It’s still mostly festival season with two events coming up in Toronto.
There’s Summer Opera Lyric Theatre It runs July 26th to August 4th and features three operas in piano score with young artist singers. The operas are Puccini’s La Bohème, Handel’s Serse and Mozart’s Idomeneo and the venue is the Alumnae Theatre on Berkeley Street. Full details, tickets etc. Continue reading
Wednesday evening’s Shuffle Hour concert at Toronto Summer Music was given by mezzo Alex Hetherington and pianist Vlad Soloviev in Heliconian Hall and carried the curious moniker The Tortured Poets Department. It kicked off with the letter aria from Massenet’s Werther and let’s face it if anyone deserves torturing it’s some combination of Werther himself and Goethe for inventing him (and possibly Massenet for prolonging the life of a character who might otherwise have fallen into obscurity). Whatever, Alex gave a fine, impassioned reading of the aria which set the stage well for what was to follow. Continue reading
This year’s art song mentors for Toronto Summer Music; Dame Sarah Connolly and Joseph Middleton, gave the traditional recital in Walter Hall on Tuesday evening. Those who braved flooded streets and spotty TTC service enjoyed a treat. It was a carefully curated and beautifully performed collection of songs.
Monday night in Walter Hall Toronto Summer Music continued with a concert by the new Orford Quartet (Jonathan Crow and Andrew Wan – violins, Sharon Wei – viola, Brian Manker – cello). I was there primarily to hear the première of Ian Cusson’s Dreams which was bookended on the programme by “Death and the Maiden” themed quartets in D minor by Mozart and Schubert.
The string sextet is an unusual combination of instruments and there aren’t that many works for it. But one, Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4, has almost cult status and is performed fairly often. It does though need a companion to make up a concert programme. On Friday night at Toronto Summer Music in Walter Hall the chosen accompanying piece was Brahms’ Sextet No.2 in G Major, Op. 36.
William Christie and Les Arts Florissants kicked off Toronto Summer Music on Thursday evening at Koerner Hall with a version of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen which is currently on a sort of world tour. This production, conceived by Christie and Paul Agnew is quite radical. Let’s look at what they have done.
Serial killers are truly awful people. They write some of the most excruciating prose, poetry and plays you will ever experience. They deserve no mercy. They also kill people. In Cabaret of Murder; currently touring Canada with a stop at the Toronto Fringe, we are introduced to the lives and works of some of the most evil and excruciating.
Monks is a two woman clown show. It’s that one day, every five years, when the abbot isn’t around and the brothers can take a day off from praying and counting lentils. Unfortunately they have lost their donkey which is a perfect excuse for every possible permutation of ass jokes.
It’s hugely physical and highly interactive with water sprayers, lentils (yes more lentils), musical instruments and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, not to mention writhing on the floor and hiding in lentil barrels. If you don’t want to engage in the antics sit right at the back and, above all, do not come late. The full wrath of the Catholic Church awaits the Satanic evil of the tardy. Continue reading
Koli Kari by Ganesh Thava opened at the fringe on Saturday evening. It’s presented by Pink Banana Theatre and directed by Sungwon Cho. It’s built around Ravi’s (Thava) attempt to use his mother’s secret Koli Kari (chicken curry) recipe to revitalise his flagging TV cooking show. The broadcast is invaded by figures from Ravi’s past; girlfriends (more or less), his present (his mother) and a mysterious magical chicken. At times it’s quite weird and disturbing but too much of the time it turns on the obvious cringeworthy humour in the interaction between a young gay Indian man (from Scarborough natch) and his immigrant mother who is disappointed he hasn’t become a lawyer or a doctor, married a nice Indian girl and produced grandchildren.
I saw Stiff and Sons by Aidan Gouveia for Bare Theatre Collective directed by Daniel Reale at the Al Green Theatre on Saturday evening. I haven’t laughed so much for all the wrong reasons since I saw Death of Stalin. The background is a failing family owned funeral parlour. Darren Stiff is having an affair with his brother David’s wife Pam; an aspiring Hollywood actress. There is much shagging; mostly in coffins.
