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.

Meet the folks: Collectìf

Interview

"We were all coming to the end of our academic careers at around the same time. We were looking to create something interesting, and we wanted to be our own bosses. Each of us adds something totally unique to the dynamic of the group, and we are completed by Tom King, who has been out pianist for every show."

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.

La finta giardiniera, coming to a garden near you

Interview

"Even though he wrote this opera at 18 years old, Mozart (it is no surprise) paints incredibly rich pictures of love and relationships with the perfect balance of humor and pathos. The opera doesn't try to pass judgement on any one couple or their actions. Instead, by presenting these many difference faces of love, we are able to find pieces of ourselves and our own relationships across all of the characters."

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.

Vittorio Grigòlo, impromptu voice teacher

Humour

Is it just us, or do strapping tenors always seem to waver on the line between charming enthusiasm and invasion of personal space? Now, this woman is being a great sport as a stranger (for all intents and purposes) touches her face. She's likely one of the many women and men who would indulge Mr. Grigòlo in an impromptu - and tactile - voice lesson.

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.

In review: The Exterminating Angel at ROH

Review

The guests arrive on stage, dressed in retro evening wear that reminded us of Jonathan Lynn’s Clue. We are prepared for a drawing room comedy to start, but are immediately informed that something is not right by the servants' departure from the grand mansion. We also know something's up when, in a genius expository tool, the guests arrive together a second time: they repeat the formal introductions from character to character, as if they are all trapped in a loop.