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Vaness directs electric Tosca in Kansas City

Vaness directs electric Tosca in Kansas City

I could see Ms. Vaness' artistry in every move of the performers. While there was no groundbreaking staging, I felt a special electricity from the cast, like there was a connection to the greats, which of course Ms. Vaness provides.

Jane Richardson
Review: the COC's "prima la musica" La traviata

Review: the COC's "prima la musica" La traviata

Legato in spades and a magnetic presence on the stage that was at times hypnotizing, her "Sempre libera" (an aria that holds a particularly special place in the hearts of Queers in my generation) brought the house down.

Greg Finney
Les Délices streams opera pastiche The White Cat

Les Délices streams opera pastiche The White Cat

Julie Andrijeski and Shelby Yamin (violins), Kathryn Montoya and Nagy (oboes and recorders), Rebecca Reed (viola da gamba) and Mark Edwards (harpsichord) all wear cat masks, a simple and delightfully conspiratorial gesture. These cats know how to work it.

John Hohmann
Talking with drag queens: Rosé

Talking with drag queens: Rosé

“When you think of the voice as having, like, the sound of an emotion instead of just sounding pretty, that's a really exciting thing to do. It makes it more like a mime performance than just lip syncing.”

Jenna Simeonov
Homegrown gems: TOT presents A Northern Lights Dream

Homegrown gems: TOT presents A Northern Lights Dream

"Representation matters. New works matter. Canadian works matter. We are proud to have the honour and privilege to give space to these characters and voices - and relish the opportunity to do more in the future."

Jenna Simeonov
Magic everywhere in SDO's Aging Magician

Magic everywhere in SDO's Aging Magician

"After years of creating work after work, it becomes your life," he says about why he is an artist. "Initially, I was drawn to things just because I was fascinated by ideas. The traditional world was not where I belonged. I knew I wanted to be in the arts and I had an impulse to perform."

Eva Cahen
The ensemble from heaven sends Don Giovanni to hell

The ensemble from heaven sends Don Giovanni to hell

The standout of the evening was Justin Welsh as Leporello. With comedic timing second to none, Welsh’s Leporello was long-suffering, but wily, and every scene he was in was hilarious with so much physical comedy it brought the house down.

Melissa Ratcliff
Boston Baroque's Louisa Muller on Amadigi di Gaula

Boston Baroque's Louisa Muller on Amadigi di Gaula

"I think the way that I've approached it has been a little bit more of thinking about time expanding and thinking about the things that happen, not happening in real time, so that we take and use da capo arias, we just take a real dive into people's emotional states."

Arturo Fernandez
Opinion: critics who body-shame are bad at their job

Opinion: critics who body-shame are bad at their job

It's my thought that reviewers who disparage singers' bodies are only telling us some ugly things about themselves: that they don't think fat people can fall in love or have romantic experiences, and that they don't have anything better to say about an opera production even after the two years of shit we all went through with stages being shuttered.

Jenna Simeonov
Daniel shines in Manitoba Opera's Gala Concert

Daniel shines in Manitoba Opera's Gala Concert

The crowd rose to their feet after this aria, applauding and cheering an downright incredible performance. And her singing in the final quartet, from Verdi's Rigoletto, reminded me of Denyce Graves.

Neil Weisensel

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