Category Archives: Toronto opera news and views

Rare Rameau

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On February 2nd Voicebox: Opera in Concert will be performing Rameau’s rarely performed Hippolyte et Aricie at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.  The cast will be led by mezzo Alyson McHardy as Phèdre with tenor Colin Ainsworth as Hippolyte, soprano Meredith Hall as Aricie and veteran bass Alain Coulombe as Thesée.  Accompaniment will be by the Aradia Ensemble conducted by Kevin Mallon.  Tickets are available from www.stlc.com

It seems like some of the most interesting repertoire choices this year are being presented in concert rather than fully staged.  At least this one has more than piano accompaniment.

Upcoming shows

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totFirst up is Toronto Operetta Theatre’s annual holiday offering.  This year it’s Lehar’s Land of Smiles and the cast includes Adam Fischer, Curtis Sullivan, Ernesto Ramirez and Lara Ciekiewicz.  Guillermo Silva-Marin directs and Derek Bate conducts.  There are eight performances between December 27th and January 5th including a gala performance and dinner/dance on New Year’s Eve.  Venue is the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and tickets are available here.

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Prima Donna

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So I got my hands on the DVD documentary about Rufus Wainwright and the genesis of Prima Donna.  There’s not all that much of the music on the disk but there’s enough to get a general impression.  There’s also plenty of material for helping one judge where Wainwright is coming from and how he might approach a second opera.

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Alexander’s big gay Canadian opera

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hadrian_antinousSo today’s Globe and Mail carries the news that the Canadian Opera Company has commissioned its first new work since 1999.  A piece based on the life of the emperor Hadrian will headline the company’s 2018 season.  Now Hadrian may be best known for a chunk of masonry in the north of England but he’s also almost as well known for deifying his lover Antinous.  Since the music and book for the new work are to be by Rufus Wainwright and Daniel McIvor I think we can safely say that that side of things will feature more prominently than fortification construction.  Continue reading →

Ensemble Studio candidates announced

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rufus_goingtoatownThe competitors for the Ensemble Studio competition to be held on November 26th have been announced.  They are: soprano Karine Boucher (Quebec City, QC); mezzo-soprano Emma Char (Kitchener, Ont.); mezzo-soprano Francesca Corrado (Vancouver, B.C.); tenor Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure (Kitchener, Ont.); bass-baritone Nathan Keoughan (Charlottetown, P.E.I.); bass-baritone Iain MacNeil (Brockville, Ont.); tenor Jean-Michel Richer (Montreal, QC); soprano Lara Secord-Haid (Winnipeg, Man.); and mezzo-soprano Rachel Wood (London, Ont.).

As previously announced this year’s competition will be a glitzy gala affair and apparently Rufus Wainwright will MC.

Rejoice greatly

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singalongThe line up for the annual Messiah fest is becoming clearer.  Traditional heavyweights, the Toronto Symphony and Tafelmusik go head to head.  The Symphony’s line up of soloists is Klara Ek, soprano; Lawrence Zazzo, countertenor (which may not please the traditionalists or the mezzo fanatics); John Tessier, tenor and John Relyea, bass-baritone.  The chorus is the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Christopher Warren-Green conducts.  Dates are the 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st and 22nd December at Roy Thomson Hall.  Tafelmusik field Dame Emma Kirkby, soprano (buy now while stocks last?); Laura Pudwell, mezzo-soprano; Colin Balzer, tenor and Tyler Duncan, baritone.  Ivars Taurin conducts.  Performances are 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st December at Koerner Hall.  On the 22nd Tafelmusik also have their traditional singalong Messiah at Massey Hall.
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More upcoming shows; old and new

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The Ontario Philharmonic and Richard Margison are doing a show of Italian opera “greatest hits”.  There are two shows; December 10th at Koerner Hall and the Regent Theatre, Oshawa on December 7th.  Full details.

Up in Montreal a new outfit, Stu and Jess Productions, are doing Menotti’s The Medium with a cast drawn from current McGill graduate students.  That runs from November 7th to 9th in a converted church in Verdun.  Full details

Last, but not least, the Glenn Gould School annual production at Koerner Hall has been announced.  It’s The Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček and it plays at Koerner Hall on March 19th and 21st.  I’m interested to see how they handle the dance elements.  More details.

Upcoming events

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amiciNext Sunday the Amici Ensemble have an interesting looking concert of works all transcribed for forces not originally intended by the composer.  It’s called, appropriately enough, Transfigured Transcribed.  The highlight for me is Verklärte Nacht transcribed for piano trio but there’s also some Berg, some Brahms and some Bartok.  The concert is at 3pm at Mazzoleni Hall.  More details and tickets.

This weekend also sees the opening of Opera Atelier’s Abduction from the Seraglio and Opera 5’s Poe themed show Requiescat in Pace.  If that wasn’t enough, this afternoon the MetHD broadcast is Shostakovich’s The Nose in William Kentridge’s well reviewed production.  It’s surely the highlight of this season’s line up and the only one I will be bothering with.