Tag Archives: amelard

Belladonna

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belladonnaFAWN Chamber Creative presented a new piece last night at Kensington Hall.  It was called Belladonna and was billed as a “queer, techno opera” to a libretto by Gareth Mattey who apparently specialises in this genre.  “”Queer, techno pastoral” might have been nearer the mark.  Basically, sheep tending person of uncertain gender/orientation meets another such.  A supernatural being of some sort intervenes.  There are hallucinogenic berries (“tripping hither, tripping thither?”).  “Exploration” ensues.  I was unclear on whether or not it had a happy ending.  I’m not sure it matters.

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Golden Age of Opera

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Such was the title of yesterday’s performance by the UoT Opera ‘s performance in the RBA.  Now personally I don’t subscribe to the notion of the 19th century (ugh!) as a “golden age” of anything but yesterday suggested that the UoT program, if not quite in golden age territory is going through a bit of a purple patch.  This was, I think, the best student performance overall that I have heard in the last two or three years.

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Porgi amor

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UoT’s show Porgi amor consisted of a series of staged and costumed scenes from Mozart operas with linking commentary, all designed by Michael Patrick Albano.  The operas ranged from La finta giardiniera to La clemenza di Tito with all the major bases in between covered off.  The emphasis was on ensemble numbers and providing opportunities for as many singers as possible so there was a cast of thousands.  It was well structured, quite slick and there was some very decent singing.  One expects a reasonably high standard from UoT Opera and we got it.  As I usually do with this kind of show I’ll refrain from a play-by-play and just talk about a few highlights and do some “talent spotting”.

porgiamor

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UoT’s Imeneo

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Imeneo is one of Handel’s less well known operas; perhaps deservedly so.  The plot and the libretto are weak and the music pretty variable.  Charles Jennens, the librettist for Messiah, descibed it as “the worst of all Handel’s compositions”.  It does have the merit of being short.  Most recent recordings come in around two hours and this UoT Opera production, rearranged and cut by Tim Albery, comes in at 100 minutes spread over two acts.

ship

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UoT Opera season opener

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As has become the norm, UoT Opera opened their concert season with a free “preview” of their spring show in the RBA at noon today.  It was a series of Mozart scenes which were given semi-staged today but will, in the fullness of time, form a staged and costumed performance.  It’s always an interesting event because it’s so early in the academic year.  It’s the first chance to try and talent spot and see how things develop over the rest of the cycle.  As such, it’s often a bit rough but today really wasn’t.  It was a surprisingly high quality across the board effort which augurs well.  That said, it was all ensembles and nobody was asked to pull out vocal fireworks so maybe not the sternest test imaginable which makes star picking that bit trickier.

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