In review: Puss in Boots & Berio's Folk Songs

Review

The Glenn Gould School presented its fall opera this week, a double bill of Xavier Montsalvatge's El gato con botas (Puss in Boots), and Luciano Berio's Folk Songs. The two shows are objectively different in musical style and dramatic inspiration, but director Liza Balkan writes that pairing El gato and Folk Songs "is a desire for storytelling that embraces surprise, humour, truth, freedom of play, and a willingness to be fearless and intimate with you, the audience."

A great show at the AGO

Review

Last night I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario for their AGO Friday Nights series; this month, Friday Nights includes a little music with your art. Complementing the AGO's current exhibition of works by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), Painting Set Free, is a series of concerts curated by Tapestry Opera's artistic director, Michael Mori, entitled Music Set Free.

In review: Mahler & other beauties at the TSO

Review

I took a break from straight-up opera last night, and headed to Roy Thomson Hall to hear the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the latest instalment of their ongoing Decades Project, in partnership with the AGO, which looks deeply at the music of the early 20th century, last night in particular, 1900-1909. These years brought us a large orchestra, with lush, creative sound palates that are a clear predecessor to soon-to-come film scores. It's the culmination of all the Romantic music coming out of the 19th century, and all the experimentation and industry of the early 1900s. A simplified way of describing it is, "more is more".

In review: The Telephone & The Medium

Review

The University of Toronto Opera opened a double bill last night, pairing together two of Menotti's most well-loved works, The Telephone (1946) and The Medium (1945). I saw the first of two casts in what I thought was a beautifully detailed production by director Michael Albano.

She said/He said: Centre Stage 2015

Review

Last night, I went with Greg Finney to Centre Stage, the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio Competition. The competition is the culmination of nationwide auditions, narrowing the 120 applicants down to eight young Canadian singers. Dressed in gorgeous gowns and suits (gifted to them from The Hudson's Bay Company's Queen Street store), finalists sing on the Four Seasons Centre stage, with the COC Orchestra led by Music Director Johannes Debus. It's a pretty big deal for these aspiring young singers.

In review: Opera Atelier's Armide

Review

Earlier this month I spoke with OA Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski, who said, "love can be something that saves people or destroys people. Love is amoral. Love cuts through like a knife – anyone in love is cut open. Love is more powerful than hate, but that doesn’t mean it’s a happy ending."

In review: David Warrack's Abraham

Review

Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at the Metropolitan United Church on the corner of Queen Street East and Church Street in the heart of Downtown Toronto was the the premiere of a new Canadian work by composer David Warrack.

Weird & wonderful: Toronto Darknet Market

Review

Last night I went to Mây on Dundas West for one of the most compact, strange evenings of music theatre I've ever seen. Canadian tenor Jonathan MacArthur, Loose TEA Music Theatre Artistic Director Alaina Viau, and Fawn Chamber Creative Artistic Director Amanda Smith have collaborated on Toronto Darknet Market, a fundraising event for Medée Toronto's 2016 production of Medée by Charpentier.

In review: Quinn Kelsey's Songs from the Heart

Review

Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey strode into the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, wearing black cowboy boots with his three-piece suit, and said to the audience, "I apologize in advance for cheat sheets."

Fannibals in New York: One World Symphony premieres Hannibal

Review

Thematically, the darkness of Hannibal is not an unfamiliar subject to opera. Psychopathic heroes and murderers have long taken the stage through works like Wozzeck and Salome, characters like Bluebeard and Scarpia. A lot of operas are bloody. Yet, I’m not sure the question is whether Hong is doing something new. Rather, the point is what he’s doing to make opera contextually relevant to those who otherwise might not go to the opera at all.