Tag Archives: opera atelier

A rather different Opera Revue show

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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 →

October 2024

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oct24Opera’s back with the start of a new COC season and more.  Here’s a look at what I think looks interesting in October.

First up there are two theatre festivals with multiple shows.  Aluna Theatre’s RUTAS International Performing Arts Festival runs from September 26th to October 9th (various venues).  There’s a distinct Latinx twist to this one.  Then from the 16th to the 27th at Buddies in Bad Times there’s the Next Stage Theatre Festival run by the same folks as the Fringe.  Both are pretty varied with something for pretty much everyone.

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All is Love

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All is Love, which opened Thursday night at Koerner Hall, is a remount of the 2022 Opera Atelier show which, for various reasons, nobody much saw.  It’s a staged series of quite eclectic (mosly) opera and ballet excerpts around the theme of “love”; which means pretty much anything goes.

Soprano Meghan Lindsay as Mélisande with Artists of Atelier Ballet in Act One of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in Opera Atelier’s fully-staged production of ALL IS LOVE. Photo by Bruce Zinger-2

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All is Love preview

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Tuesday’s lunchtime performance in the RBA was a preview of the upcoming Opera Atelier show All is Love which is essentially a remount of the February 2022 show that nobody much saw because it happened during a blizzard with most of downtown closed due to “trucker” activity.

8.-Soprano-Measha-Brueggergosman-Lee-in-Opera-Atelier_s-fully-staged-production-of-ALL-IS-LOVE.-Photo-by-Bruce-Zinger

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April preview

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april24Here are some upcoming shows for April:

Music

  • First, a late March Show.  Yu Dun and Royce Vavrek’s Pulitzer winning opera Angel’s Bone, about human trafficking, comes to Harbourfront Centre Theatre March 22nd to 24th.  More information here.
  • On the 6th the Happenstancers have a concert; Being Pascal Dusapin, at Redeemer Lutheran.  We are promised a “a portrait concert in palindromic form” featuring music by Dusapin, Kaija Saariaho and Samy Moussa.

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Opera Atelier 2024/25

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oa2425Opera Atelier have announced the line up for their 2024/25 season.  As with other recent seasons there’s one show at the Elgin Theatre and one at Koerner Hall.

The first show, Oc​​tober 24th – 27th, 2024, is Handel’s Acis and Galatea at the Elgin.  I’m not going to complain about more English language Handel!  Bring it on.  This show is indicative of the growing relationship between OA and Versailles with French tenor Antonin Rondepierre in the role of Acis and Blaise Rantoanina singing the role of Damon.  The cast is completed by Meghan Lindsey as Galatea (yea!) and Douglas Williams as Polyphemus.  Christopher Bagan conducts which is also nice to see. Continue reading →

Looking ahead to March

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march2024First some additional February shows

  • On the 23rd at Harbourfront Centre Art of Time Ensemble are presenting Music from the Weimar Republic.
  • On the 25th VOICEBOX have a concert performance of Verdi’s Ernani at the St. Lawrence Centre.

Opera

  • Opera York are presenting Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts on March 1st and 3rd.
  • March 14th to 17th UoT Opera are doing Massenet’s Cendrillon at a to be determined location.
  • March 20th and 22nd at Koerner Hall, the Glenn Gould School spring opera is Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.  That one has me excited!

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Restrained Orphée

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There’s quite a lot to like in Opera Atelier’s current production of Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice currently running at the Elgin Theatre.  It’s elegant and refined with some pretty good singing but maybe it’s a bit too refined.  It’s at its best in things like “The Dance of the Blessed Spirits” where there’s an effective pas de deux danced in pointe shoes though I’m not sure it was really necessary to use enough “smoke” to fill the entire auditorium!  Unfortunately, the production doesn’t make much of the potentially more dramatic moments.  Orphée’s confrontation with the Guardians of Hell is pretty low key.  The demons are just dancers in slightly stripey body stockings and there’s no sense of menace.  It’s all a bit Robert Wilson.  Until the ending, which suddenly switches aesthetic with glitter and streamers and dancers with a Scrabble set.

Anna-Julia David as Amour, Colin Ainsworth as Orpheus. Photo by Bruce Zinger

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Late September and into October

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october2023There 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!

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Baroque plus on Market Street

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It’s officially summer and Market Street is pedestrian only again.  That means it’s possible to stage music performances there and yesterday Opera Atelier had the noon to two spot.  I arrived a few minutes late so missed Maeve Palmer’s first aria but it did mean I walked in on the opening of my all time favourite Handel aria; “As with rosy steps the morn”, sung quite beautifully by Anna Sharpe.  There were three sets and it was pretty varied; Handel, Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Monteverdi, Rossini Purcell and Delibes, that I remember.  Besides Maeve and Anna we got baritone Chris Dunham and countertenor Ryan McDonald accompanied by Chris Bagan on keyboards, Felix Deak on cello and Arlan Vriens on violin.

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