Tapestry Opera

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Michael-ADphoto1-e1420089983184-209x300The competition to be the most interesting and innovative indie opera company in Toronto is fierce and Tapestry Opera’s season announcement definitely places them as one of the leading contenders.  As well as the usual interesting line up of workshops etc there are two brand new fully staged works and a collaboration with a punk band.  Details under the cut.

This year’s Tap:Ex is titled Metallurgy and features experimental punk band Fucked Up together with COC regulars Krisztina Szabó and David Pomeroy.  This one runs November 19th to 21st at the Ernest Balmer Studio.  Details here.

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More details from Toronto Operetta Theatre

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Charlotte-Knight_Soprano_Headshot_2014-(1)Subscriptions are now on sale for Toronto Operetta Theatre.  The line up has changed from the original spring announcement.  There are still three shows but the run of Candide previously announced has been replaced with a single concert performance, with piano accompaniment of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.  It’s at 3pm on November 1st.  The main attraction (pun absolutely intended) is probably Greg Finney as Sir Joseph Porter KCB.  There’s also Charlotte Knight as Josephine.

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September approaches

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Rachel-66-pinwheel2It’s almost September which means there may even be stuff to write about soon.  Here’s what’s in my calendar so far.

August 31st at 12.15 pm there’s a concert in the Music on Mondays series featuring soprano Rachel Krehm and an orchestra conducted by Evan Mitchell performing Dove sono by Mozart, selections from Strauss Op 27 and Dvorak’s 8th Symphony.  It’s at Holy Trinity Church near the Eaton Centre. PWYC suggested $5.

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