Here’s some of what January has to offer…
Toronto Operetta Theatre is doing Imre Kalman’s The Czardas Princess over the New Year holiday. It’s st the Jane Mallett Theatre and there are shows on December 30th and January 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Viva la Mamma (also known as Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali) may be Donizetti’s most intentionally silly opera (though some of the “serious” operas rival it for silliness). It’s a farce and should be treated as such which is exactly what Maria Lamont’s production for UoT Opera, currently playing at the Elgin Theatre, does.
Here’s what’s coming up next month as best I know.
Wednesday’s recital in the RBA was given by UoT Opera. It consisted of a series of arias/scenes drawn from the operas of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven creatively staged by Mabel Wonnacott. It was lively and a lot of fun and the vocal standard was very high, especially for so early in the academic year.
So it’s April Fools Day in Walter Hall and Ambur Braid is scheduled to give a masterclass to UoT Opera students. Were they having us on? I was doubly suspicious having just finished the really annoying Guardian April Fool crossword. But, no, it was real; though frankly funnier than most April Fool pranks. You can check it out for yourself because it’s all up on Youtube.
Since you can check it out for yourselves I’lljust make a few observations:
The spring production from UoT Opera is Mozart’s Così fan tutte and it’s playing at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. Anna Theodosakios directs with some conceptual input from Michael Patrick Albano. The production is interesting and I think there are three layers to unpack. On the surface it’s a fairly straightforward 18th century setting with uniforms, wigs, elaborate dresses and so on but with a rather striking colour scheme; pinks and lilacs.
So what looks fun in March?
This year’s offering from the UoT Opera Student Composers Collective was a piece about the history of Jarvis Street called Avenue of Avarice. It played in the Fleck Dance Theatre on Sunday afternoon in a production directed by Mario Pacheco.
Three Islands is a UoT Opera show that opened at the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre at York University on Thursday night. The show is conceived and directed by Tim Albery who has wrapped two 20th century English language one act operas in a wrapper crafted from Kaija Saariaho’s Tempest Songbook.
Ariel’s Hail from Tempest Songbook (Saariaho): Prospero – Ben Wallace, Ariel – Aemilia Moser
On Wednesday it was UoT Opera’s turn in the RBA. Pretty much the whole graduate programme appeared in a series of duets, trios and larger ensemble numbers staged by Mabel Wonnacott. The theme was “love” (well it had to be that or “death”.. this is opera). It was a French and German programme so there was fairly mainstream stuff like the Antonia/Hoffmann duet from Les contes d’Hoffmann and “Hab mir’s gelobt” from Der Rosenkavalier but also rarer material like “Doute de la lumière” from Thomas’ Hamlet.
operaramblings 