Tag Archives: nichols

Canadians win big in Digital Excellence in Opera Awards

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Two Canadian projects scooped first prizes at Opera America’s Digital Excellence in Opera awards earlier this week.  Sweat from Jenn Nichols, Larissa Koniuk and the Bicycle Opera gang won the big one; “Artistic Creation”.  What can I say?  I loved the stage show and I loved the film.  Well deserved.

Sweat - the film

The other winner was the very cute kids’ series Threepenny Submarine from Rachel Krehm and Opera5. This was joint winner in the “Noteworthy Projects” category.

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So two out of four of the top prizes went to Canadian projects.  Not bad eh?

L’Histoire du Soldat

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Most music lovers have probably heard the music from Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat in either orchestral or chamber arrangement but it’s rare for the work to be given in its full staged form but that’s how it was presented (more or less) last night at Koerner Hall by the Toronto Summer Music Festival in association with LooseTEA Music Theatre.  That form includes a narrator, an actor (originally three actors, nowadays usually just a single actor/narrator) and dancer.  Plus, of course, the band; violin and bass, clarinet and bassoon, cornet and trombone, piano.

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TSMF 2018

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Christoph_Pregardien_grossThis year’s  Toronto Summer Music Festival runs from July 12th to August 4th and, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1 is war themed, though to be honest it wears it pretty lightly.  As always there is one big vocal star.  This year it’s German tenor Christoph Prégardien.  He has a recital at Walter Hall with Julius Drake at 7.30pm on July 17th.  He also pops up on the 20th at the same time and place to sing Schubert’s Die Forelle with Stephen Philcox in a program that features chamber music by Schubert, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff.  There’s no word on public masterclasses but he’s around for a few days so I suspect that something will emerge.

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Plug in

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I went to see Esprit Orchestra’s show Plug in at Koerner Hall last night.  I don’t often go to purely orchestral concerts but Jenn Nichols was dancing and I have this feeling that I ought to listen to more contemporary music.

The first piece; Symphonie minute by José Evangelista, is a highly compressed “symphony” in four movements.  Each movement only lasts a couple of minutes and it uses a large orchestra.  It’s intriguing that in such a short time each movement has a clearly defined character.  It’s quite dissonant but very easy to listen to and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Dress Rehearsal 2

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Sweat

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Yesterday I finally managed to do something bike related in conjunction with Bicycle Opera Project’s current tour of Sweat.  I got an early train out to Aldershot, biked to Hamilton and joined up with the bike tour of historic Hamilton organised by the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre to complement the opera, before seeing the afternoon performance of Sweat at WAHC.  I’ll add some bikey/historical observations at the end but since this is an opera blog let’s cut to the chase.

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Seven Sins at the Symphony

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Last night’s Decades series concert featured three works from the 1930s plus a sesqui.  The sesqui, Andrew Balfour’s Kiwetin-acahkos; Fanfare for the Peoples of the North was definitely one of the more interesting of these short pieces.  There were elements of minimalism combined with a nod to Cree/Métis fiddle music.  Quite complex and enjoyable.  It was followed by Barber’s rather bleak Adagio for Strings and the Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.  It’s familiar enough fare and was well played by the orchestra under Peter Oundjian.  I particularly enjoyed some of the weird percussion/celesta effects in the third movement of the Bartók.  But really I was there for the second half of the program.

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The news from FAWN

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As promised, I’m passing on the news I missed at FAWN the other night.  Basically, in addition to the Anna Höstman project the news concerns the further development of the Synesthesia IV project which seeks to to find a composer to develop a ballet-lyrique with FAWN.  So following on from Synesthesia IV part 1, three composers;  David Storen, Joseph Glaser and Kit Van Soden, have been selected to join FAWN for the next stage of the project: a one week improvisation workshop, during which they will work with FAWN Artistic Director and Resident Stage Director Amanda Smith, FAWN Artistic Associate Jonathan MacArthur (tenor) and dancer/choreographer Jennifer Nichols. The purpose of the workshop will be to create material through improvisation, which the composers can then use as they each write one short opera for Synesthesia IV pt. II. FAWN will present these works during their 2017/18 season.

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The best laid plans

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So last night I intended to catch both the FAWN fundraiser/announcement gig at Electric Perfume and AtG’s opera pub night.  I figured I could spend an hour up on the Danforth and still hit the Esplanade soon after the start at 9pm.  The first part went fine.  I saw a most enjoyable performance by Adam Scime of Kurtàg’s Message Consolation with some lovely movement work on the floor by Jenn Nichols.  Also I was there long enough to hear Adanya Dunn and Katherine Watson do Anna Höstman’s Children’s Paradise for soprano and flute.  There was news too that FAWN is working with Anna on a new full scale opera for some time in the future.  I had to leave before the rest of the announcements but I’ll pass the news on when I get it.

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Three Bats on a Chest of Drawers

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Opera 5’s interactive production of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus opened last night in the Great Hall at 918 Bathurst.  It’s an intriguing but, above all, fun show.  I think it’s fair to say that presented straight Die Fledermaus has more than a few elements of meta-theatricality.  Here it’s central to the plot from MC Pearle Harbour’s initial apology for the lack of a fourth wall because “we can’t afford one” through a whole series of “interventions” by various characters.  Unpacking it all would probably make as much sense as Umberto Eco’s Three Owls on a Chest of Drawers and I’m not as clever as the late Professor Eco and, in best Fledermaus tradition, it’s the morning after and I’ve only had five hours sleep.  So, I’ll avoid the meta and try and describe the show.

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