My review of the COC’s season opener; Verdi’s Nabucco, is now up at @bachtrack
Photo credit: Michael Cooper
Great singing, dull production
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13 Plays About ADHD… All At The Same Time
13 Plays About ADHD… All At The Same Time by Alec Toller (mostly) is a show that is currently running at the tiny Assembly Theatre in the heart of Little Tibet so if you get bored there are momos a’plenty to be had. Unsurprisingly the show is about ADHD. Hosts Sharjil Rasool and Danny Pagett (who predictably arrives late) attempt to take us through a seminar about ADHD, how to diagnose yourself how to recover from it (if you have it).
Sing to Me Again
Apocryphonia has been around for three years or so but Sunday evening at Heliconian Hall was the first time I managed to catch one of their concerts. I like that they don’t do mainstream repertory, rather seeking out much less well known works, and Sunday was no exception. It was actually a collaboration with Syrinx Concerts and the show was in two parts. The first part featured baritone John Holland and tenor Alexander Cappellazzo with pianist Ivan Estey Jovanovic performing 20th century songs mostly from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus while the second featured works from the same area arranged for oboe (Caitlin Broms-Jacob) and piano (Madeline Hildebrand). I say “mostly” because each half included a piece by Toronto’s Srul Irving Glick.
Reminiscencia
Reminiscencia is a performance piece created during lockdown by Chilean playwright Malicho Vaca Valenzuela. Valanzuela is the sole live performer and from his desk on stage he taskes us through series of scenes and themes using AV material on his laptop projected onto a giant screen. It’s ultimately about memory. How we create a footprint in history and how that does and doesn’t endure. His examples are all taken from his home town of Santiago de Chile.
A Fidelio in two halves
I have long been of the opinion that Beethoven’s Fidelio is structurally flawed. The first and second acts are so different intone and dramatic intensity that it never seems quite to hang together. Tobias Kratzer obviously shares this view but being smarter than me finds a way to leverage it. For his production at the Royal Opera House in 2020 he takes the two acts and effectively makes the second a commentary on the first. It’s worth quoting his own words:
Like no other opera, Beethoven’s Fidelio falls into two unequal halves. Act I is a historical melodrama on freedom and love in the post-Revolutionary era. Act II is a political essay on the responsibility of the individual in the face of the silent majority, a musical plea for active empathy.
Rebanks fellows in the RBA
Luxury! Two operatic concerts on consecutive lunchtimes in the RBA. On Thursday it was the turn of the Glenn Gould School’s Rebanks fellows with mentor Paul Groves to present a series of staged opera excerpts directed by Anna Theodosakis. Stéphane Mayer provided the excellent piano accompaniment throughout.
Ajdad – Ancestors
Ajdad – Ancestors (Echoes of Persia) is a new CD from the Amir Amiri Ensemble. I had a chance to hear them play at Alliance Française on Friday night as well as listening to the CD which provided some extra perspective. It’s always interesting to watch musicians. Most of the music on the CD is composed by Amir Amiri with a couple of arrangements of other composers’ work. Amiri’s roots are in the classical Persian tradition but he goes well beyond that with quite strong Arabic influence as well as Turkish, Kurdish and Western classical elements. In a sense it’s a nod to what was once a more integrated musical culture that to some extent has been fractured by the political divisions of the last 100 years or so. Continue reading
October 2024
Opera’s back with the start of a new COC season and more. Here’s a look at what I think looks interesting in October.
First up there are two theatre festivals with multiple shows. Aluna Theatre’s RUTAS International Performing Arts Festival runs from September 26th to October 9th (various venues). There’s a distinct Latinx twist to this one. Then from the 16th to the 27th at Buddies in Bad Times there’s the Next Stage Theatre Festival run by the same folks as the Fringe. Both are pretty varied with something for pretty much everyone.
The Ensemble Studio kicks off a new season
Wednesday lunchtime saw the members of the COC’s Ensemble Studio kick of the free concert series season in the RBA. It was good. Pianists Brian Cho and Mattia Senesi started off in fine style with a four hands version of the overture to The Barber of Seville and then it was on to the singing.
Mukashi, Mukashi
Mukashi, Mukashi; Once Upon a Time, currently playing at the Theatre Centre, is a collaboration between two companies; Toronto’s CORPUS and Osaka’s KIO. It explores two characters who feature prominently in the folklore of Europe and Japan; the wolf and the crane. This is done via a playful exploration of two well known folk tales; Little Red Riding Hood and the story of the Crane-Woman who weaves miraculous cloth.
