Free Concert Series 2012/13

Posted on August 22, 2012 by operaramblings

The COC has announced the line up for the 2012/13 series of free concerts in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre. There’s the usual mix of vocal, instrumental, jazz, world music and dance. There are plenty of opportunities to see the Ensemble Studio members as well as solo gigs by Franz-Josef Selig and Anna Christy. For fans of Indian classical music there’s also a sarangi recital by Aruna Narayan. Also of interest is a concert by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre “Inspired by Lorca”.

Full details

COC Radio

Posted on August 14, 2012 by operaramblings

Heaven only knows why it has taken me so long to discover this resource. COC Radio is awesome. Besides educational materials there are streamable audio recordings of every production from the last two seasons.

Portents of Regie

Posted on July 28, 2012 by operaramblings

Until very recently one of the few good restaurant options within easy walking distance of the COC offices and the Kitten Kondo (since only a couple of hundred metres separate them) was a pretty decent locavore resto called Veritas. I’ve seen COC General director Alexander Neef in there more than once. Alas Veritas is no more. It has been replaced by what looks to be a hideously trendy and overpriced bar called the Pacific Junction Hotel. What’s a bit disturbing though is that this doubles the number of eateries in the ‘hood with Stiegl on tap (the other being the rather good, but also overly trendy , breakfast/brunch spot Le Petit Dejeuner. Stiegl is, par excellence, the beer of Regie. If beer features in a production by a controversial European director one can pretty much guarantee it will be Stiegl. Is this an omen? The 2012/13 COC season has Atom Egoyan, Peter Sellars, Robert Carsen and the Alden brothers directing 6 of 7 productions (surely enough to induce apoplexy in the National Post‘s Kaptainis). Are the hop leaves predicting a further shift away from the Lotfi Mansouri aesthetic? With this much Stiegl around can Herheim or Bieito be far behind?

Good news

Posted on July 21, 2012 by operaramblings

Canadian Opera Company General Director Alexander Neef has signed a new contract to stay with the company through 2021. This is very good news indeed. Neef has shown a canny ability to programme imaginatively varied programmes while keeping the house full, mostly through carefully balancing the number of performances between the more adventurous repertoire and one or two “bums on seats” shows per season. Aided by the company having moved to the technically and acoustically excellent Four Seasons Centre he has also done a great job of making the COC a company that the best singers, conductors and directors want to come to(*). That’s a problem none of his predecessors managed to crack. It’s no idle boast now when COC describes itself as “home to the best”. I feel confident that we can now look forward to another eight years of varied, high quality opera at COC.

* Confirmed to me by Larry Brownlee but to be honest the line up in the last couple of years and going forward speaks for itself. Brownlee, Graham, Archibald, Radvanovsky, Pieczonka, Braun, Schade. Hereros-Casada, Sir Andrew Davis. Carsens, the Aldens, Sellars, Malfitano, Albery. Such a change from ten years ago!

The Frosch report

Posted on July 5, 2012 by operaramblings

Casting for the upcoming COC production of Die Fledermaus, to be directed by Christopher Alden, was announced back in February with one notable exception. There has been no word on who will take the speaking role of the drunken gaoler Frosch in Act 3. This part is usually played as a buffoon by a second rate comedian(1) so Toronto mayor Rob Ford would seem an obvious choice. Unfortunately it’s a speaking part so that rules him out. Now, apparently, we can expect a ‘crisis of capitalism’ Fledermaus but I’m not sure that leaves me any the wiser.

Continue reading →

Broken down by age and sex

Posted on June 26, 2012 by operaramblings

The COC board reviews ticket sales data

Broken down by age and sex – that’s what they say happens to statisticians over time but this one retains his fascination with data and will happily torture it in search of a conclusion or three. In this case the data is contained in an interesting round up of the Canadian Opera Company’s 2011/12 season.

Continue reading →

Reflections on the COC 2011/12 season

Posted on May 29, 2012 by operaramblings

So another Toronto season has come and gone. I thought it was a pretty satisfying one taken as a whole. There weren’t any total disasters and there were several productions of the highest class. I made it to all seven shows and saw three of them twice; Rigoletto (because, among other things, it was double cast), L’Amour de Loin (because it was so good!) and Semele (because it was the production chosen for the Ensemble Studio). I also attended the final dress rehearsal of The Florentine Tragedy/Gianni Schicchi double bill. Continue reading →

An engaging Semele from the COC’s Ensemble Studio

Posted on May 24, 2012 by operaramblings

Mireille Asselin and Phillipe Sly

Last night saw the annual main stage performance by the COC’s young artist programme, the Ensemble Studio. This year it was Handel’s Semele in the production which I saw a couple of weeks ago. The main roles were cast from the Ensemble Studio with the the exception of the countertenor role of Athamas which was played by Ryan Belongie, an Adler Fellow. The title role was split with Mireille Asselin singing the first two acts and Ambur Braid coming in for the third act. This seemed like a sensible solution given the size of the role and the two singers’ strengths. Continue reading →

Very satisfying double bill

Posted on May 19, 2012 by operaramblings

Last night I saw the Canadian Opera Company’s double bill of Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. I had a pretty good idea what to expect having attended the dress rehearsal a couple of weeks ago. I said then that I thought that there was something in this show for everyone, even the most traditionalist, and I would still hold to that view if I hadn’t read the very silly review by Arthur Kaptainis in the National Post. Apparently there are people who can’t cope with a simple change of time setting and there are editors who let them write for real newspapers. It’s very puzzling. So let’s just say something for anyone with a smidgeon of imagination or dramatic instinct. Continue reading →

Adieu to Adrian Kramer

Posted on May 18, 2012 by operaramblings

The final “Les Adieux” recital, by departing members of the COC’s Ensemble Studio, of the season was a performance by baritone Adrian Kramer of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, in its entirety, with Topher Mokrzewski at the piano. It was an ambitious choice and made for a somewhat longer performance than usual.

I’ve heard Die Schöne Müllerin often enough on record but this was the first time I had heard it live, in full. It really makes one realise that not only is it a very fine piece it’s also a far from easy sing encompassing a wide range of moods. Adrian is a fine singing actor and brought out the various moods with good German diction, careful attention to the text and good range of tone colour. He sounded best in the more lyrical numbers with some very sweet singing but was maybe having to push a little in the more dramatic sections. Continue reading →

operaramblings

John's opera ramblings

Tag Archives: coc