James Coole-Stevenson and Vlad Soloviev

Thursday Noon at Met recital was given by baritone James Coole-Stevenson accompanied by Vlad Soloviev. The first part of the recital was all Canadian art song. Jocelyn Mortlock’s Involuntary Love Songs; which are varied in mood and quite lyrical, Ian Cusson’s “You Held Out the Light” from Breakfast for Barbarians which is short and very Ian Cusson., with a shimmering piano part and finally James Rolfe’s Moths. This is a very complex cycle about light and dreaming and very varied from the boomy “night is a river” to the delicate “The river of dreams” and much more. It was all sung with great attention to text backed up by impeccable diction and sharp characterisation. As is usually the case with contemporary song the pianist has a lot to do and Vlad did it really well. It’s good to see someone programme so much contemporary Canadian song.

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Ensemble Studio do the standards

Last Tuesdays’s concert in the RBA featured four singers and two pianists from the Ensemble Studio in a concert of highly recognisable opera arias.  I guess with Barber of Seville and Rigoletto coming p on the FSC stage that was a bit inevitable.  It was though very well done with all four singers not only singing well but really conveying a sense of character.

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Ensemble Studio kick off

The free concert series in the RBA kicked off on Wednesday with, as usual, a performance by the artists of the COC’s Ensemble Studio.  Owing to illness only five singers performed and only one of those, Emily Rocha, was a returnee.  The other four singers and both pianists were newcomers.  It was short but enjoyable.

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Tea For Two

Last Friday’s lunchtime concert in the RBA was given by the France-Canada Academy of Vocal Arts at the University of Toronto.  That mouthful is the moniker of a collaboration between the Faculty of Music and the Académie Francis Poulenc.  So this last week members of the AFP had been in Toronto working with students and faculty here on French chansons and canadian art song.  Fridays concert showcased six singer/pianist teams singing French song rep from both sides of the Canadian Channel.

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COC announces 2025/26 season

Without notice or fanfare the COC season announcement landed in my email inbox at 11.30 this morning.  I kind of miss the old 10am press conference which at least offered an opportunity to ask about the rationale of some of the decisions.  I guess though that the number of people writing about opera in Toronto these days would fit in a phone box so maybe it’s too much to hope for.  There are some mildly surprising aspects to the announcement.  There’s no Mozart or Puccini nor, more consequential, any sign of the various new opera projects that COC has/had under development which do have a bit of a habit of disappearing without trace.  There’s also no “second stage” production.  I guess that experiment is done.  So it’s six main stage productions in the traditional three pairs. Continue reading

COC 2024/25

The COC has just announced it’s 2024/25 season.  It’s a mixed bag.  There are some very welcome examples of operas not seen in Toronto for a long time and a new co-commission.  There’s a perhaps surprisingly earlier than expected remount of Eugene Onegin plus Madama Butterfly yet again but at least it’s a “new to Toronto” production.  There are no new/new productions and no COC Theatre production though there’s one performance of a concert version of Cavalleria Rusticana at the Four Seasons Centre.  It’s a bit light on star power too though there are plenty of opportunities for home grown favourites.

WOZZECK

A scene from William Kentridge’s Wozzeck – photo: Ruth Walz

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Roméo et Juliette at the Liceu

I’m actually not sure where to start with Stephen Lawless’ production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette recorded at the Liceu in 2018.  The production is a bit weird but then so is the libretto.  It follows the basic plot of Shakespeare’s play but weakens it dramatically in all the wrong places which appears to be why Lawless made some of his, to my mind, less felicitous decisions.

1.ball

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An unusual lunchtime recital

Luca Pisaroni, currently singing in the COC’s The Marriage of Figaro, and pianist Timothy Cheung performed in the RBA at Tuesday lunchtime.  It was unusual and what was unusual was the choice of repertoire; rarely heard 19th century songs by composers who are much better known for opera.  In fact I’m not sure I had heard any of the programme before.

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Homage to Viardot

Yesterday the Ensemble Studio put on a really nicely curated tribute to Pauline Viardot.  Viardot was a singer, pianist, composer and muse who was enormously influential in music circles in paris in the middle years of the 19th century.  She came from a famous musical family and was the younger sister of Maria Malibran. Her own work is little performed today although the Royal Conservatory did her Cendrillon in 2016.

midori

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