From the Westben press release… oops
Just for fun 9/n
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Season announcements
Toronto Operetta Theatre has announced its 2014-15 season line up and both Stratford Summer Music and the Westben Festival have announced their programmes.
Toronto Operetta Theatre
The 2014/15 season features three productions. The season opens with Federico Chueca’s zarzuela La Gran Via on November 2nd. The Christmas season (December 27th to January 4th) will see six performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. (And I hope Rob Ford is on “the list” though hopefully by then he’ll be well on the way to being forgotten) Finally, and perhaps most interesting, the season closes with Victor Davies’ 2008 piece Earnest, the Importance of Being which is probably the only Canadian work that can properly be called an operetta. There’s no further information at this time but doubtless it will eventually make its way to http://www.torontooperetta.com/. Continue reading
The Cousin from Nowhere
The Cousin from Nowhere is a German operetta by Eduard Künneke that premiered in Berlin in 1921. Last night it received its Canadian premier, in English translation, at Toronto Operetta Theatre. It’s a light, charming romcom with few pretensions but much to enjoy. The plot is simple in outline though convoluted in almost Gilbertian way. Julia is an heiress under the guardianship of her aunt and uncle and about to come of age and, thus, come into the fortune that hitherto the older couple have been able to enjoy. She is in love (or thinks she is) with her third cousin twice removed Roderich, who left to make his fortune in the East Indies seven years ago. Aunt and uncle scheme to marry her to their nephew August. Various more or less improbable plot twists involve August impersonating Roderich and successfully winning the heart of Julia while Roderich returns and falls instantly in love with Hanna, Julia’s bestie. It all ends happily. The music is not unlike Viennese operetta with some nods to jazz and popular post war dance music but if you are expecting pre echoes of Berg or Weill you are going to be disappointed. It’s quite conventional but essentially well crafted light entertainment.
Sondra Radvanovsky at the Zoomerplex
So, Sondra made a live broadcast for 96.3 FM at lunchtime today. It was one of those media things where the audience was aggressively stage managed by the floor staff but otherwise quite enjoyable. Also there was lunch which was a definite plus. What was a bit annoying was the overall vibe of “fitting opera into the programming for old folks”. Way to build a new audience there!
The performance was varied and interesting with Sondra on good form and the ever reliable Rachel Andrist on piano. There was no printed progrmme or lyric sheets so I’m going from my hastily scribbled notes but we got some Rachmaninov songs, which suited Sondra really well plus arias from Trovatore, Norma, Tosca and Andrea Chenier plus a Verdi song, Copland’s Simple Gifts and I could have danced all night. Nothing if not varied! It’s interesting how dropping from big opera rep to something like the Copland can be astonishingly effective. Simplicity and lack of artifice has it’s charms. And, yes, I want to hear her Norma and, if rumour is half way correct, probably will in the not too distant future.
Opera Atelier does it again
I had planned on giving Opera Atelier’s production of Lully’s Persée a miss but early reviews were positive and, more importantly for me, suggested there was something new and a bit different about the piece this time around. This production has been around since 2000 and was recorded for DVD four years later so I knew pretty much what to expect and to be honest that’s what we got last night. If there were changes, they were very minor. If anything it’s got even camper and I do wonder whether OA is in danger of becoming a sort of parody of itself. And it’s still three hours of OA doing Lully and if that’s your thing you will not be disappointed. If you are expecting anything else you won’t get it.
Toronto opera news – lose one, win one
Opera 5’s planned Offenbach and Hahn show this week has been postponed to the fall owing to construction delays at the Alliance Française (probably caused by striking air traffic controllers). By way of consolation there’s a pop up party on Saturday at 8pm, also at the Alliance Française (24 Spadina Road). Tickets are $15 on the door. It should be fun as these guys know how to party. Unfortunately I am otherwise engaged which may not be a bad thing. Last time I was at the Alliance Française the Americans started bombing Baghdad.
In a curiously symmetrical move, Tapestry have announced dates for the long delayed Toronto run of Shelter by Julie Salverson and Juliet Palmer. Described as “a darkly comic chamber opera which maps the journey of a family struggling to be ordinary in the atomic age.” The cast includes Christine Duncan, Teiya Kasahara, Keith Klassen, Andrea Ludwig and Peter McGillivray. Leslie Dala conducts and Keith Turnbull directs. It will play from June 12th to 15th at the Berkeley Street Theatre. Ticket prices range from $55-$75 + HST and can be purchased in person at the Canadian Stage Box Office at 26 Berkeley Street, by calling 416.368.3110 or online at CanadianStage. For more information visit TapestryOpera.
Inspired by Love
Once in a while it’s fun to go to something almost entirely undemanding (for the audience at least!). So, yesterday afternoon I attended a concert of classical “lollipops” given by the TSO under the baton of young Portugese conductor Joana Carneiro. The chief attraction for me was that recent Ensemble Studio graduates Simone Osborne and Wallis Giunta were also performing. Things got going with the overture from Il Nozze di Figaro. It was a brisk and stylish performance with Ms. Carneiros displaying a very physical conducting style.
Audiences
Maybe this should be titled “The bear and lemur freak show”. Anyway, no surprise to anyone who knows us or reads this blog, the classic 19th century Italian rep is not our sweet spot. Give us Handel or Berg or Britten over Rossini or Verdi (let alone Donizetti) most days. (We’ll make an exception for Don Carlos!). So, last night as the Four Seasons Centre erupted in frenzied applause I couldn’t really share the wild enthusiasm, fine as the performance was, but what startled me was when I heard a smug, female voice to my left say “Well that makes up for Hercules”. I restrained an urge to remonstrate violently (I’ve been taking lessons from Peter Sellars) but I did leave the theatre puzzled and a bit upset; a feeling shared by the lemur and subject of much conversation on the subway home.
Shakespeare vs. Donizetti
Stephen Lawless’ production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux opened last night at the Four Seasons Centre. It’s the last of the so called “Tudor Trilogy” and deals, ostensibly, with the last days of the reign of Elizabeth I. Events are loosely based on history. In this case the queen’s relationship with Robert Devereux, earl of Essex; his failure in Ireland, fall from grace, rebellion and execution for treason(1). Here the drama is turned into a simple story of royal jealousy featuring two fictional characters; The duke of Nottingham, Devereux’ bestie, and his wife Sara, confidante of the queen and in love with Devereux. It’s probably best seen as a logical continuation of the anti Tudor theme of the previous operas. There’s a bombastic, lustful monarch more concerned with his/her love life than affairs of state and there’s a scheming arch-Protestant minister responsible for the death of someone who doesn’t deserve for it for reasons of state (here the younger Cecil). The trouble here is that there is no obvious martyr. However one looks at it Devereux, brings about his own downfall.
Farewell Ben
Famed Canadian tenor Ben Heppner has announced his retirement from singing. It’s entirely understandable as he has been struggling with vocal problems for some considerable time. On form, he was magnificent and I was privileged to hear his Tristan when he returned to COC after a long absence in 2013. Unfortunately a run of Peter Grimes later in the year showed the other side of the coin with a cancellation and some pretty rough moments. Ben is a gentleman and a professional and I think he’s doing the right thing by the opera world, for which he’s been such a distinguished servant for so long. He’s already got a radio gig hosting CBC Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and I’m sure other interesting opportunities will open up. On to pastures new…
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