Tag Archives: opera revue

May 2023

Posted on by
Reply

wordcloudmay23Things happening next month…

But first this month… on April 27th to 29th male soprano Samuel Mariño is appearing with
Tafelmusik in a programme titled Higher Love: Virtuoso Arias.  Details here.

Crow’s Theatre has a couple of shows.  True Crime opens on the 2nd.  It’s a short run.  Preview on the 1st then closes on the 7th.  It’s basically a one man, semi-improvised show about an imprisoned con man.  The Chinese Lady, which runs 5th to 21st (previews 2nd to 4th) in the smaller Studio Theatre tells the story of the first Chinese woman in the USA.  Written by Lloyd Suh and directed by Marjorie Chan it should be interesting.  There’s also Boom X.  Rick Miller plays over a hundred characters to narrate events from 1969 t0 1995.  It runs from the 10th to the 28th.  More details at crowstheatre.com.

Continue reading →

March 2023

Posted on by
1

march2023Here’s a look ahead to March.

March 3rd and 5th, Opera York are presenting Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.  Details are here.  Also on the 5th at 1pm Opera Revue are playing a new venue; The Aviary in the Canary District.  (They are playing another new venue, Granite Brewery, on the 12th.  Opera Revue your source for craft beer!)  And the following night at 7.30pm it’s AtG’s Opera Pub at the Drake at 7.30pm.

From the 9th to the 12th it’s UoT Opera’s spring offering at the MacMillan Theatre.  This year it’s Arthur (not George) Benjamin’s A Tale of Two Cities.  Benjamin is probably the only opera composer to be shot down by Hermann Göring.  I’m not sure what, if anything, that says about his music.

Continue reading →

It’s beginning to look a lot like Hannukwanzmas

Posted on by
Reply

dec22wordcloudSo what’s on as we move into the holiday season?

Closing out November there’s Opera Revue at Castro’s this afternoon at 3pm and a couple of concerts on Wednesday.  At lunchtime Wirth Prize winner Elisabeth Saint-Gelais and collaborative pianist Louise Pelletier present an intriguing looking programme in the RBA then at 7.30pm at Mazzoleni Hall the RCM’s Rebanks fellows are performing.  Both are free but the Mazzoleni concert is ticketed and may be sold out.

Continue reading →

What a Ruckus

Posted on by
1

Ruckus at the Revival from Opera Revue lived up to the billing.  It was informal, it was fun, there was booze and the average age of the audience was about COC-30.  The usual suspects were joined by Liliane Brooks, Ryan Downey and Dylan Wright (looking FABULOUS darlings) and some dude called Mike with an electric guitar.  Plus your favourite Warner Bros characters.ruckus4

Continue reading →

Miscellany

Posted on by
Reply

Less a Toronto listings summary than a quick review of things going on in various real and virtual spaces.

  • On November 6th my good friends at Opera Revue have a “gala”; Ruckus! at the Revival.  Besides the usual suspects there are several guests and I believe it starts at 6.30pm not 7.30 like the poster says.  There’s a very short and very silly trailer here.

ruckus Continue reading →

August

Posted on by
Reply

As usual it’s pretty quiet.  Here’s a few thlaurenonthewallings I am aware of.

July 31st – Opera Revue @ Castro’s Lounge, 3:00pm-6:00pm. PWYC

Summer Opera Lyric Theatre has a short season at the Alumnae Theatre on Berkeley Street.  There are three shows: (at 8pm unless otherwise specified)

  • Menotti’s The Consul – July 29th, August 3rd (2pm), 4th and 6th.
  • Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel – July 30th, August 2nd, 6th (2pm) and 7th (2pm)
  • Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro – July 30th (2pm) and  31st (2pm), August 3rd and 8th.

August 4th to 12th in the atrium at the Royal Conservatory it’s Tapestry’s production of Brian Current’s Gould’s Wall. As of time of writing all performances are sold out.

And a bit further out Iain Scott is organising a tour to Dresden in March to see the Decker/Thielemann Ring.  Details are on his website.  Giving advance notice because apparently numbers for this need to be confirmed by August 22nd.

April shows

Posted on by
2

orevueHere’s what’s coming up that I know about in April with some adds for the end of March.

    • 26th March 5pm – 7pm.  Opera Revue at Castro’s PWYC.  Expect a completely Weill performance.
    • 27th March 2.30pm.  Voicebox are doing Timothy Sullivan’s Florence: The Lady with the Lamp in concert at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.  Lauren Pearl sings the title role.

Continue reading →

Recent webstreams

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s a quick round up of recent webstreams.  The main event is the concert streamed by the COC over the weekend featuring Jane Archibald with the COC Orchestra and Johannes Debus.  There’s about forty five minutes of music and it’s predictably classy music making though it’s emotionally taxing to look at an empty Four Seasons centre again.  The program includes Mozart. Handel, Strauss, Massenet, Gounod and Bernstein.  Arguably it’s a bit predictable but both musical and technical values are high.  It’s avaiable free until August 27th via registration at the COC website.

janearchibald

Continue reading →

Best of 2021

Posted on by
Reply

1.boulotte sm2021 was another year of parts.  Pretty much no live indoor performances before September then a few chances to get to the theatre and now, well who knows?  So what stood out for me in 2021?  Here’s a round up by category.

Live Shows

Not much of course but there were some good shows, though opera didn’t really figure.  The Home Project from Native Earth and Soulpepper was a thought provoking look at the the idea of “home”.  MixTape at Crow’s Theatre explored the variegated nature of relationships through the medium of the once ubiquitous mix tape.  And on a more conventional note there was a rearranged at short notice recital at Koerner hall that showcased the extremely talented Davóne Tines. Continue reading →

Bits and Pieces

Posted on by
Reply

or1221The annus horribilis of 2021 seems to be going out with a whimper rather than a bang; at least musically in Toronto.  Much of the streamed content on offer consists of repeats which is, I suppose, a holiday tradition.  In this category we could include Against the Grain’s Messiah:Complex showing on Youtube and at TIFF and Essential Opera’s December.  There’s still some new stuff appearing.  Opera Revue have a rather good short piece about the exorbitant cost of aviaries in Toronto on Youtube.  (They also have a live show coming up this weekend at the Emmett Ray.  The COC have a show I(n Winter coming up this weekend on the COC web site featuring music by, among others, Vivaldi and Ian Cusson.  There are also a couple of very short concerts from the RBA on the COC’s Youtube channel.  Also, this year the annual Krehm memorial concert in aid of St. Mike’s ICU is on Youtube at 5.30pm on Boxing Day.  Rachel Krehm is singing Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in the Schoenberg arrangement and that will be followed by a chamber reduction of Beethovens Symphony No.7.  Evan Mitchell conducts the Canzona Chamber Players.  For live, Tafelmusik have a sort of Christmas “greatest hits” concert and the TSO have a much shortened Messiah.  Apart from that the holiday season is looking like booze and booster shots.