My review of Tapestry Songbook X is now up on the Opera Canada website.
Krisztina Szabó and Chris Foley in Tapestry Opera’s Songbook X livestream. Photo: Dahlia Katz
Tapestry Songbook X
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Arts Anyway – Episode 1
There were a few technical glitches with the first episode of Arts Anyway so if you went looking for it last night you were likely out of luck. It’s up now on YouTube though on channel Arts Anyway though you may have to check under “playlists” to find the video.
Another “live stream”
Mezzo-soprano Beste Kalender and pianist Rachel Andrist are performing on line on Tuesday evening (March 24th) at 8.30pm (Toronto time). The recital is titled A Spring Recital: From Venice to Constantinople and will feature music by F. Santoliquido, R. Hahn, G. Faure, H. Berlioz, Komitas and various Turkish composers. Recording will be by Ryan Harper Recordings.
The stream will be posted on Beste’s channel on YouTube at 8.30pm and should be up for a week or so for people in other time zones.
Arts Anyway
Here’s another chance to hear some “live” music by local artists. Tongue in Cheek Productions are starting a series of webstreamed shows called Arts Anyway in support of artists impacted by the current Covid 19 situation. The first show will go up at 7pm on Sunday evening (tomorrow) with further shows planned to be twice weekly. The initial offering will feature performances by tenor Jaques Arsenault, soprano Jennifer Routhier and pianist Natasha Fransblow as well as interviews and news items. The show will be uploaded to their YouTube channel.
Prince of Players
Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players was originally written for the Opera Studio in Houston as a chamber work. It was subsequently reworked as a full scale piece and taken up by Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera where it was performed and recorded in 2018. It’s a two act piece with a libretto by the composer that deals with the transition from men playing women on stage to the roles being taken by women for the first time in the reign of Charles II. It’s framed by the final scene of Shakespeare’s Othello. First time around Desdemona is played by noted actor Ned Kynaston to rapturous applause and praise from the king. The rest of the first act is the story of how Charles; influenced by his mistress and aspiring actor Nell Gwynn and the much more talented Meg Hughes who, to complicate matters, is Kynaston’s dresser and secretly in love with him, decides that times must change and women must play women on the stage. The act culminates in a confrontation between the king and Kynaston where the latter accuses the former of destroying his art and livelihood and the theatre with it. The king is unrelenting. This act is tight and well crafted with quite a lot of humour as well as some pathos.
Signal boosting Tapestry
The following just in from Tapestry concerning Saturday night’s livestream of Songbook X.
Although we were heartbroken to cancel, we are thrilled to announce that our headlining artists have agreed to change tack and perform a full recital, streaming for free: Songbook X: Krisztina Szabó and Chris Foley in Livestream Concert – hosted by Michael Hidetoshi Mori, streaming live on our Youtube channel on Saturday, March 21st at 8:00PM.
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano, will be performing Tapestry selections and other select opera and art song, accompanied by Chris Foley, collaborative pianist, on our fabulous Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano. The performance will be free for all to watch, no matter where in the world.
Let’s see if we can make this the biggest Tapestry gig ever!
Respighi’s Sleeping Beauty
Resphigi’s La bella dormente nel bosco (libretto by Gian Bistolfi) is a take on the Charles Perreault fairy story. It was originally written for a puppet theatre and later adapted for human performers. Its heritage shows in it that it’s very much a numbers opera and it’s quite short. The three acts come in at around eighty minutes. Musically it’s a bit of a hodge podge. It’s mostly quite atmospheric and colourful (similar to Resphigi’s better known orchestral works) with elements of parody. One can sort of hear echoes of Debussy, Stravinsky and Strauss. It finishes up with a cakewalk and a Broadway style finale which is decidedly odd.
PSA
For Toronto peeps… In case you weren’t aware of it the Toronto Public Library offers free on-line access to Medici TV with its catalogue of opera and concerts. Obviously you need a library card to sign in but the url is https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDMEDB0204&R=EDB0204
The Salzburg Festival: A Brief History
Tony Palmer’s 2006 documentary about the Salzburg Festival is over three hours long and uncomfortable to watch in the way the best films are. He combines interviews with performance and other documentary footage to extremely good effect to go beyond telling the “Salzburg story ” to explore fundamental questions of the arts and the state and the very purpose of art.
Cancellation update
Yesterday I received seven assorted emails about cancellations in Toronto plus news from the Metropolitan Opera. Essentially all the major orchestras and music theatre organisations in Toronto are shuttered until at least the end of the month. Events are also being called off elsewhere so check your location situation. Here’s a quick run down:
- The Four Seasons Centre is closed until the end of the first week of April. So, the ballet is off, as is the free concert series. The COC is still planning to run its spring season but we’ll see.
- Tafelmusik and the TSO have cancelled performances until the end of the month.
- After tomorrow the UoT and the Conservatory are cancelling public events until the end of the month.
- Tapestry Songbook on March 21st is sort of cancelled. There will be no live audience but the show will be live streamed at 8pm and the performers are being paid. Go Tapestry!
- Amici Chamber Ensemble’s show on the 29th is off.
- The Metropolitan Opera is closed so no Live in HD but they are doing free nightly web casts of the HD back catalogue. Details here.
More news when I have any…. Stay safe!
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