The Futures Market is a new on-line opera by Douglas Rodger (librettist) and Njo Kong Kie (composer) featuring Teiya Kasahara, Derek Kwan, Keith Lam and Wesley Hui. Some readers may remember Njo Kong Kie as the composer of the music for Mr Shi and His Lover a few years ago and probably just about all Toronto opera people will be familiar with the singers.
The latest Opera Vision Youtube recording to catch my attention is a recording from L’opéra nationale de Paris of Spontini’s La Vestale. Productions of La Vestale are rare and most Opera Vision streams come from considerably less prestigious houses so this is particularly welcome. I reviewed a Palazetto Bru-Zane audio recording of this work in 2023 and I’m not going to repeat what I wrote about the performance history and the plot. Here I shall concentrate on the Paris performance.
Back in 2013 I reviewed a 2009 DVD from La Scala of Donizetti’s Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali and I was not impressed. However, having read several rave reviews for last year’s production at the Wexford Opera Festival currently being streamed on the Opera Vision channel on Youtube I decided toi check it out. I was pleasantly surprised. It’s still very silly but Orpha Phelan’s production with an excellent cast is actually amusing enough to carry two hours of video and was probably even more fun in the theatre.
The Palazetto Bru-Zane’s video recording of Bizet’s Carmen; reviewed by me here, is going to be streamed (free) on the Opera Vision Youtube channel from January 10th.
The Excursions of Mr. Brouček is a rather odd opera by Leoš Janáček. It’s currently being streamed on the Opera Vision Youtube channel in a production at the National Theatre Brno directed by Robert Carsen.
“My favourite opera lunatics”™ have a new parody up on line.
On the heels of Toronto Transit Parody, The Ontario Place For(d) All and the Toronto Housing Opus, We now get Les MisérLoblaws set to the tune of “At the End of the Day” from Les Mis (remember Jean Valjean, imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving child),. Lyrics by Alexander Hajek, performance by Alexander Hajek, Danie Friesen, Claire Elise Harris and Greg Finney of Opera Pub fame. Audio engineering by Michael McKenzie.
Threepenny Submarine is a nine episode puppet animation series of videos on Youtube inspired by the idea that most of us got at least some of our exposure to classical music as kids from Looney Tunes and other cartoons. It’s produced by Opera 5 and Gazelle Automations and concerns an underwater journey by the submarine Threepenny Submarine investigating a mysterious sound coming from the equally mysterious Salieri Sector. The sub is commanded by a cockatiel called Iona (voiced by Lindsay Lee and sung by Caitlin Wood) assisted by a fox called Lydian (voiced and sung by Rachel Krehm). They befriend a “sea monster” called Flute, represented, appropriately enough, by Amelia Lyon on flute. Various adventures take place punctuated by well known arias using new text by Rachel Krehm. For example, the first episode features “Una voce poca fa” and “Dich, teure Halle” in arrangements for string quartet. There are also classical instrumentals used as incidental music. It’s all arranged by Trevor Wager and directed by Evan Mitchell.
Stacie Dunlop’s film of Claude Vivier’s Lonely Child, which I reviewed here, is now available on Youtube for free.
To “celebrate” it taking longer to get home from the Theatre Centre on the TTC last night than the show actually lasted here’s a little number set to a possibly recognisable tune from my favourite lunatics at Opera Revue.
And don’t forget Debauchery at the Dakota at the end of the month.
Way back in 2016 I attended a concert of Dean Burry’s music in Victoria College Chapel. The highlight of that evening was a performance by Krisztina Szabó and the Talisker Players with Bill Rowson conducting, of Dean’s setting of Alfred Noyes’ poem The Highwayman. It was performed more recently at Queen’s University, again with Krisztina, backed this time by an ensemble of Queens faculty members (flutist, Sarah Moon, clarinettist, Kornel Wolak, violinist, Gisèle Dalbec-Szczesniak, cellist, Wolf Tormann, pianist, Younggun Kim and conductor, Darrell Christi). This time it was also accompanied by some cool shadow puppetry. It was recorded for video and audio and will eventually be released on Centrediscs. This time it was preceded by chamber music by Debussy, Berg and Beethoven. The whole thing is available now on Youtube for free.
operaramblings 