Upcoming events

Ridiculously short notice I know but VOICEBOX/Opera in Concert’ are closing their season with Verdi’s Stiffelio this afternoon at the St. Lawrence Centre.  This 1850 workconcerns an adultery in the house of a Protestant minister and was so severely censored by the Italian authorities that Verdi withdrew it in 1856 and it’s rarely seen.  VOICEBOX will present the scholarly edition prepared from the Carrara family MS in the early 90’s.  It’s a concert performance with piano accompaniment featuring Ernesto Ramirez,  Laura Albino and Geoffrey Sirett.

On Wednesday there’s a rare performance of Gagliano’s La Dafne by Capella Intima and the Toronto Continuo Collective.  An ensemble of dramatic voices accompanied by lutes, theorbos, harpsichord and viola da gamba will present Ovid’s tale of Apollo and Daphne.  It’s at noon and forms part of the COC’s free concert series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.

Finally, on March 3rd Toronto Masque Theatre is presenting a soirée on the history of the masque form.  There will be panel discussions and performances by soprano Patricia O’Callaghan, guitarist Ken Whiteley and others.  It’s at 7.30pm at  21 Shaftesbury Avenue, Toronto.  Tickets are by donation ($20 suggested) and seating is limited so registration is required either online at torontomasquetheatre.com or by calling 416-410-4561.

 

Kennedy era Un ballo in maschera works on many levels

The Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera is based on an intriguing concept that adds insight in many places but comes a bit unstuck in others.  Coupled to some superb performances, it makes for an enjoyable and intriguing night at the theatre that will have the more adventurous busily and happily dissecting the piece for hours and the die hards reaching for their Zeffirelli pills.

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The Scottish opera

Verdi’s Macbeth is one of those early works where he seems to be trying to grow out of bel canto but not quite making it.  There is some splendidly dramatic music and some that just seems completely incongruous given the subject matter.  The witches’ chorus at the beginning of Act 3 is a case in point.  That said Phyllida Lloyd’s production for the Royal Opera House takes the piece seriously and does a pretty good job of presenting the drama in a straightforward but visually attractive way.

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Is this a blogger I see before me

macbethI really struggle with early Verdi.  I want to like it.  I want to like anything by the guy who wrote Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra.  Also, there’s so much of it about that avoiding it is tedious.  But, and it’s a big but, I really struggle with the combination of deadly serious stage action and upbeat, bouncy music.  There are all these arias that go something like :

 

We’re going to murder you,
Rum, tum, tum, tumpty tum.
We’re going to chop you up
Rum, tum, tum, tum.

Cognitive dissonance is killing me and that’s my thought for the day brought to you by Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Plava and a very puzzled William Shakespeare.

In New York

giuseppe_verdi_verdi_squareThe lemur and I flew to New York yesterday.  We are going to see Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Met tomorrow.  Anyway, following the train ride from Newark to Penn station and then the subway to our hotel, this was the first thing we saw after regaining the upper airs.  Appropriate or what.

New departure

The COC is usually tighter than a duck’s arse when it comes to revealing information about future seasons so it was really quite surprising to find the leaflet illustrated below in last night’s programme.  It’s not exactly a secret of course.  I actually expected Falstaff to be in this season’s line up with the Verdi bicentennial and all.  It’s pretty well known that Gerry Finley will star and I have a pretty good guess on the Nanetta.

It’s an interesting ploy to piggy back on the Met HD season this way.

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Season announcements

Announcements for the upcoming season in Toronto are starting to come in.  Voicebox: Opera in Concert have announced a thee show season at the St. Lawrence Centre for the arts. The season opens on Sunday, November 24, 2013 at 2:30 PM with Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana.  This isn’t a work one gets to see very often so even a piano accompanied concert version is very welcome.  Musical Director and Pianist will be Peter TiefenbachSoprano Betty Waynne Allison will sing Elizabeth I with tenor Adam Luther as Essex. The cast also includes Jennifer Sullivan, Jesse Clark and Mark Petracchi.

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Straightforward but effective Il Trovatore

Verdi’s Il Trovatore really is a peculiar piece.  It’s a bit of a musical hybrid with huge, rousing choruses interspersed with bel canto arias which I suppose is fairly typical of middle period Verdi.  It has a truly silly plot (perhaps based on Blackadder’s lost novel) with gypsies, dead babies and  improbable coincidences galore.  It’s also notoriously hard to cast with five very demanding roles combining a need for flawless bel canto technique with lots of power.  David McVicar’s production at the Metropolitan Opera was broadcast in HD in April 2011 and subsequently released on Blu-ray and DVD.  I saw the HD broadcast and enjoyed it enough to buy the Blu-ray.

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Alden productions heading for London

12-13-02-b-MC-D-3024English National Opera’s new season includes two Christopher Alden productions that originated at COC.  Die Fledermaus is brilliant and a must see.  Rigoletto may be a bit more of an acquired taste though it certainly has its strong points.  The London cast for Fledermaus doesn’t look as strong (to me) as the Toronto cast but the Rigoletto has the estimable Quinn Kelsey in the title role, Barry Banks as the Duke and Anna Christy as Gilda.

Dates and casts are on the ENO website; Die Fledermaus and Rigoletto.

My reviews of the Toronto performances; Die Fledermaus, with Ambur Braid and with Mireille Asselin (as Adele) and Rigoletto, with Lynch, Lomelli and Osborne and with Kelsey, Pittas and Sadovnikova (Rigoletto, Duke, Gilda).

‘Tis the season to speculate

Finley-Gerald-02With a month or so to go before the Canadian Opera Company officially announces its 2013/14 season it’s surely time for some uninformed speculation.

There are three big anniversaries in 2013; the bicentenaries of Verdi and Wagner and the centenary of Benjamin Britten.  One would think all would be represented but maybe not.  We know Verdi will be.  Gerald Finley announced at the Rubies that he would make his role debut in the title role in Falstaff at COC in 2013/14 so we can ink that one in.  Britten seems probable.  There’s a Houston/COC co-pro of Peter Grimes, directed by Neil Armfield that is due to to come to Toronto.  I think we can pencil that one in.  No idea on casting but I would love to see Stuart Skelton myself.  Wagner, I’m not so sure.  Maybe February’s run of Tristan und Isolde will be COC’s sole nod to Wagner.  Certainly the next most likely candidate; the Lyon/Met/COC Parsifal is, apparently, not expected before 2015.

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