Here’s a few things to look forward to next month. Weirdly everything I know about so far is in the first half of the month so I’ll maybe do a supplemental for the back half in a couple of weeks time. Continue reading
Wednesday night I attended the second performance of the current run of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the COC. This is a revival of the Christopher Alden production first seen in 2011 (first cast, second cast) and again in 2018. So the basic concept is the same. All the action is played out, quite publicly, in the “gaming room” of a Victorian gentlemen’s club. I think the production has grown on me over time. I felt the tweaks in 2018 were improvements and I suspect some more tweaks this time. Certainly from where i was sitting in the Orchestra the set seemed bigger than I remember. It’s huge and very painterly. It also has great acoustics.
On Wednesday I sat down with Daniela Candillari at the COC’s office for a chat about her approach to opera, conducting and so on. Daniela is in Toronto to conduct the upcoming revival of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the COC. It’s her first Barber and something of a change of pace for someone who has conducted mainly contemporary opera including world premieres at Opera Philadelphia (for example, Jeanine Tessori’s Grounded and Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse) and Opera Theatre of St. Louis where she is Music Director (Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House, among others). Continue reading
It’s about the time of year when one starts to think about what might be in the next season at the COC. The last couple of years the announcement has just been an email drop and there’s really no way of telling when it will happen. In about a month’s time is likely so if I’m going to make some predictions now is a pretty good time.
Once upon a time there were some pretty good indicators of what the next COC season might look like. Rumours aside, one could look at:
The trouble is none of this seems to be relevant anymore. Co-pros and commissions disappear without trace and the regularity patterns seem no longer to apply. The only real certainty is that three or four shows will be revivals. All of which makes trying to make predictions a bit daft… which makes me ideally suited to do it. So here goes… Continue reading
Here’s some of what January has to offer…
Toronto Operetta Theatre is doing Imre Kalman’s The Czardas Princess over the New Year holiday. It’s st the Jane Mallett Theatre and there are shows on December 30th and January 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
There’s a lot to like in the COC’s revival of Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice that opened at the Four Seasons Centre on Thursday evening. I don’t think Gluck gets much better. Full review at bachtrack.com.
Photo: Michael Cooper
Amy Lane’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the COC is eye catching and enjoyable but doesn’t offer the same level of insight as her Faust last season. My full review is posted at bachtrack,com.
Photo: Michael Cooper
Life slowly returns to some version of normal.. Here’s what I’m seeing so far for Sptember.
On Friday night the COC presented a one-off concert style performance of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Concert style, in this case, meaning the orchestra on stage with the chorus behind them and the soloists singing from music stands at the front of the stage. There were some projections behind the stage.
On Wednesday evening I went back to the Four Seasons Centre for another look at the COC’s production of Berg’s Wozzeck. I was really impressed with the show on opening night (my review on bachtrack.com) and was interested to see whether a second look would give some insights into a production that is visually fascinating almost to the point of overload.
Michael Kupfer-Radecky as Wozzeck and Anthony Robin Schneider as the Doctor
operaramblings 