The 'Quiet Luxury' of haute-contre Cyrille Dubois
Mozart's Birthday Doozy
HumourAs someone who has his own laundry list of embarrassing things done in the throes of Wild Birthday Celebration (I now celebrate an 8 day festival, commonly called 'greggyfest'), I want to share this doozy.
A Tale of Big Hair at the Met
Op-edWho else saw that piece on Jezebel by Collier Meyerson, about her trip to the Metropolitan Opera? It's not really an article about opera or the Met, but I'm inclined to weigh in on it on behalf of opera-goers, because this story edges towards the elitism amongst opera fans.
He said/she said: Songbook V
ReviewMarking the end of my weekend hat-trick of stuff to see, was Tapestry’s Songbook V. It’s the fifth year of Tapestry’s New Opera 101 Program, which gives singers and pianists a chance to work on contemporary opera with some of the best in the business; the rep is chosen from within Tapestry’s impressive library of commissions.
In review: Modern (Family) Opera
ReviewLast night Opera 5 opened their double bill, Modern (Family) Opera, which was made up of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna and the world première of Darren Russo’s new opera, Storybook. Stage directors Grace Smith (Wolf-Ferrari) and Opera 5 Artistic Director Aria Umezawa shared the double bill, bringing their unique styles to two pieces that couldn’t have been more different.
Regietheater? Ja oder nein?
Op-edThis past weekend, I attended The Opera Exchange, an event presented semi-regularly by the Canadian Opera Company to discuss relevant opera topics, structured around the COC’s current season. With Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production of Don Giovanni set to open on January 24th at the Four Seasons Centre, it was a good opportunity to chat about that polarizing topic, Regietheater, or director’s theatre.
In review: Mozart's Obscure Opera + Mass in C Minor
ReviewThursday night was the first of three concerts to be given by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, programming Mozart’s fantastic Mass in C Minor, K. 427, with fragments of two of his lesser-known operas, Lo sposo deluso and Zaide (K. 430 and 344, respectively). Paul Goodwin conducts the TSO, both the Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers, as well as the evening’s line up of formidable singers: soprano Hélène Guilmette, mezzo Julie Boulianne, tenors John Tessier and Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure, and baritone Gordon Bintner.
In review: Songs of Love and War
ReviewAt lunchtime on Thursday, January 22nd, members of the COC Ensemble Studio gave a concert in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Just past the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the music on this concert dealt with themes of war, love, and separation; we heard songs by Erich Korngold, Charles Ives, Hanns Eisler, and Francis Poulenc.
This weekend: Songbook V
InterviewThis Saturday, January 24th, Tapestry Opera presents Songbook V. It’s a one-night-only concert, featuring excerpts from Tapestry’s library of Canadian opera. Baritone Peter McGillivray and pianist Steven Philcox will perform along with the singers and pianists of Tapestry Opera’s New Opera 101 program.
Talking with Singers: Jessica Muirhead
InterviewCanadian soprano Jessica Muirhead is ready to take the stage as Pamina in Edmonton Opera's production of The Magic Flute, opening January 31st. Jessica last appeared at the Canadian Opera Company as Micaëla in their 2010 production of Carmen. She's stayed busy across the pond at the Vienna Volksoper (Pamina, Agathe, Antonia), Semperoper Dresden (Marguerite, Mimì), and she just finished a touring production of Carmen with Welsh National Opera.
Schmopera on the radio
EditorialReaders, listen up! This coming Wednesday, January 21st, I get to join arts writer Catherine Kustanczy (Hyperallergic, xoJane, Opera News) on her brand new radio show, Hydra. The topic? Don Giovanni: we love to hate the Don, and opera companies love to put up Mozart’s “perfect” tale of history’s most ubiquitous womanizer.