Category Archives: Toronto opera news and views

New additions to the COC Ensemble Studio

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The COC today announced six new singers will join the Ensemble Studio for the 2013/14 season.  If you read my review of the Ensemble Studio competition in November you’ll not be surprised.  The three prize winners; bass-baritone Gordon Bintner, tenor Andrew Haji and mezzo Charlotte Burrage are among the six as is my pick, dramatic soprano Aviva Fortunata.  The remaining two are baritone Clarence Frazer and mezzo Danielle MacMillan who were also quite impressive in the competition.

The Ensemble Studio is losing Mireille Asselin, Neil Craighead, Rihab Chaieb, Chris Enns and Ambur Braid as well as both pianists; Timothy Cheung and Jenna Douglas, at the end of this season though all of them can be seen in some capacity in La Clemenza di Tito next month.  Rihab is also appearing in Dialogues of the Carmelites in the spring.  There’s no word on new non-singing talent for Ensemble.  I’m going to be really interested to see what’s next for these guys.  We’ve had some good times together.

Full COC Press Release

‘Tis the season to speculate

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Finley-Gerald-02With a month or so to go before the Canadian Opera Company officially announces its 2013/14 season it’s surely time for some uninformed speculation.

There are three big anniversaries in 2013; the bicentenaries of Verdi and Wagner and the centenary of Benjamin Britten.  One would think all would be represented but maybe not.  We know Verdi will be.  Gerald Finley announced at the Rubies that he would make his role debut in the title role in Falstaff at COC in 2013/14 so we can ink that one in.  Britten seems probable.  There’s a Houston/COC co-pro of Peter Grimes, directed by Neil Armfield that is due to to come to Toronto.  I think we can pencil that one in.  No idea on casting but I would love to see Stuart Skelton myself.  Wagner, I’m not so sure.  Maybe February’s run of Tristan und Isolde will be COC’s sole nod to Wagner.  Certainly the next most likely candidate; the Lyon/Met/COC Parsifal is, apparently, not expected before 2015.

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All change!

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The COC announced a bunch of line up changes for the upcoming winter and spring runs this morning.

  • Johannes Debus replaces Jiří Bělohlávek, who has health issues, as conductor for Tristan und Isolde.
  • Daniel Cohen will conduct La clemenza di Tito instaead of Debus.
  • Michael Baba replaces Burkhard Fritz as the ‘B’ cast Tristan.
  • Hanna Schwarz replaces Julia Juon as Herodias in Salome.

No reasons were given for the withdrawals of Fritz and Juon.

Get your tickets now

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Photo Credit - Kira Perov 2005

Photo Credit – Kira Perov 2005

Word on the street is that there are only “a few hundred” tickets left for the COC’s February run of the Peter Sellars/Bill Viola Tristan und Isolde.  It’s a fair bet that most of the available tickets will be for nights when Burkhard Fritz is singing rather than Ben Heppner.  If you want to see Heppner I’d plan on buying now rather than expecting something last minute to turn up.  I’d expect there to be horrific line-ups for the same-day nosebleeds and standing room tickets (and I don’t have the stamina to stand through Tristan!).

tito05Christopher Alden’s production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito apparently isn’t selling so well, despite a stellar cast and a production that got very good reviews in Chicago.  This makes me a sad panda.  Unfashionably, perhaps, I regard Clemenza as one of Mozart’s best operas, perhaps his very best, so the chance to see it with a wonderful cast is one I would not miss.  My current plans call for me to see it twice; with the principal cast and with the Ensemble Studio, but I shall be sorely tempted to get in for an extra look earlier in the run than my current tickets!

And in more competition news…

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simone_sThe lovely Simone Osborne has been announced as the winner of the first Maureen Forrester Award Tour.  So Simone will be appearing with Anne Larlee in forty recitals across the country which will feature, among other things, a new work by composer Brian Current, sponsored by the Canadian Art Song Project.  I guess recital tours have the advantage of there being no scenery to come crashing down on one’s head!

Maybe Gatsby should get himself a frequent flyer card and a really comfortable carrier.

Yet another Big COC podcast

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The latest episode of the Big COC Podcast is up on iTunes. This one features Gianmarco Segato of the COC plus three bloggers; myself, Lydia Perovic of Definitely the Opera and Leslie Barcza of barczablog.  We talked about Henze and European modernism segging into the differences between modern opera in Europe and America.  And that led to a discussion of Adès’ The Tempest, American conservatism, the Met and it’s audience, parties at Christopher Alden’s place and much more.  Then it was on to Lydia’s new novel, Incidental Music(go buy it).  There was also an interview with Nina Draganić about the free concerts in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.  When we came back it was for a discussion about the difference about men and women, action and feeling in opera and, ultimately, why the soprano always gets a raw deal!  I really enjoyed recording this one.  It really felt like a conversation between good friends (which it was) and it’s not been edited down too much.  I think there may have been a segment on the Opera Atelier Der Freischütz that got chopped.

Against the Grain Theatre’s season announcement

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The following just in from arguably Toronto’s most exciting opera company; Against the Grain Theatre.  So a party, György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments and Leoš Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared (with the brilliant Jacquie Woodley) and Figaro’s Wedding; a Toronto centred reworking of the Mozart classic with an orchestra for the first time.  Following on from successes like their Tranzac based La Bohème and a brillian The Turn of the Screw, this looks very exciting.

Full details, links for tickets etc, below the fold.

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Waking up the senses

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Furthering my quest to see more live opera I’m grateful to fellow COC podcaster Leslie of barczablog for drawing my attention to the following production that had hitherto escaped my notice.

Canadian directors, Aria Umezawa and Erik Thor combine their skills to help create Opera Five’s Winter production at the popular Gallery 345 venue. Alongside the senses of hearing and sight, the company is presenting a 3-course tasting menu thematically tied to each opera with food being prepared by local restaurants. The show features a cast of ten Toronto-based singers and the operas, Hin und Zurück (Hindemith), Aleko (Rachmaninov) and Talk Opera (Granger) a new American opera making its premiere in Canada. Milton Granger, the opera’s composer will be in attendance throughout the run. Musical direction is provided by Maika’i Nash and Kimberly Bartczak.

The show is at Gallery 345 (345 Sorauren Ave) on December 4th-6th at 7:30PM.

Tickets are $25/$30 and can be purchased online at operafive.brownpapertickets.com or at the door.

Food and opera!  Sounds just my kind of thing.

COC Ensemble Studio competition

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The Canadian Opera Company has announced the ten finalists for the annual Ensemble Studio competition which this year takes place in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at 6.30pm on November 29th. The event is both a singing competition and the final audition for candidates to join the Ensemble Studio next season. Since the Ensemble Studio is probably the best gig in Canada for a young opera singer it’s very competitive and the competition is a great opportunity to take a look at Canada’s best young singers. It’s a ticketed event and it’s almost sold out so if you plan on going get a ticket now.

The finalists are bass-baritone Gordon Bintner (Regina, Sask.); mezzo-soprano Charlotte Burrage (Woodstock, Ont.); soprano Aviva Fortunata (Calgary, Alta.); baritone Clarence Frazer (Toronto, Ont.); tenor Andrew Haji (London, Ont.); mezzo-soprano Danielle MacMillan (Toronto, Ont.); bass Nathan Keoughan (Charlottetown, P.E.I.); tenor Michael Marino (London, Ont.); soprano Lara Secord-Haid (Winnipeg, Man.) and soprano Kelsey Vicary (Niagara Falls, Ont.).

I’ve seen MacMillan a couple of times singing in student productions at the Royal Conservatory and I think I’ve seen Haji perform but the others are unknown to me. It should be an interesting night.