There’s one last chance to catch David Lang’s The Whisper Opera at The Theatre Centre on Queen West this afternoon at 2pm. My review will appear in due course in Opera Canada (I hope!). Meanwhile here’s a picture from the New York run that hopefully conveys a thousand words (about three times as many as my review!)
There’s a 15% off offer for Christian Gerhaher’s 26th February recital at Koerner Hall. Use Code CHRISTIAN15 on line or at the box office.
March 2nd at 2pm Barbara Hannigan is doing a workshop at UoT focussed on Hans Abrahamsen’s new work Let me tell you. It’s at Walter Hall and it’s free. The work itself will get its North American premier on March 4th with Barbara and the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall.
Royal Opera House cinema screenings are back at the Bloor Cinema and it seems that the full season will be available. ENO are you watching or is your sense of Ontario gepography akin to your business acumen?
First up, tomorrow, at noon they’re screening Giordano’s Andrea Chenier directed by David McVicar with Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek.
March 22nd sees Tim Albery’s production of Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer with Adrienne Pieczonka and Bryn Terfel. Ms. Pieczonka will be on hand to introduce the piece.
On June 28th we get a new John Fulljames production of Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with Anne Sofie von Otter.
July 26th sees John Copley’s venerable production of Puccini’s La Bohème. This production is almost as old as I am. Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja play Mimi and Rodolfo.
Finally, on August 30th we can see a new production of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell directed by Damiano Michieletto with Antonio Pappano conducting. The cast includes Gerry Finley and Malin Bystrom.
There’s 20cm of snow on the ground and more forecast. The groundhog consensus is a long winter. So, here are a few upcoming concerts and other events that may help get you through the rest of the winter.
On February 17th mezzo Janina Baechle, violist Keith Hamm and pianist Rachel Andrist are performing works by Mahler, Brahms and Leoffler in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at noon. Also in the RBA at noon on the 19th there is the annual concert featuring artists from the Ensemble Studio and Montreal’s YAP the Atelier lyrique. And on the 24th, but at 5.30pm Barbara Hannigan and others are presenting works by Chausson and Schoenberg. All these concerts are free.
The Toronto Symphony announced its 2015/16 season line up this morning. From a choral and vocal music perspective the items of most interest were:
Barbara Hannigan – copyright Musacchio Ianniello Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Opera Atelier has announced its plans for the 2015/16 season. As seems to have become the norm, the Toronto season will feature one new (to Toronto anyway) production and one remount. The new piece will be Mozart’s little seen Lucio Silla which played at last year’s Salzburg Festival( with a considerably starrier cast) and which is headed for La Scala in a few weeks time. The title role will be sung by Kresimir Spicer, alongside Inga Kalna (Cinna), Mireille Asselin (Celia), Peggy Kriha Dye (Cecillio) and Meghan Lindsay (Giunia). David Fallis and Tafelmusik will be in the pit. There will be six performances as follows; April 7th, 9th, 10th (3:00pm), 12th, 15th, and 16th (4:30pm), 2016 (start times 7:30 pm except where noted). FWIW here’s a review of the Salzburg production.
The Royal Conservatory has announced it’s 2015/16 concert season. It’s the usual eclectic mixture of classical, jazz, world music and undefinable. Check out the full program.
The items that particularly caught my eye were The Tallis Scholars doing a holiday season concert at Koerner Hall. That one is on Sunday, December 13th at 3pm. Then there’s another early music event with a twist. On Sunday April 3rd 2016 at 3pm the Orlando Consort will perform a live vocal soundtrack to Carl Theodor Dryer’s iconic 1928 film La passion de Jeanne d’Arc. That pronises to be an intriguing combination of early music and early film. Last but not least we are getting a visit from the big Welshman with the head butt. You will have to wait until Sunday 24th April next year but that’s when Koerner Hall sees a recital by the one and only Bryn Terfel. I’m excited.
It’s getting pretty busy in Toronto. Here are a few upcoming things of interest that I haven’t already mentioned.
This year, the Faculty of Music’s annual student composer project is a co-production with Campbell House Museum, the 19th century home of Sir William Campbell, Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Footsteps in Campbell House is a series of pieces by student composers to words by Michael Albano. The audience moves around the house exploring the lives of those who livedd there. There are five performances on January 30th and 31st and February 1st. Each performance is limited to 35 people. Tickets are $20 and available here. I’m really intrigued by this but there’s no way I can go. Continue reading
Last night was the “event” at which the COC brass and guests, with a bit of help from Brent Bambury, announced the upcoming season to a packed house of subscribers and friends. What struck me was how much news was packed in. It was far more than the usual schedule presentation with announcements of several major new projects. But first the season. Continue reading
Upcoming gigs that haven’t made it onto the page here yet include Tapestry Songbook V which will include highlights from works such as: The Perfect Screw (Abigail Richardson/Alexis Diamond), a cheeky comedy about a woman in search of the perfect screw—a Robertson or a Philips; The Shadow (Omar Daniel/Alex Poch-Goldin), a melodrama where a mailman disguises himself as a suave bachelor at the turn of 20th century Barcelona; In this World, George is Heartbroken (Lembit Beecher/Hannah Moscovitch), a psychological exploration of the demented imagination of a middle aged couple paralyzed in routine; and Noor over Afghan (Christiaan Venter/Anusree Roy), a story of a woman who, upon discovering her terminal illness, begs her sister to take her place at the altar as she flees on her own wedding day. The performers will be (now fully bipedal) baritone Peter McGillivray and pianist Stephen Philcox. It’s at 8pm at the Ernest Blamer Studio and the $24 tickets include a reception afterwards. The snag? The COC’s Don Giovanni opens that evening.
Also coming up is The Whisper Opera, a Soundstreams presenetation in partnership with New York’s International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). The venue, The Theatre Centre at 1115 Queen Street West only seats 52 and there are only six performances and we are promised it will never be recorded or done on a bigger scale. Sounds intriguing. Anyway, right now, the first three performances are being discounted 40% (regular $57.50 – do the math) from the Royal Conservatory Box Office using promo code LISTEN. Good until January 16th.
operaramblings 