Last night I saw the alternate cast of the COC’s Magic Flute. Owen McCausland swaps First Armed Man for Tamino with Andrew Haji, Kirsten MacKinnon comes in as Pamina, Phillip Addis is Papageno and Matt Boehler is Sarastro. The changes don’t really affect things much at all. All the new faces are very good. MacKinnon is a very perky Pamina which works well with Addis who has maybe a bit more of the “cheeky chappy” than Hopkins. Fans of Owen McCausland and Andrew Haji will see exactly the differences in timbre and vocal technique one would expect but the interpretation is pretty much the same. Overall, I would say that someone not very familiar with these singers would scarcely notice any differences. What I did notice is how much better this production looks from Ring 3 than from the Orchestra. Getting something of a “plan view” makes the antics during the overture look less cluttered and frantic and the trials scene is much more effective. And the sound is better too.
Photos by Michael Cooper under the fold. Continue reading
This review first appeared in the print edition of 
Today marks the 225th anniversary of Mozart’s death. To commemorate it Universal Records (Deutsche Grammophon and Decca basically) have put together a special commemorative edition which I have had a chance to dip into, but not much more than dip into, because it is huge. It’s a cuboid about the size of an LP record and a little over half as deep. It weighs 10kg. Inside are 200 CDs containing the complete works of Mozart including juvenalia, fragments, arrangements and alternative versions. There’s also a copy of the latest Kerchel catalogue, some prints and two very handsome hardback books; a new biography by Cliff Eisen and a second volume containing essays and work by work commentary. What there isn’t is libretti for the vocal works but it actually gets better. One can go to the website 
Deutsche Grammophon have re-released the Mozart M22 recordings in a new edition. It contains all the operas, singspiels and other bits and pieces mostly recorded at Salzburg in 2006. The whole thing comes to 33 DVDs recorded in HD and with 5.1 surround sound. It’s also incredibly cheap. Amazon.ca has it listed at C$139.99 including shipping. Full details are available on the 
The Mazzoleni Songmasters series opens this afternoon at 2pm in, surprise, Mazzoleni Hall at the conservatory. Nathalie Paulin and Monica Whicher present Welcome and Adieu; a program of English and French songs and duets. Collaborative pianists are Robert Kortgaard and Peter Tiefenbach.
