Tag Archives: coc

June – festivals and more

Posted on by
Reply

Here are some shows to take in in June:

Opera, music etc

  • Opera 5’s Toronto Opera Festival at Theatre Passe Muraille. The double bill of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi runs June 3rd to 7th with casts including Rachel Krehm, Krisztina Szabó and Greg Dahl. June 12th to 14th is the world premiere of Cecilia Livingston and Duncan McFarlane’s Parélios.
  • June 11th to 14th the TSO is performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Roy Thomson Hall. Soloists are Golda Schultz, Ema Nikolovska, Saimir Pirgu and Jongmin Park. Gustavo Gimeno conducts. The Friday performance will be livestreamed to Sankofa Square with a singalong option for the Ode to Joy.
  • June 16th to 21st, COC, Tapestry Opera and Luminato are presenting Rene Orth’s Ten Days in a Madhouse at the Bluma Appel Theatre.
  • June 22nd is Against the Grain’s Opera Pub (Pride edition) at the Tranzac.
  • June 27th and 28th Toronto City Opera presents a fully staged version of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld with orchestra. It’s at Trinity St. Paul’s.
Continue reading →

Werther at the COC

Posted on by
Reply

The COC’s production of Massenet’s Werther opened at the Four Seasons Centre on Thursday evening. My full review is published at Bachtrack.

TL/DR version… there’s some excellent music making but the production doesn’t really elevate a rather dull, sentimental opera.

Victoria Karkacheva as Charlotte and Russell Thomas as Werther. Photo: Michael Cooper

@bachtrack

COC’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung double bill still impresses after 30 years

Posted on by
Reply

My review of the COC’s excellent revival production of the Robert Lepage double bill of Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Schoenberg’s Erwartung is now published at Bachtrack.

Christian Van Horn and Karen Cargill in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle – Photo: Michael Cooper

@bachtrack

Coming up in May 2026

Posted on by
Reply

Coming up… music etc

  • May 2nd.  The Artists’ Studio of the Canadian Children’s Opera Company are presenting Judith Weir’s The Black Spider.  It’a very rare chance to see a Judith Weir opera in Toronto.
  • There are two free shows on the 4th.  At noon Opera 5’s interns are performing in the RBA and in the evening it’s AtG’s Opera Pub at the Tranzac.
  • On the 5th there’s a sneak preview of Toronto Summer Music in the RBA at noon.
  • On the 6th Jane Archibald has a recital at Koerner Hall.

Continue reading →

Coming up in February

Posted on by
Reply

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 →

Stellar singing in Rigoletto revival

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Continue reading →

Chatting with Daniela Candillari

Posted on by
Reply

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 →