Last-minute surprises & a star performance by Barton: HGO's La Favorite

Review

Mezzo Jamie Barton inhabited the lead role of Léonor very naturally indeed, especially in her aria “O mon Fernand,” itself a perfect example of Donizetti’s felicitous employment of confident Parisian harpists and wind players in prominent positions. Such inspired orchestrational choices are the sort of thing that give great singers an optimal point to start their dramatic conceptions of such arias.

Technologies may change, people may not: DMMO's The Human Voice

Review

Stage Director Kristine McIntyre brought Poulenc’s one woman drama into the modern era with her own updated translation of the libretto. Performing the opera in English removed the need for supertitles which let the audience focus on the drama. In addition to the telephone, McIntyre added in some new technologies such as a smartphone and tablet.

A Love Letter to Jennifer Holloway

Review

Richard Strauss's Salome has always been a controversial opera, to say the least. The premiere performance in 1905 was not particularly well received, though famously the premiere was attended by Giacomo Puccini, Gustav Mahler, and Adolf Hitler. Based off of Oscar Wilde's play of the same name, Salome comes from a Biblical tale, though highly erotic and controversially murderous.

A vague ensemble opera: Flight

Review

It seemed to be a two-and-a-half-hour opera about people being their worst in a confined space. It was, basically, a series of vignettes that could be amusing and meaningful in a shorter format.

A "vital and contemporary" evening in BERLIN: The Last Cabaret

Review

With the world premiere nature of this show and the resurrection of some of this music, it should come as no surprise that the songs disappeared from our cultural lexicon because they’re not musically memorable. I kept waiting for a showstopper, but none were forthcoming

Leading ladies steal Barber of Seville at COC

Review

Directed by Joan Font with choreography by Xevi Dorca, this revival of the 2015 production with set and costumes by Joan Guillén, is described in the program notes by the director as "action that could happen" in the 19th century, or even today in Toronto. I do beg to differ.

A lusty Carmina Burana from Minnesota Dance Theatre

Review

I am by no means an Orff scholar, so my analysis may be subjective. The collection of twenty four poems from a larger collection written by medieval monks with varying themes, yet this production seemed to hone in on just one: lust.

Classic, not overdone: Philippe Jaroussky and Jérôme Ducros at Wigmore Hall

Review

The Schubert-song recital is a staple and one that I find, for the most part, to be overdone. There is no denying the composer’s immense and invaluable contribution to the lieder repertory. His songs are like golden threads in the intricate tapestry that is the history of German lieder, but personally, I find that a recital programme of unrelated Schubert song to be lacking in imagination when there is a wide variety of song repertoire to be programmed in interesting and new ways.

Things we didn't ask for: Winterreise at 21C

Review

It was Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly, backed by Le Chimera Project - the unusual-for-Lieder band of clarinet, trombone, accordion, and violin - staged by director Roy Rallo. The group of artists seem to have come together precisely to develop this take on Schubert's Winterreise, and to do so from as blank an artistic slate as possible.

Hued Songs, where traditions collude and collide

Review

With 2020 underway, Hued Songs can only look forward to more exceptional work carving a unique and necessary sphere within the South Florida music scene. Moreover, Spirituals & Òrìṣàs should challenge the region’s longstanding classical music institutions to think innovatively in the new year.