Category Archives: Toronto opera news and views

Heading into winter

Posted on by
4

The leaves have turned and the Canadian Opera Company Season is underway so winter can’t be far away.  I’ve now seen both the COC fall productions so I need to find alternative fare between now and February when things kick off again.  So far I’ve found two live shows of interest in town.  At the end of October Opera Atelier is putting on Weber’s Der Freischütz.  This is a departure for OA who have previously (bar once) not put on anything later than Mozart and that in a rather idiosyncratic style.  I think it’s an interesting move and I hope it stimulates the creative juices at OA and sparks some of the innovation that made OA such an exciting company ten or twenty years ago.  If it turns into an exercise in persuading us that 19th century Romanticism is really just an extension of the Baroque I shall probably be feeling like the guy in the picture.  The other live show is Essential Opera’s The Threepenny Opera being presented in concert at Heliconian Hall on November 7th.  Essential Opera I suppose is a semi-pro outfit operating on very small budgets and The Threepenny Opera seems like a good fit.  I felt that last year’s attempt at something grander was rather a case of biting off more than they could chew.  Continue reading →

In the news

Posted on by
Reply

The good news this week is that Canadian Opera Company have extended the contract of Music Director Johannes Debus through 2017. This follows the announcement of a contract extension for General Director Alexander Neef. So, not only does COC get to keep a very good conductor who is well liked by the orchestra but it keeps the Neef/Debus team together for at least another five years. Neef and Debus seem to work together extremely well so this bodes well for a continuation of the combination of varied repertoire, interesting productions and starry casts that we have seen recently at the Four Seasons Centre.  Continue reading →

Sneak preview of Die Fledermaus

Posted on by
3

Female chorus member – Sketch: Constance Hoffman

There’s an event on in Toronto this weekend called “CultureDays”.  The COC’s contribution last night was an open orchestra dress rehearsal of Christopher Alden’s new production of Die Fledermaus preceded by a talk in the Richard Bradshaw Auditorium by set designer Allen Moyer and costume designer Constance Hoffman moderated by the CBC’s Brent Bambury.  The event was “first come, first served” and restricted to 500 tickets so we decided to be early.  Doors opened at 1815 for a 1830 talk so the plan was to meet the lemur at the opera house at 1700, grab a bite to eat and then join the line-up.  I got there early as I was through at work and preferred to sit in the sunshine at the Four Seasons Centre rather than at my desk so I got there around 1615.  There was already a line up!  By the time the lemur showed up just before 1700 there was quite a line up so we changed plan and the lemur went off to fetch burritos to eat in the line.  Just as well as they ended up turning people away.  Continue reading →

Free Concert Series 2012/13

Posted on by
1

The COC has announced the line up for the 2012/13 series of free concerts in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre. There’s the usual mix of vocal, instrumental, jazz, world music and dance. There are plenty of opportunities to see the Ensemble Studio members as well as solo gigs by Franz-Josef Selig and Anna Christy. For fans of Indian classical music there’s also a sarangi recital by Aruna Narayan. Also of interest is a concert by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre “Inspired by Lorca”.

Full details

A Synonym for Love

Posted on by
1

Much as I enjoy full scale opera productions by conventional, large opera companies like the COC, some of my best experiences in the last few years have been with smaller companies mounting unconventional productions in smaller and often unusual venues. There’s another opportunity of that type coming up over the next two weeks. Starting Sunday night Volcano Theatre are staging A Synonym for Love at the Gladstone Hotel. The music is by Handel but it’s using a new English libretto by Deborah Pearson. The action will take place in different locations in the Gladstone and the audience will follow the action around. The music director for this project is Ashiq Aziz who was responsible for an excellent Dido and Aeneas at the Winchester Dance Theatre a few years ago as well as last year’s innovative Orlando Lunaire in a warehouse in the west end.

The preview is on Sunday evening with ten more performances between then and the end of the month.  Tickets run $20-$42.  I’ll be at the preview.

Good news

Posted on by
Reply

Canadian Opera Company General Director Alexander Neef has signed a new contract to stay with the company through 2021. This is very good news indeed. Neef has shown a canny ability to programme imaginatively varied programmes while keeping the house full, mostly through carefully balancing the number of performances between the more adventurous repertoire and one or two “bums on seats” shows per season. Aided by the company having moved to the technically and acoustically excellent Four Seasons Centre he has also done a great job of making the COC a company that the best singers, conductors and directors want to come to(*). That’s a problem none of his predecessors managed to crack. It’s no idle boast now when COC describes itself as “home to the best”. I feel confident that we can now look forward to another eight years of varied, high quality opera at COC.

* Confirmed to me by Larry Brownlee but to be honest the line up in the last couple of years and going forward speaks for itself. Brownlee, Graham, Archibald, Radvanovsky, Pieczonka, Braun, Schade. Hereros-Casada, Sir Andrew Davis. Carsens, the Aldens, Sellars, Malfitano, Albery. Such a change from ten years ago!

Broken down by age and sex

Posted on by
Reply

The COC board reviews ticket sales data

Broken down by age and sex – that’s what they say happens to statisticians over time but this one retains his fascination with data and will happily torture it in search of a conclusion or three.  In this case the data is contained in an interesting round up of the Canadian Opera Company’s 2011/12 season.

Continue reading →

Big contemporary opera weekend in Toronto

Posted on by
Reply

Considering the opera season in Toronto usually pretty much wraps up in May there’s a lot on over the next few days.  I guess the big ticket Is Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach which is running tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon/evening.  Unfortunately it’s extremely long and I have early reffing gigs both Saturday and Sunday so that pretty much rules it out.  It’s also at one of my least favourite performance spaces; the Sony Centre.  Also on this weekend is the Canadian Children’s Opera Company performance of a new work by Errol Gay called Laura’s Cow. based on events in the War of 1812  That’s on at the Enwave and I managed to score a couple of comps so I shall be going to that.  Then on Monday and Tuesday evenings Tapestry New Opera are workshopping Aaron Gervais’ The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. at the Distillery.  Most all opera in Toronto happens within walking distance of the Kitten Kondo but that one is scarcely five minutes away.  The lemur is rehearsing so I’ll be on my own at that one. Busy times!

Reflections on the COC 2011/12 season

Posted on by
Reply

So another Toronto season has come and gone.  I thought it was a pretty satisfying one taken as a whole.  There weren’t any total disasters and there were several productions of the highest class.  I made it to all seven shows and saw three of them twice; Rigoletto (because, among other things, it was double cast), L’Amour de Loin (because it was so good!) and Semele (because it was the production chosen for the Ensemble Studio).  I also attended the final dress rehearsal of The Florentine Tragedy/Gianni Schicchi double bill. Continue reading →

Spring in Toronto

Posted on by
2

It’s Spring in Toronto. The Canadian Opera Company has three productions in rehearsal and load ins and set building have started once more at the Four Seasons Centre. Here’s my take on what’s coming up.

Offenbach – Tales of Hoffmann April 10th to May 14th

Photo Credit: Kurt Van der Elst © 2000

This is a house debut for British director Lee Blakeley who brings his production previously seen at Vlaamse Opera.  The production looks on the face of it fairly conventional but word from the rehearsal studio is that it’s fairly “out there”.  The casting is a typical mix of “A list” talent, local favourites and Ensemble Studio members.  Probably the biggest draw is local boy John Relyea who is playing the four villains.  American tenor Russell Thomas sings the title role.  The four main female roles will be sung by Andriana Chuchman, Erin Wall, Keri Alkema and Lauren Segal; all familiar faces to Toronto audiences.  Johannes Debus conducts. More information.

Continue reading →