Tag Archives: coc

COC Orchestra Academy

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1011debus1I recently posted about additions to the COC’s Ensemble Studio and briefly alluded to the company’s new programme for young orchestral musicians.  Three student musicians will be mentored by members of the orchestra and will attend orchestra rehearsals of the company’s spring season productions.  The new Orchestra Academy project will be led by Music Director Johannes Debus.

Two of the students are currently studying at the Glenn Gould School.  Cellist Ashton Lim will be mentored by COC assistant principal cellist Paul Widnerand oboist Alessandro Rauli will be mentored by COC principal oboist Mark Rogers and COC oboist Lesley Young. The third student is from the UofT’s Faculty of Music; violinist Rebecca MacLeod will be mentored by COC violinist Dominique Laplante.

It sounds like a great opportunity to introduce young orchestral musicians to the world of opera and one hopes it will be repeated for future rehearsal cycles.

Another look at Così

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I was back at the Four Seasons Centre last night for another look at the COC’s new production of Così fan tutte.  Broadly speaking, I stand by what I wrote about Saturday’s opening performance.  There were a few things I noticed or paid more attention to this time though.

  • The girls in on the plot? – There’s a lot of silent business between Don Alfonso and the girls right at the beginning.  Is he giving them rings?  Is it a token that it will be all right on the night?  The girls may know about the bet but do they know the details?  Does it get a bit out of control and the emotions unleashed become genuine?  All, I think, valid questions and none clearly resolved.
  • The chemistry between the girls is extraordinary.  They really do feed off each other and are totally credible as teenage sisters.  This has to be seen to be fully grasped.
  • Robert Gleadow is a very interesting combination of sexy and dangerous.  He showed his abilities as Publio last year; making of the role more than I would have thought possible.  Here, Guglielmo comes off as a just about in control sociopath.  I really want to see this guy sing Don Giovanni.
  • The house was full on a truly filthy Toronto winter evening.  People were enjoying themselves.  There was laughter.  Sure, I heard the occasional snooty remark about Egoyan’s OTTness but overall I think it showed that there is a market for smart, sexy opera that doesn’t assume that the audience is firmly stuck in the 1950s.  Canada’s regional companies might take note.
  • That said, two of the three performances that aren’t padded by season subscribers have lots of tickets available.  The “new” COC season model relies heavily on single ticket sales so it will be interesting to see whether that inventory moves.

1551 - Cosi - Fiordiligi - credit Michael CooperPhoto credit: Michael Cooper

A School for Lovers

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Atom Egoyan’s new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte opened at the Four Seasons Centre last night.  It’s a visually appealing production with an interesting concept and some glorious singing and acting.  One may question aspects of the concept but nowhere does it do serious violence to da Ponte’s libretto and the end result, coupled with some outstanding performances makes for a most enjoyable evening.

0884 - Guglielmo_Ferrando_Dorabella_Fiordiligi - credit Michael Cooper

Photo credit Michael Cooper

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Pricing strategies

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Pretty much unremarked in the general houha of the COC’s season announcement is a rather interesting change in pricing strategy.  Clearly something had to be done as the switch to a six performance season has consequences.  The COC appears to have something over 7000 season subscribers and a further, say, 3500 select subscribers who buy tickets for five performances.  The five performance package isn’t offered for 2014/15 so let’s assume that group split 50/50 into six and four package buyers for no net effect on ticket sales.  The switch then means a loss of 7000+ ticket sales.  The number of performances has only been reduced by 1 so that means the company has 5000 or so more tickets to sell to single ticket buyers or net new subscribers than last year.  That is, of course, on top of last year’s unsold capacity of around 12,000 seats.  For reference last year’s single seat sales were just shy of 40,000.  So, unless subscription sales rise, single ticket sales per show have to rise from 6,500 to 7,500 (more or less) just to stand still.  That’s actually a pretty tough ask.

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Young artists

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The prizewinnersThe Canadian Opera Company has announced the addition of three singers and a pianist to the Ensemble Studio for next season.  The singers, unsurprisingly, are the three prize winners from November’s Centre Stage; Soprano Karine Boucher, tenor Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure and bass-baritone Iain MacNeil,  The pianist is Jennifer Szeto.  The COC also announced the setting up of an orchestral equivalent of the Ensemble Studio in which a number of young musicians will work with Johannes Debus and the COC Orchestra.  Names were announced on Wedneday night but I can’t find them in any of the press releases. Continue reading →

The COC’s 2014/15 season announced

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Russell Braun as Don Giovanni - Photo Credit Javier del Real

Russell Braun as Don Giovanni – Photo Credit Javier del Real

Yesterday evening saw the announcement of the line up for the COC’s 2014/15 season.  The usual rather prosaic press conference was replaced with a glitzy reception and main stage show featuring Brent Bambury of the COC interviewing Alexander Neef, Johannes Debus and others plus piano accompanied performances by Simone Osborne, Russel Braun, Robert Gleadow, Charlotte Burrage and Aviva Fortunata.

There were few surprises, in itself no surprise given the number of official and unofficial “leaks” this time around.  There are three productions new to Toronto, all COC copros, and three revivals so it’s an “all COC” season with no rentals or other imports.  Here’s what’s coming up:

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An interview with Sir Thomas Allen

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Sir Thomas Allen, noted baritone and Chancellor of Durham University, is in town rehearsing Don Alfonso in the COC’s new production of CosÌ fan tutte.  Yesterday evening, between rehearsals, he was kind enough to spend half an hour answering some questions.  We talked about his career, about his role as Chancellor of Durham University and about the new production of Così.  I’ve detailed some of the highlights below as well as embedding the full interview as a four part audio file at the end.

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Upcoming shows

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totFirst up is Toronto Operetta Theatre’s annual holiday offering.  This year it’s Lehar’s Land of Smiles and the cast includes Adam Fischer, Curtis Sullivan, Ernesto Ramirez and Lara Ciekiewicz.  Guillermo Silva-Marin directs and Derek Bate conducts.  There are eight performances between December 27th and January 5th including a gala performance and dinner/dance on New Year’s Eve.  Venue is the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and tickets are available here.

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Prima Donna

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So I got my hands on the DVD documentary about Rufus Wainwright and the genesis of Prima Donna.  There’s not all that much of the music on the disk but there’s enough to get a general impression.  There’s also plenty of material for helping one judge where Wainwright is coming from and how he might approach a second opera.

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