My review of the COC’s new Don Giovanni is now up at Bachtrack.
Photo credit: Michael Cooper
@bachtrack
Kasper Holten’s cinematic Don Giovanni shines at the COC
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Tag Archives: coc
Cunning Little Vixen at the COC
Sometimes the Canadian Opera Company gets it right and the current production of Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen is a good example. It’s got all the things that might help boost a flagging audience. It’s not over familiar. Nobody is going to be complaining that they have seen the same old boring production five times already. It’s a brilliant score. The production is intelligent with enough for those who want more than a costume drama while not doing anything to shock the pearl clutchers. It’s well sung; with a goodly quantity of local talent, and the orchestral playing and conducting is exemplary. What more could one ask for? One could I suppose add that it’s an opera one could happily take children to.
February 2024 – concerts and opera
Contemplating another production of “Carmen”
First a couple of 21C concerts inadvertently omitted from my January listings post. On the 19th in Koerner Hall there’s Fazil Say and friends (including Beste Kalender) in a programme of mostly Turkish music and in the late show in Temerty Theatre the following night Brian Current presents and conducts a concert titled Indigena.
So to February: Continue reading
January 2024
Here’s a look at the start of 2024 in Toronto.
On the 7th and the 9th OPUS chamber music, who feature some of Canada’s best young chamber musicians, have a pair of concerts. The first is at Trinity St. Paul’s and features music by Rebecca Clarke, Leo Weiner, Anton Webern and Robert Schumann. The second is at the Arts and Letters Club and includes music by Tcherepini, Klein, Wegener and Beethoven.
10th Annual Centre Stage Competition
Thursday night at the Four Seasons Centre saw the tenth iteration of the COC’s Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition. It’s a competition for young singers for cash prizes and, more opaquely, potential places in the COC’s Ensemble Studio.
L-R: Duncan Stenhouse, Emily Rocha, Elisabeth St-Gelais
Jonelle Sills debuts in La Bohème at the COC
It wasn’t supposed to happen for another couple of weeks but Jonelle Sills jumped into the COC’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème as Mimi on Sunday afternoon, replacing an indisposed Amina Edris. It added some spice to a production I’ve seen rather a lot of times before. I don’t have a lot to say about the production that I haven’t said before. It’s still efficient and serviceable and it’s always looked a bit (not inappropriately) down at heel. If it’s now a bit more worn and faded t doesn’t detract from that. If you want more detail here’s a link to my May 2019 review.
High musical values in the COC’s Fidelio
The COC opened its 2023/24 season on Friday night with Matthew Ozawa’s production of Beethoven’s 1805 attack on corruption and tyranny; Fidelio. Ozawa gives it a contemporary American setting with all the action playing out on a sort of multi-level rotating cage. It’s pretty effective and efficient in allowing scenes to succeed each other quite seamlessly.
OK, it’s official
I’ve known for ages that Ian Cusson was working on an opera for the COC main stage and that it was a bout a Métis werewolf legend. It’s the sort of thing that gets me howling at a full moon. Anyway it’s all now official and talkaboutable. It’s called Empire of the Wild and the libretto is by Cherie Dimaline based ion her 2019 novel of the same name. It’s a co-commission of the COC and the NAC in Ottawa and there’s no date given for the premiere yet. (And yes I do have a bit of “I’ll believe it when I see it” given that COC commissions seem to disappear mysteriously often enough to provide the plot for a werewolf novel). I think it’s a great subject for an opera and Ian’s record of writing for vopice and the opera stage is good so, yeah, I really want to see this. So keep your fingers crossed it actually happens! All the details are in the press release which is here.
The COC at Harbourfront
On Saturday evening the COC presented a teaser concert for their 2023/24 season on the outdoor stage at Harbourfront. The weather stayed fair and there was no more than the usual aural background to distract a little from the music. The full orchestra under Johannes Debus was on display along with half a dozen members of the Ensemble Studio.
Late September and into October
There are a few adds for September. This Saturday (16th) you can catch Rachel Krehm in recital with Janelle Fung. That’s at 3pm. Details here. Saturday 30th is a busy day. At 7.30pm at Church of the Redeemer The Happenstancers have a concert.of mostly 20th century music for soprano and chamber ensemble. Details and tickets here. At the same time and repeated at 4pm on the Sunday Confluence Concerts have a concert of Irish music, both traditional and modern art song. That’s at Heliconian Hall. Details etc. Also from the 22nd to 24th Tafelmusik are performing Beethoven’s 4th and 5th symphonies at Koerner Hall. Their take on Beethoven symphonies is unusual and very interesting. And while Tafelmusik are absent from Jeanne Lamon Hall on the 22nd and 23rd, ther Toronto Mendelssohn Singers are presenting a programme including dance. A choreographed version of Handel’s Dixit Dominus is a rare event!
