A week in the Amphitheatre

Review

It was Megan Quick's performance of Robert Fleming's The Confession Stone (The Songs of Mary) that left the deepest impression. She sang five songs from the Canadian set written for Maureen Forrester, and showed off an enormous, rich mezzo that seemed to shake the intimate Amphitheatre. Her performance was subtle and thoughtful, yet centred in the voice; she had us thinking of a young Jamie Barton, and we're excited to hear her on the big stage.

Fierce recitals: Karita Mattila at Wigmore Hall

Review

Was it perfect? No. In fact, she threw perfectionism out the window. But what she gave up in terms of perfecting the music, she gained in the freedom of her expression. Wild and uninhibited, she switched freely from head voice to chest voice, casting away any notion that she would be singing in a reserved or false manner.

In review: Tosca at the COC

Review

She seemed deaf to much of the text, and her over-conducting (opting for 6 beats when 2 would do) left her with little room to follow the voices' lead. Plus, her frustrating choice to leave a break for applause after both of Cavaradossi's arias seemed to completely undermine the careful dramatic timing in Puccini's writing. Thank goodness for Adrianne.

In review: Lawrence Zazzo at Wigmore Hall

Review

We are constantly looking for more representation of women composers, which is why we were so upset to see Zazzo mocking Strozzi's music and Strozzi herself. Seated behind a music stand, he made faces that we took to be "imitating a woman," like an exaggerated oil painting of a "feminine" gesture or sigh. We were happier when his face was buried in the stand.

In review: the Mississauga Symphony presents Carmen

Review

This was a sold out house at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, and you could tell by the millings about that most of these people rarely, if ever, go to the opera. To be clear, this is really exciting. It shows the strength of the medium and that it, by no means, is a dying art. The overture started and the audience was still milling about excitedly, chatting and laughing and drinking.

In review: The Italian Girl in Algiers at MYOpera

Review

Rossini's music demands plenty from its singers, and Italian Girl comes with the extra challenges of making a comedy, well, funny. It may sound like a small thing, but this production succeeded largely because of the fun and risk that the cast took in the Italian recitatives. The singers allowed themselves silly sounds, and pulled the notes clear off the page into the realm of spoken text. It's one of the hardest things about performing this kind of opera, and their skill with the Italian text allowed the audience to embrace the show's absurdities.

Canadian YAPs & missed opportunities

Review

hat seemed like the true oversight, at least for this recital of Canadian young artists, is that no young, Canadian music made it onto the programme. These annual collaborations between two of Canada's biggest opera houses seem like a perfect opportunity to explore the huge library of 20th- and 21st-century opera, much of which comes in the form of short, self-contained scenes that are perfect for a showcase concert.

Discomfort: Louis Riel at the COC

Review

Perhaps without Hinton's supernumeraries, Louis Riel might have been more "comfortable" for Toronto audiences. With the faces of the affected placed right amid a piece of theatre that comes out of a Western European tradition, the production seems to mirror the slow, significant steps being taken by Canada as a whole, beginning with the acknowledgement of injustice within our country's short history.

Don't miss: The Chocolate Soldier

Review

If the central love story doesn't entice you, go for the brilliant performances in the supporting cast. Mezzo-soprano Eugenia Dermentzis is a scene-stealer as Aurelia, her face an exaggerated picture of uppity, bewildered, and scheming; even with her polished mezzo, her presence onstage is something delightfully out of a Pixar film. Plus, The Chocolate Soldier is a beautiful chance to catch Schmopera's own Gregory Finney onstage as the patriarch Popoff.

Lovely lunches: the COC Ensemble Studio in recital

Review

Eberwein and Kwon gave us the eight songs of Schumann's cycle Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42, a set which often seems like a feminine response to his Dichterliebe. Eberwein seemed to waver between delivering something personal, and embodying an every-woman of sorts, shining light upon what's universal about the woman in the poems by Adelbert von Chamisso.