A call for new music: FAWN Chamber Creative

News

Composers interested in submitting must do so by March 18, 2016, and FAWN is accepting a 1-5 minute recording of their work, plus the corresponding score, a bio, résumé, and a short summary of their compositional interests. The instrumentation is specific, and works must be include some or all of: tenor (voice), cello, electronics, percussion, and acoustic guitar.

What's on at the Met: 2016/17

Editorial

There are a few exciting surprises, though. First and foremost, Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de loin will hit the stage in December 2016, marking the Met's first opera by a woman since 1903. Delightfully, maestra Susanna Mälkki makes her Met debut on the podium for this new production by Robert Lepage. The casting is interesting to me; Eric Owens is Jaufé Rudel, Susanna Phillips is Clémence, and Tamara Mumford is Pélérin (The Pilgrim).

The COC Ensemble's Marriage of Figaro

Interview

On Monday, February 22nd at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre, the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio takes the main stage for their performance of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. This is an annual highlight for the young artists, who take on the task of understudying the main cast, on top of countless hours of preparation for their very special night.

Newbies at the opera

Op-ed

We entered the theatre and got to our seats minutes before the curtain rose. The stage set was simple and yet magnificent with a full staircase as the main backdrop, and then the orchestra started and the singing began, WOW! The voices. I never thought operas could be so humorous and enjoyable, I always thought operas were serious and tragic with the cliché of a fat lady in a flowing floor length gown and horned helmet - was I wrong!

Yes, please: Jonas Kaufmann on the big screen

News

For two hours, Kaufmann and the Filarmonica take us through Puccini's whole body of work; the programme includes arias from his lesser-known work (like his first opera, Le ville), as well as the hits we're all dying to hear again and again. This includes gorgeous orchestral works, like the famous interlude form Madama Butterfly.

Second opinion: The Marriage of Figaro at the COC

Review

While I loved the added element of the character "Cherubim" representing the chaos that can be wreaked by the basest desires of each of the characters, I feel like we lost a lot of the original Beaumarchais and Da Ponte brilliance. A lot of the sexuality seemed gratuitous, I think in this examination of class and propriety, there has to be a level of decorum and innuendo, or it just looks like you're trying to "sex up some Mozart".

Toronto Opera Initiative's Don Giovanni

Editorial

Led by sopranos Jaclyn Grossman and Rebecca Townsend, the artist-centric collective creates performance opportunities for young artists. During their transition between student and professional life, it's all about gaining experience, even in what may seem like "stretch roles" for these emerging singers.

Opera's love stories: 3 reasons they're doomed

Humour

But why do all our preferred operatic love stories fall apart? The specifics are unique to each show, of course (mutual death by poison, general insecurities on both parties, etc.), but we think we can boil the problems down to three big categories.

Free live stream: Sondra Radvanovsky at the National Opera Center

News

Radvanovsky will chat with Scorca about her "Three Queens" project with the Metropolitan Opera this season (she sings the title roles in Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Roberto Devereux, and Maria Stuarda); plus, she'll talk about her career and success in what will likely be an engaging and honest discussion.

Phillip Addis & Emily Hamper: The Pilgrim Soul

Interview

Baritone Phillip Addis and pianist Emily Hamper are preparing for the Canadian Art Song Project's upcoming concert, The Pilgrim Soul, February 19th, 7:30pm at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse. The husband-and-wife team are longtime collaborators, and for this concert they'll present a program of music by Canadians Chester Duncan, Larysa Kuzmenko, Imant Raminsh, plus works by Dominick Argento and Gustav Mahler.