4 shows to perk up the post-holiday blues

Editorial

Jenna Simeonov Dec 31, 2016

Happy New Year, readers!

The holidays are great - but after roughly a month of wavering between buzzed and hungover, and eating like a complete idiot, it’s nice to get back to some semblance of a schedule where businesses are open and you can trust their hours of operation.

For us, “normal” is a healthy frequency of operas to see. Coming up this month, there are four highlights about which we’re pretty pumped.

Der Rosenkavalier

Now, our much-needed holiday visits to Canada meant that we missed the December 20th opening night of Der Rosenkavalier at the Royal Opera House, but that’s ok. We’re still thrilled to have the chance to see Robert Carsen’s new production of Strauss’ stunning opera, and to hear the likes of Sophie Bevan and Alice Coote in their elements. And of course, Renée Fleming’s performances of the Marschallin are the last of her operatic career; it’s no surprise that the run is nearly sold out. A few tickets remain for the January 17th and January 24th performances, so click here for details.

Written on Skin

Oddly enough, we’ve now heard two in-concert performances of George Benjamin’s entrancing 2012 opera, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. For the revival of Katie Mitchell’s production at the Royal Opera House, soprano Barbara Hannigan and baritone Christopher Purves return to their roles of Agnès and The Protector; countertenor Iestyn Davies sings the role of The Boy. Five performances run between 13-30 January; for details and tickets, click here.

The Depraved Appetite of Tarrare The Freak

Great title, right? Wattle & Daub Figure Theatre presents Tom and Tobi Poster’s “monstrous chamber opera for puppets” at Wilton’s Music Hall, January 30 to February 18. The chamber opera is based on the true story of Tarrare the Freak, the 18th-century French spy with a penchant for snakes, cats, and amputated limbs. The more we read about Tarrare the Freak, the more questions arise. Curious? Click here for details.

Mozart vs. Machine

On February 3 at the Folkestone Quarterhouse, Mahogany Opera Group presents the world premiere of Mozart vs. Machine, a combo of Mozart, electronic music, and video projection. Mahogany sums it up better than we ever could: “Alone in his Manhattan research laboratory, Raymond Scott, the father of electronic music, is developing a machine to generate random musical patterns. When one of his devices accidentally tears a hole in the universe it distorts time and brings him face to face with classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

You’ll want to click here and find out more.