Opera Atelier’s Pelléas et Mélisande is a very mixed bag

Opera Atelier opened a production of Debussy’s symbolist opera Pelléas et Mélisande at Koerner Hall on Wednesday evening with direction by Marshall Pynkoski and choreography by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg.  Let’s start by making it clear that this is not an attempt to present the opera as it was seen or heard when it premiered in 1902 or even to try and reproduce that aesthetic with more modern technology which, I think, is what’s usually meant by “Historically Informed Performance” (HIP).  The extent to which any recent Opera Atelier production is HIP is a discussion perhaps left for another day.

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More season announcements

Following on from yesterday’s COC announcement we now have the TSO’s 2026/27 season announcement.  It’s the usual mix of Classics, Pops, Films and Young People’s concerts.  The Classics section is heavy on standard rep with lots of Beethoven and some big name soloists.  There are, however, three concerts with significant vocal content:

  • November 12th and 14th 2026 Rachel Willis-Sørensen is performing Strauss’ Four Last Songs.  There’s also a Beethoven 4th on that programme.
  • June 17th and 19th 2027 we get Mahler’s monumental 8th Symphony.  If you were impressed by Sarah Dufresne (pictured above) in Rigoletto, she’s one of the soloists for the Mahler.
  • And, speaking of COC stars this year’s Messiah features Deepa Johnny along with Louise Alder, Paul Appleby and Joshua Hopkins (December 15th to 20th 2026).

Here’s the full season brochure.TSO 2026_27 Subscription Brochure

Also recently announced, Opera Atelier’s 2026/27 offering.  They have two shows; both at Koerner Hall.

  • October 22nd to 25th they are performing Charpentier’s The Descent of Orpheus featuring Mireilles Asselin and Lebel, among others.  Chris Bagan conducts which is welcome.
  • April 15th to 18th 2027 there’s a remount of Handel’s The Resurrection.  Carla Huhtanen and Meghan Lindsay reprise their roles but the rest of the cast is new.

Full details of casts and creative teams are here.

Rainelle Krause’s Queen of the Night

In my review of Opera Atelier’s production of The Magic Flute I had this t say about Rainelle Krause’s Queen of the Night… “Her coloratura was powerful and pinpoint, and as the applause died down she reappeared and reprised the most spectacular section with additional stratospheric high notes.”

Now you can see the reprise for yourself on Instagram.  I wasn’t kidding.

Magic Flute preview

Opera Atelier’s fall offering this year is a remount of the Magic Flute in essentially the version that first appeared in 1991.  It’s sung in English and we got a preview in the RBA on Thursday.  It was basically a working rehearsal of the opera’s opening plus a few other scenes with Chris Bagan at the piano.

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Opera Atelier 2025/26

Opera Atelier has announced its 2025/26 season and while it’s not especially surprising it is intriguing.  As usual it’s two shows.  The first show is pretty conventional.  It’s a revival of OA’s production of The Magic Flute at the Elgin Theatre on October 15th, 16th, 18th and 19th 2025.  Nice cast though with Colin Ainsworth as Tamino, Meghan Lindsey as Pamina, Douglas Williams as Papageno, Karine White as Papagena and Stephen Hegedus as Sarastro.

Soprano Meghan Lindsay as Mélisande and bass baritone Douglas Williams as Golaud in Act One of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in Opera Atelier’s fully-staged production of ALL IS LOVE. Photo by Bruce Zinger.

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A rather different Opera Revue show

82448A99-7CBC-4566-B525-35743D468953-1Opera Revue teamed up with Opera Atelier for a show called Trills, Chills and Thrills at the Redwood Theatre on Sunday evening.  The usual gang of Danie Friesen, Alex Hajek and Claire Harris were joined by tenor Ben Done and mezzo Kathryn Rose Johnston for a programme of opera arias and musical theatre numbers that (sort of) turned the plot of Handel’s Acis and Galatea (OA’s upcoming show) into a murder mystery.

There was music on spooky themes by Britten (Turn of the Screw), Schubert, Handel (of course), Corigliano (Ghosts of Versailles), Lloyd Webber (Phantom, natch), Verdi and more.  It was glued together by a narrative in which the mermaid/nymph Galatea is murdered and despite being turned into sushi her ghost returns to wreak its revenge.  And there was one of the dances from Acis and Galatea (Julia Sedwick and Eric da Silva). Continue reading