Night of the living mezzos

As previously revealed the line up for last night’s Centre Stage; the COC’s gala competition cum Ensemble Studio final audition featured four mezzos, two sopranos and two baritones.  Not a tenor to be had.  As was the case two years ago the competition was split into two parts; a late afternoon session for an invited audience and an early evening public session separated by a cocktail reception.  Each singer presented one aria in each session.  Accompaniment was provided by the COC Orchestra with music director Johannes Debus.

The Lieutenant Governor with the contestants

The Lieutenant Governor with the contestants

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First week of November

1.sevenA few notable events this coming fall week.  Tuesday sees the COC’s annual gala competition for young singers, Centre Stage.  Prizes and possible places in the Ensemble Studio for next year are up for grabs.  The public part of the event starts at 5.30pm at The Four Seasons Centre with a cocktail reception followed by the final round of the competition.  Unusually this competition feature the full COC orchestra, not just piano.

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A quick look at the COC’s 2014/15 financials

jane_1415accountsI haven’t really done a full analysis of the COC’s recently released financials but what I have done suggests cause for cautious optimism.  As anyone who reads this blog knows I have, for the last three years or so, pointed up the rather stark reality underlying the company’s relentlessly optimistic propaganda.  To whit, a steady decline in seats sold, revenue and realisation (actual revenue dollars per seat sold).  This year doesn’t look so bad.

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Pyramus and Thisbe – Beyond time and space

Back last night for a second look at Pyramus and Thisbe at the COC.  I’ve been involved in a huge amount of discussion, mostly with Katja, about this show since we saw it on Tuesday and there were many things about the Monk Feldman piece and its staging that I wanted to think about again.  Lots of thoughts and, perhaps, a slightly different perspective since I was watching from two levels higher in the house this time.

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Pyramus and Thisbe – a world premiere

The new COC creation Pyramus and Thisbe with music by Monteverdi and Barbara Monk Feldman opened last night at the Four Seasons Centre.  I was expecting abstract and cerebral, which it is, but I was rather expecting that I might admire it more than enjoy it.  As it turned out it was a remarkably satisfying show on many levels.

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Coming up

pandtThere are a couple of opera openings next week.  Pyramus and Thisbe; the Barbara Monk Feldman, Monteverdi, Chris Alden creation, opens at the COC on Tuesday 20th for a run of seven shows and Opera Atelier are opening a run of six shows of Lully’s Armide at the Elgin starting on Thursday evening.  Both shows are very much a case of Canadian talent on display with no big international names.  La Traviata continues at the COC in tandem with Pyramus and Thisbe.

darknetThere’s one interesting new announcement for the following week.  Amanda Smith and Alaina Viau are collaborating on a show called Toronto Darknet Market.  It’s inspired by those parts of the internet that even I don’t know about and will run as a sequence of three performances on the 29th starting at 8pm.  It’s at 8-11 which is at 233 Spadina (south of Dundas).  It’s a PWYC fundraiser for a chamber production of Médée by Marc-Antoine Charpentier next year.  Toronto needs more staged baroque opera that’s not Opera Atelier so this initiative deserves support.  There will be good young singers on display with music by Purcell, Berg and Cage among others.

Line up for Centre Stage announced

centrestageSo we now know who will be singing at Centre Stage, the COC’s gala competition for aspiring young singers with both cash prizes and places in the Ensemble Studio up for grabs.  There are, I think, only two that I’m at all familiar with; soprano Eliza Johnson who was a finalist last year and baritone Zachary Read who was a rather good Sid in UoT Opera’s Albert Herring a couple of years ago.  The other six are mezzo-sopranos Emily D’Angelo, Lauren Eberwein, Marjorie Maltais and Pascale Spinney, soprano Samantha Pickett and baritone Bruno Roy.  Wow! Four mezzos so the mezzo mafia will likely be ecstatic.  No tenors but with four already in the Ensemble Studio that’s probably a good thing.  Centre Stage is on November 3rd at 5.30pm at the Four Seasons Centre with a cocktails (well wine mostly) and rather good snacks before the competition itself.  Tickets are $100 from the COC box office or coc.ca.

Suirina, Castronovo and Kelsey rock Traviata

There’s a lot to like in the COC’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata that opened at The Four Seasons Centre last night.  Arin Arbus’ production; a co-production with Chicago Lyric Opera and Houston Grand Opera avoids the cloying sentimentality of many productions of this piece and, without being in any way gratuitous, deals very directly with the world Verdi wanted us to see; a world of hypocrisy, sex for sale and early, pointless death.

0097 – (in foreground) Roberto Gleadow as Dr. Grenvil and Ekaterina Siurina as Violetta in the COC’s production of La Traviata, 2015. Conductor Marco Guidarini, director Arin Arbus, set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer Cait O’Connor, and lighting designer Marcus Doshi. Photo: Michael Cooper Michael Cooper Photographic Office- 416-466-4474 Mobile- 416-938-7558 66 Coleridge Ave. Toronto, ON M4C 4H5

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Next week

DSC_6619-704x1024There are a couple of biggies coming up next week.  On October 7th and 8th the amazingly talented and apparently fearless Barbara Hannigan is singing with and conducting the TSO.  For all I know she’ll be tap dancing and doing hand stands as well.  It’s her conducting debut with this orchestra. The programme features works by Nono, Haydn, Mozart, Ligeti and Stravinsky.  8pm Roy Thomson Hall.

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