Hello, Schmop-Tops!

This week I got to see something pretty cool: another Canadian opera on the mainstage at the Canadian Opera Company. La Reine-garçon, with music by Julien Bilodeau and a libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard, is a co-production with l’Opéra de Montréal that debuted nearly a full year ago.

The opera tells the story of Queen Christine of Sweden, who was raised as a boy in the Swedish court before ascending the throne upon her father’s passing. Torn between the love she has for a lady in her court, Ebba, and the pressure to produce an heir as is her monarchial duty, she brings celebrated scientist René Descartes to court in an effort to physically remove from her entirely the emotion of love. After a separation, the queen comes to learn that Ebba is now married to a man and their relationship can not continue. The queen then decides to abdicate the throne and consign herself to a virginal Catholic life – thus dying a virgin queen. There are suitors, and surgeries, and soaring chants; it was a pretty cool night at the opera.

Set designer Anick La Bissionière adeptly captures the cold and wintry Swedish landscape, and Sebastien Dionne’s costumes evoked the era perfectly. The lighting design by Éric Champoux and projections designed by Alexandre Desjardins rounded out a subtle and clear vision of Sweden in the 17th century.

The score itself is quite cinematic, with what felt like a lot of what I would call “honour choir” influence in the ensemble singing. They reminded me of my days in the Nova Scotia and National Youth Choirs, singing deliciously consonant dissonances in works by people like Imant Raminsh, Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre. The COC Chorus, as usual, sang beautifully in some exquisite French.

As Christine, our story’s heroine, soprano Kirsten MacKinnon sang with a full lustre throughout her entire range. Handling some devilishly difficult music with ease, she matched it quite well with a “masculine” elegance to Christine’s physicality. I found her to be quite genuine in her handling of Christine’s emotional quandary and the distinct differences in her presentation when she’s with her beloved Ebba and when she’s with the relentless men pursuing her and her throne were very clear and very well-understood. There was a great chemistry between MacKinnon and her Ebba that was reflected not just in physical demeanour but also in the production of the vocal line.

As the queen’s paramour, the Countess Ebba Sparre, mezzo-soprano and current COC Ensemble Studio member Queen Hezmuryango brought a lovely and soft Ebba to the stage with a beautiful voice to match. Her scenes with MacKinnon were emotionally charged with an electric chemistry between the two that only added to the lustre of their singing together. Hezmuryango’s voice is warm and loose and makes you understand why the queen would want to keep her around.

Then there are the suitors…

As Count Karl Gustav, baritone Philippe Sly brought his technically wonderful singing and beautiful tone in spades. At times, I found the balance with the orchestra to be a bit off, but that may have been due to the tessitura living a lot in the mid-voice at the top of the show. The scene where he tries (and thankfully fails miserably) to force himself upon Christine gave Sly the perfect opportunity to show someone who considers themself to be an “alpha male” get their come-uppance. “The wind blew me over,” has to be both one of the weakest yet funniest declamations I’ve seen in an opera in a while.

Tenor Isaiah Bell returns to the COC as Count Johan Oxenstierna. A man more in love with his own body more than anyone/thing else, he is persuaded to pursue the queen using his dame and prowess as a soldier and hunter. We already know that the queen neither needs nor is interested in either of these things. Although we all know “this man” and he can be insufferable, there is something ineffable about Bell’s delivery. His clean, strong tone coupled with his incredible acting ability, made Johan almost endearing and the scene was often lightened quite a bit when he entered into it.

Owen McCausland, another phenomenal Canadian tenor, brings us a layered and almost modern interpretation of what we could consider in contemporary eras to be, well, a nerd. His stance and gesticulations were well considered and nuanced, bringing to life a full character who could very easily just become a caricature. The scene in the operating theatre was definitely a highlight of the show for me.

Soprano Aline Kutan steps in as the overbearing mother to Queen Christine. As Marie-Éléonore de Brandebourg we can feel Kutan delight in not only the incredibly difficult passages, but her characterization of a mother so disappointed in her daughter that their relationship has soured beyond repair was delectable. Everyone loves a good villain and Kutan delivers as Marie-Éléonore in spades.

The other supporting roles were sung beautifully – Daniel Okulitch as Axel Oxenstierna, Alain Coulombe as Descartes’ Assistant – but I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight soprano Anne-Marie Beaudette. The first solo voice we hear is an offstage chant-yodel that is both haunting and powerful. Her voice immediately grabs you and brings you North and out into the cold. Brava!

There were a few things that might have helped bring the show to life a little further, though. While the singing was highly emotional, I found director Angela Conrad’s staging to be very static and a little on the park-and-bark side. I found this more when the full chorus was onstage – a shame as the COC Chorus is such a talented group of stage artists (I’m thinking of productions like The Cunning Little Vixen and Macbeth) it was unfortunate to see them not used physically more. We saw a glimpse of what could have happened in the operating theatre scene with Descartes. The scene was abuzz with reactions and dynamic physicality that brought everything into a new dimension, I would have liked to see more of that put to use.

The COC Orchestra under Johannes Debus played very well. Balance issues with the singers are not unheard of at the Four Seasons Centre, and this night had a few moments as well. Thick orchestrations under solo vocal lines in the middle of their ranges makes for a difficult blend. The show was, however, very-well sung and in sync with the pit. This was some seriously high-calibre music making.

And to top it all off, it’s Canadian.