A couple of things

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werther-nzkrkplp.v3wThe Art Song Foundation of Canada has launched a new free on-line magazine called, somewhat unsurprisingly, Art Song Canada.  The first issue has three articles including a very interesting one by Gerald Finley.  You can sign up for it and see the first issue here.

A listing I missed on the weekend… On November 25th at 2.30pm in the Jane Mallet Theatre, VOICEBOX:Opera in Concert are presenting Massenet’s Werther with Matt Chittick in the title role,  Isabel Bayrakdarian as Charlotte and Brett Polegato as Albert.  Narmina Afandiyeva directs from the piano.

And now for something completely different…

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THE WAR BRIDE poster FINALI’m not going to get to see this (obv!) but I am intrigued as it’s a concept I’ve not come across before.  Next Saturday (November 10th) Mexican-American composer, Nathan Felix, will use headphones to present his new opera titled, The War Bride, at Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival in San Antonio Texas. There will be two performances starting at 7:30pm and 8:30pm in Hemisfair Park. Felix is known for his guerilla style approach in presenting classical music in unconventional spaces and The War Brideis given no exception, with a performance outside along the riverwalk at Hemisfair Park. 

 The War Bride is based on the memoir of Felix’s late grandmother, Jean Groundsell-Contreras, who married Joe Contreras during World War II in Great Britain. Joe, from Mexico, gained naturalization via serving in the US Army and after the two exchanged vows Joe remained in Germany, as Jean crossed the Atlantic pregnant and alone on the S.S. Saturnia in 1945. Jean eventually settled along the border in Nuevo Laredo with Joe joining her in late 1946. Felix recounts Jean’s tale by using the riverwalk to depict her journey across the Atlantic ocean, the Mississippi river and the Rio Grande river but he also uses the river as a metaphor for hope, division and to shed light on immigration. Jean will be played by sopranist, Elise Miller alongside baritone, Jeremiah Drake and tenor, James Dykman. Drake and Dykman will play a multiple characters in the opera including former British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain and former US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Continue reading →

Back half of November

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stacieSo here we go with things to look out for in the second half of the month or so.  On the 13th Stacie Dunlop and flautist Kelly Zimba are putting on a program of pieces by living American and Canadian composers, including premieres by Toronto composer David Jaeger and the duo HaRebraIN (Anh Phung/Alan Mackie) along with works by Leslie Uyeda, Braxton Blake, Kate Soper and James O’Callaghan.  That’s at 8pm at Gallery 345.

From November 15th to December 2nd Red Snow Collective are presenting the world premiere of The Monkey Queen, written by Diana Tso, directed by William Yong, and performed by Diana Tso and Nick Eddie. The production weaves text, movement, visual art and music, and reimagines the ancient tale through the playwright’s own personal journey as a Chinese-Canadian female artist; a sort of Journey to the East if you will.  It’s at the Theatre Centre Incubator at 7.30pm.

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Dada dada

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This year’s GGS School fall opera was a presentation of three short works influenced by Dada and surrealism.  The first was Martinů’s Les larmes du couteau.  It’s a hard work to describe.  Here’s what naxos.com has to offer:

Eleanor longs to marry someone like the Hanged Man, whose body is suspended over the stage. Satan appears, professing love for Eleanor, who rejects him, still longing for the Hanged Man, to which Satan now marries her, an event she celebrates by dancing a tango. A Negro Cyclist appears and Satan assumes the latter’s form. Eleanor seeks to attract the Negro/Satan, while her Mother makes gymnastic gestures at the back of the stage. Eleanor kisses the Negro, whose head bursts open, revealing Satan. Eleanor, terrified, stabs herself and the Hanged Man starts to dance to a foxtrot, as his head and limbs are detached, for him to juggle with. He comes to life and embraces Eleanor, but when she kisses him his head bursts open and the face of Satan is seen. She gives up her pursuit of love, while the Mother claims to know how to win Satan’s love, only to be rejected.

Les Larmes du couteau is very short in duration and offered obvious problems in staging, to be solved, it has been suggested, by the use of film.

Photo: Nicola Betts

Kateryna Khartova and Rachel Miller in Tears of the Knife

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500

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I reached the milestone of 400 DVD/Blu-ray reviews on June 20th 2016.  The 500 mark came up last weekend.  Let’s see how the stats have evolved.

500-languageItalian has increased its lead to 35% with German now on exactly 25%.  English has dropped marginally to 12%, despite its prominence in contemporary works.  I think multiple Salzburg Mozart cycles are playing a role here. Continue reading →

Centre Stage

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Centre Stage is the COC’s annual gala/competition with cash prizes and places in the Ensemble Studio at stake.  Last night eight young singers competed.  The format was one aria before the reception; for judges and invited guests, and one after; for all the punters.  So here, in the order they sang in the first half are my thoughts.

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Ensemble Studio Competition finalists, Centre Stage 2018. Photo: Michael Cooper

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Only the Sound Remains

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Only the Sound Remains is a chamber opera by Kaija Sariaho based on two Noh plays translated by Ernest Fenellosa and Ezra Pound.  The piece was premiered in Amsterdam in 2016 by Dutch National Opera, where it was recorded.  It’s a co-pro with Teatro Real, Finnish National Opera and the COC so Toronto audiences will likely get a look at it eventually.  Which is good because it’s really hard to figure out much of it from the video recording.  As he so often does, Peter Sellars directs for both stage and camera and while I like his stage work here I find his video direction quite annoying, especially in the first piece.

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Actéon et Pygmalion

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Opera Atelier’s french double header opened last night at the Elgin Theatre.  It was, bar the occasional twist, classic Opera Atelier.  They presented two French baroque operas in their distinctive style with a little humour and none of the excesses that have sometimes crept in.

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First half of November… more

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L'invitation to voyage_0Here are a few things I omitted from the listings posting on the weekend.  First off, Opera Pub from Against the Grain Theatre on the 1st at 9pm.  You can do Centre Stage at the Four Seasons Centre and still make it down to the Amsterdam Bicycle Club for less formal fun.

Not entirely opera related but ProArteDanza is presenting Figaro 2.0; a full-evening dance work co-choreographed by Roberto Campanella and Robert Glumbek on November 1st through 10th at 8pm at Harbourfront Centre’s Fleck Dance Theatre. Tickets are available here. It’s the same story as the opera of course.

On the 11th there’s the first in this season’s Mazzoleni Songmasters series.  Joyce El-Khoury and Beste Kalender sing works by Ravel, Duparc and Debussy as well as songs from the Levant.

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And so, into November

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ThomasOliemans28-e1534886868523-1024x489Here are a few interesting events happening in the first half of November.  There are competitions.  There are also concerts…

Thursday 8th at 1.30pm in Walter Hall the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto are presenting baritone Thomas Oliemans, and pianist Malcolm Martineau in a programme consisting of Brahms’s Die schöne Magelone and Schumann’s Liederkreis, op. 39.  Tickets etc here.  There’s also a pre concert talk at 12.15pm when Jane Cooper will talk about Bertha Crawford. Continue reading →