Heartbeat's Giovanni successfully bucks tradition

Review

From the overture's opening measures, the band produced genuine chamber music. Gleb Kanasevich, whose playing I've admired since his conservatory days, had increased responsibility as the lone wind. Schlosberg's orchestration demands fast arpeggiated chords, virtuosic melodies, and character-driven phrases to compensate for the missing winds and brass.

Simpler Così offers sizzle & substance for Emerging Artists

Review

Of course, the success of Così fan tutte rests with the six singers and the magic they create both individually and in various combinations of duets, trios and more. For this production, two of the characters - Ferrando and Despina - are double cast, while the other four characters remain constant for the run.

"Still incredible": Robert Lepage's Nightingale

Review

Whenever you see the name Robert Lepage you can rest assured you are in for a visual treat. If you've been paying any attention to the theatre world at large you'll know that Lepage is known for turning heads and making audiences sit up and take note - this production is no exception.

Sublime heartbreak: Jesus Christ Superstar

Review

"He's a man. He's just a man." These lyrics, so central to Mary's song, seemed to me the springboard for Heath Saunders' portrayal of Jesus. In Saunders' performance we saw Jesus as a victim-of-circumstance, but in the most dire way. It wouldn't be enough to say that the vulnerability Saunders brought to the role was "relatable" or even "human"; it was sublime (or sublimated?) heartbreak.

Bashful bel canto: Norma in Houston

Review

However, in spite of all the great music, I got a sense that the company radiated severe apathy about the sheer task of putting on "yet another grand opera like this one because it is a classic which is, however, very boring." Combined with this aura, I got the sense that this production was blessed with a great many artists who only just failed, in their combined efforts, to make this production truly take off and maintain altitude.

Leonard reigns as Rosina in WNO's Barber

Review

Leonard's voice is smooth and dark, but simultaneously buoyant and splendidly agile; she is perfectly suited to Rossini, and she appears to love it. If only the staging used her better! She subtly pulled off one of the funniest moments of the evening as she began the cabaletta while genteelly practicing her needlepoint as she sings about being a sweet, obedient young lady, but once she arrives at the all important "ma..." sings "ma se mi toccano dov'è il mio debole" through gritted teeth as she aggressively stabs the sampler with her needle, while the audience roars with laughter.

Opera On Tap's Her Kind: music & a beer

Review

Her Kind opened mysteriously enough as the sopranos entered costumed in dissimilar black outfits, their heads covered in grey veils. Standing strategically around the periphery of the playing area, they produced a polyphonic sound evoking the solemnity and religiosity of Hildegard's composition concerning salvation and the Virgin Mother.

Futuristic Baroque burlesque: Orphée

Review

Undoubtedly, the standout performance of the show goes to the remarkable Company XIV. These six dancers, in some of the most exquisite costuming I've ever seen, moved throughout the show functioning much in the way a Greek chorus would. Their physicality representing the off-stage chorus as well as the virtual one compiled by singers from around the world submitting recordings of themselves.

Uncomfortable premieres: The Mother

Review

I would place Merz and Osborn's opera somewhere in the middle of absurdist and literalist. They attempt to explore the psychological relationship of mother and son through repetitive material and an assertive musical language.

Beloved Bernstein: HGO's West Side Story

Review

HGO hit the nail on the head in making West Side Story come across as a highly successful play with songs, with Jerome Robbins's choreography being by far the lead attraction of the evening in terms of its sheer power of unspoken expression.