MetHD line up for 2014/15

Posted on February 13, 2014 by operaramblings

The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2014/15 season both in-house and the HD broadcasts. The HD line up seems to continue this season’s approach of mainstream works with big name casts. That said, John Adams’ Death of Klinghoffer and the double bill of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bartok’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle in a production by Polish director both get a cinecast. Three of the ten productions have previously been seen in the HD series and a fourth is available on DVD. All five new productions this season get a broadcast which is to be welcomed.

Here’s the full line up with comments.

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That passionate monosyllable

Posted on February 11, 2014 by operaramblings

Young American tenor Paul Appleby has been delighting audiences in the current COC production of Così fan tutte where he sings Ferrando. Today he got to show us what he could do as a lieder singer in a lunchtime concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. He started off with a stylish, if occasionally tentative, set of five Schubert songs. It was a promising start with some very stylish and controlled singing and unhistrionic acting with the voice. Hitting his stride, he gave us seven songs from Schumann’s Myrten cycle. These covered a wide range of moods from tender passion to drunken ecstasy. Again great skill and artistry and lovely accompaniment from Anne Larlee at the piano.

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Intense, if a bit weird, Onegin

Posted on February 9, 2014 by operaramblings

Mariusz Treliński’s Eugene Onegin originated in Warsaw but was filmed in Valencia. It’s distinctly on the Regietheater end of the spectrum but it’s intense and oddly compelling. The sets are spare and almost abstract. A silent character, O***, is interpolated. He’s a sort of Commendatore’s ghost who comments on the action and interacts with characters at key moments; with Tatiana during the letter scene and with Lensky before the duel for example. A lot of action takes place in front of the pit, usually simultaneously with action further back on stage making for quite complex (and hard to film) visuals.

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So do they all

Posted on February 8, 2014 by operaramblings

Once a year the COC Ensemble Studio get to show their talents on the big stage with a fully staged performance of a current production. This year’s choice of Atom Egoyan’s production of Così fan tutte was a good one. It showcased the talents of the singers really well and by using a different quartet of lovers in each act they were able to provide substantive roles for all the singers of the ensemble. I won’t dwell on the production as I have already reviewed it. The only changes I noted were a few change ups on the visual gags and that the “Albanians” kept their disguises on for quite a lot longer than with the main cast. So, how about the performances?

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Kennedy era Un ballo in maschera works on many levels

Posted on February 6, 2014 by operaramblings

The Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera is based on an intriguing concept that adds insight in many places but comes a bit unstuck in others. Coupled to some superb performances, it makes for an enjoyable and intriguing night at the theatre that will have the more adventurous busily and happily dissecting the piece for hours and the die hards reaching for their Zeffirelli pills.

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Lunchtime with Tracy Dahl

Posted on February 4, 2014 by operaramblings

I’ve attended many very good concerts in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre but I’m not sure I’ve ever attended one as intense as Tracy Dahl and Liz Upchurch’s Songs from the Heart recital today. Tracy really is a rather extraordinary artist. She is the antithesis of the lieder singer who stands demurely by the piano and Schuberts mellifluously. She throws every fibre of her being into the performance. It’s not campily histrionic but voice, facial expression and gesture are all used to the full whether she’s hiccupping a drunken Harlequin or sibilantly suggesting a slithery singing snake.

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Not the Met Live in HD

Posted on February 3, 2014 by operaramblings

Finally a cinema in Toronto is screening opera in cinema broadcasts that are not from the Met. Bloor Hot Docs (Bloor and Bathurst) is showing a number of Royal Opera House offerings. They aren’t live and the line up makes even the Met seem adventurous but the theatre is said to have good sound, comfy seats and encourages food and drink. Here’s the screening schedule so far:

SAT	Feb 15, 2014	1:30 PM	ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – DON GIOVANNI
SAT	March 15, 2014	1:30 PM	ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – TURANDOT
SAT	April 19, 2014	12:30 PM	ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – PARSIFAL
SAT	May 17, 2014	1:00 PM	ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – LES VEPRES SICILIENNES
SAT	June 14, 2014	1:00 PM	ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – LA BOHEME
SAT	July 12, 2014	1:00 PM	ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – MANON LESCAUT

Hat tip to Lydia at Definitely the Opera for the spot.

Hippolyte et Aricie

Posted on February 3, 2014 by operaramblings

While the rest of Toronto was preparing for that odd ornithological event the Superb Owl, or possibly attending the opening of the COC’s Un ballo in maschera, I went to see a semi-staged version of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie at Voicebox: Opera in Concert. Perhaps surprisingly it was very well attended with a particularly strong showing from the bloggerati. You will have to wait for the next Opera Canada to read my review but Leslie Barcza’s may be found here.

Beggars in York

Posted on February 1, 2014 by operaramblings

I managed to catch the end of the run of York University’s production of The Beggars Opera this afternoon. It’s a hugely ambitious concept with a couple of hundred people involved. The basic concept is that John Gay’s piece is being performed by inmates in a prison as part of their rehabilitation. Layered onto this is an obnoxious talk show host who is commenting on the proceedings from a sort of gutter conservative perspective. Add to this interpolations based on Lady Gaga, blues harmonica, ukulele and even a bit of Britten. Fights break out between the cast and have to be dealt with by the prison warden and staff. Equally, they intervene in over enthusiastic sexual encounters. It’s brave but it rather tends to overwhelm the piece at the centre. Continue reading →

A bit of a rant about “modern” music

Posted on February 1, 2014 by operaramblings

It’s received wisdom in the opera (and, more generally, classical music) world that “modern” works are a hard sell. “Modern” appears to mean anything post Puccini plus anything from the early 20th century that’s perceived as “difficult”, like Bartok or Janacek. This is reflected in programming. In the last five years COC has programmed precisely one work written this century and in the last two seasons the most recent works were written in 1957 and 1945. Next year is even worse with nothing written after 1914. It’s no wonder people say the opera house is becoming a museum.

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