Opera for voyeurs: Opera Peep Show

Interview

Opera Peep Show begins with a cocktail party in the bar, where the audience can choose different opera scenes from a menu. When they pick a scene, they pay a fee and are given a room key. They then walk into an opera scene happening in one of the museum’s rooms, already in progress. Each scene is presented by a different Toronto-based indie opera company. Opera Peep Show experiments with pay-as-you-go micro-payments for the audience.

Talking with Renaissance men: Matthew Sharp

Interview

Matthew Sharp is one of those tirelessly creative types. He's a solo cellist, baritone, actor, director, and general theatre creator; as often as he can, Sharp combines all of the above into his work, earning himself the title, "virtuoso of the arts" (The Times). Our conversation was a complicated, enlightening one, so much so that a single interview wouldn't quite cut it.

Talking with singers: Jamie Barton

Interview

"This seems a bit cliché in terms of mezzo roles, but dude, throw me a Carmen. I would love to sing a Carmen. I think I would sing the pants off of her. And she's also, once again, a character who is so fascinating to me, psychologically." Barton is eager to portray opera's infamous, hedonistic femme-fatale as "someone who is not the typical body type. I think that is an envelope I would love to try and push, given the right director and the right production."

Ian Rosenblatt: "It's all about the voice."

Interview

Out of his recital series have come several close relationships with the singers. "I spend a lot of time with all the artists. A number of them have become friends." Often the singers stay at with him while they're in town for a recital, or they'll use his piano to rehearse. "There's nothing like having the second act of Bohème being sung to you in the kitchen while you're cooking."

Ian Page: Mozart & imagination

Interview

"I love the way things have changed in the last generation or two. There are people who behave stupidly and tyrannically, there will always be. But it's more and more of a minority now, and I think it's so clear that when people feel enabled and bring themselves to their work, it's bound to be better. It's so obvious."

Anna Theodosakis: directing The Rape of Lucretia

Interview

"While The Rape of Lucretia deals specifically with the story a woman, I believe it expresses the struggle of the individual against the confines of a corrupt society. I hope it can lend a voice to survivors who find themselves silenced, gender notwithstanding."

Singing in Germany: Bel Canto Summer Voice Program

Interview

"Unfortunately, colleges and universities offer far too little in order to prepare young people to the reality of the day to day work in this profession. Following the completion of their vocal studies, young singers attend their first auditions and are completely stunned when they realise how high the competition is as that there are many others good singers on the market. Young professionals must be prepared and ready to compete for the same roles against very experienced singers of all ages."

Talking with singers: Anna Devin

Interview

Devin feels "completely at home in Handel" and relishes the collaborative process of pulling the music off the page. "You can't actually be wrong; you can have a difference of opinion between you and the conductor, but there's nothing to say that you're wrong. And I quite like that, because it means we can have interesting discussions about why you should do one thing and why you shouldn't do another."

Opera 101 with Kristine Dandavino

Interview

On Sunday, April 10, Oshawa Opera will be taking us back to school with their upcoming Opera 101: What the Fach? Sixteen local singers and emcee Alexis Ward will take the stage, with Artistic Director Kristine Dandavino at the piano to bring us the highlights of the "standard canon". We had a quick Q&A with Kristine to find out more about this show.

Talking with singers: Christian Van Horn

Interview

Carmen will mark Van Horn's third contract with the Canadian Opera Company, and it's a place he likes to be. "It's a world-class company," he says. "It always has been, but especially in the last five years, specifically since Alexander [Neef] got here, he's really turned this into a place to be. There's not a singer in the world that doesn't want to sing at COC."