Beyond the Aria

Posted on September 30, 2015 by operaramblings

The second show for me yesterday was presented by Soundstreams at Koerner Hall. It was a programme of works written since 1970 and featured Adrianne Pieczonka and Krisztina Szabó with a percussion heavy chamber ensemble conducted by Leslie Dala. I’ve heard Krisztina a lot in contemporary work but it was a rare treat to hear Adrianne do something other than Verdi, Strauss and Wagner. The “opera grind” as she put it in an introductory chat with Lawrence Cherney of Soundstreams. Continue reading →

Array Ensemble in the RBA

Posted on September 30, 2015 by operaramblings

Yesterday was slightly bizarre in that I was at two concerts of contemporary, or at least very modern, music. The first was at lunchtime in The RBA where the Array Ensemble presented two works by female Canadian composers; Linda Catlin Smith’s Hieroglyphs and Barbara Monk Feldman’s Love Shards of Sappho, both for soprano and chamber ensemble. Continue reading →

A couple of education opportunities

Posted on September 28, 2015 by operaramblings

There are some educational events coming up in Toronto in the near future which may be of interest. The first set is focussed on singers, the second on the general public.

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Russia Cast Adrift

Posted on September 28, 2015 by operaramblings

The opening concert of Off Centre Music Salon’s season was a programme of Russian romantic and post romantic works, songs and piano pieces, entitled Russia Cast Adrift. The first half of the afternoon was devoted to the sort of songs that explain why “smert” is one of about six Russian words that I recognize. It kicked off with a Rachmaninoff prelude played with vigour by William Leathers before going into a series of songs by Sviridov, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Glière, Arensky and Mussorgsky. The singing was shared by soprano Nathalie Paulin, mezzo Emilia Boteva, tenor Ernesto Ramirez and baritone Geoffrey Sirett with Boris Zarankin and Inna Perkis at the piano.

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News from MY Opera

Posted on September 27, 2015 by operaramblings

Two announcements from MY Opera at their fundraiser yesterday. First, they have rebranded from Metro Youth Opera to MY Opera. I guess everybody is getting a little older! More exciting, their spring 2016 production will be Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia which is a definite departure into much darker territory for this company and a chance to see a work that isn’t performed too often. Dates and casting TBA.

The fundraiser itself was fun with some fine singing from, among others, Stephanie Tritchew, Lyndsay Promane, Asitha Tennekoon and Kelsey Vicary with Natasha Fransblow on keyboards. There was beer and silly hats and a vast quantity of rather good chicken wings. There was also a raffle and a photo booth thingy. And did I remember to mention the chicken wings.

The week in prospect

Posted on September 27, 2015 by operaramblings

This afternoon at 3pm, at Trinity St. Paul’s, Off Centre kick off their season, Geoff Sirett, Nathalie Paulin and others offer an all Russian programme.

Super Tuesday is a ridiculously busy day. At noon in the RBA Array Music is presenting Love Shards, a program of music by contemporary women composers. The full programme is here. In the evening Adrianne Pieczonka and Kristina Szabó are singing works by Crumb and Berio at Koerner Hall. There’s also a fundraiser for Opera 5 at The Extension Room. I’m sorry to be missing that one as the last couple have been a blast. Definitely worth going to if you are not going to Koerner.

Thursday there is a PWYC show by UoT Opera at The Black Box Theatre at 7.30pm. Tim Albery and David Fallis, creators of last season’s evocative Last Days, have created The Fatal Gaze, an exploration of the dangers of looking too long or too closely, inspired by the Baroque repertoire. Last days was really good so I have high expectations for this one. It’s also on on Friday.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Posted on September 26, 2015 by operaramblings

New kids on the block , The Friends of Gravity, presented their first show last night at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church on Dundas East. It was a silent film themed take on Weill’s Die Sieben Todsünden. Stephanie Conn sang both Anna I and Anna II in front of a film screen showing black and white film clips shot by Scott Gabriel for the show, replacing the ballet of the original. The Family, who pop up mostly to criticize the Annas were sung by Charles Fowler, Christopher Wattam, Bryan Martin and William Lewans. Scott Gabriel conducted his own arrangement of the score for a six piece band including accordion and ukulele.

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Switcheroo

Posted on September 23, 2015 by operaramblings

There’s a date change for the Tapestry workshops of Julie Tepperman and Chris Thornborrow’s Selfie. Dates are now October 8th at 7.30pm and October 9th at 2.30pm.

More season announcements

Posted on September 23, 2015 by operaramblings

A few more season announcements have come in. Off Centre Music Salon have moved to Trinity St. Paul’s. They have announced two concerts. This coming Sunday 27th there’s Russia Cast Adrift featuring mezzo soprano Emilia Boteva, tenor Ernesto Ramirez, baritone Geoffrey Sirett, and soprano Nathalie Paulin singing Sviridov’s song cycle Russia Cast Adrift plus works by Rachmaninoff, Gavrillin and Scriabin. Then on Sunday, November 1st there’s a programme called The Geometry of Love featuring Joni Henson, soprano and Peter McGillivray, baritone with Mark Skazinetsky, violin, Igor Gefter, cello and pianists Inna Perkis and Boris Zarankin performing works by Beethoven, Chopin, Mahler, Strauss and Wagner.

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And so it begins

Posted on September 23, 2015 by operaramblings

Yesterday saw the first free concert of the season in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. It was a chance to see the 2015/16 Ensemble Studio; two new singers, one new pianist and six singers and a pianist from last year. The format was one aria per singer with few surprises. We also got to hear the core quartet casting for the Ensemble Studio performance of Le Nozze di Figaro later in the season. No surprises there either; Il Conte – Gordon Bintner, Iain MacNeil – Figaro, La Contessa – Aviva Fortunata, Susanna – Karine Boucher. That leaves four tenors for the other roles…

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