Opera in concert or a minimalist staging? Despite the company’s title, Voicebox: Opera in Concert’s Nov. 26 production of Rodelinda was by no means a static presentation with six singers “parking and barking” in front of a small Baroque orchestra of eleven players....
The Opéra de Montréal held its very first Atelier lyrique National Auditions Gala in Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts on November 15. This prestigious event, entitled TALENT 2017, brought together over three hundred music lovers who gathered to celebrate...
A changed world makes for a changed Don Giovanni. Produced by an all female team, UofT Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni (seen Nov. 23) struck new chords in how to deal with the leading man’s appalling treatment of women. Flanked by a chorus of silent female...
As an opera, Missing is under-written. As an important piece of theatre that builds over its short 80 minutes to a shatteringly emotional conclusion, this Pacific Opera Victoria production is something every Canadian should see. Co-commissioned by Pacific Opera...
Every year the Atelier Lyrique holds auditions to find the operatic talents of the future. This year they are betting on a slightly new formula: Talent 2017. Instead of holding the entire audition process behind closed doors, the public can assist (with the purchase...
While visiting a prematurely wintry Winnipeg this past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting with Larry Desrochers, General Director and CEO of Manitoba Opera and their Director of Marketing, Darlene Ronald. They took me on a backstage tour of the Centennial Concert...
Nowadays, it seems even stagings of comic operas are enamored with minimalism, skewing toward a neutral palette of black, white, and grey. So how refreshing it was to revisit Catalonian director Joan Font and his maximalist Cenerentola, which explodes with all the...
It would be difficult to imagine a more hard-working company than Britain’s Opera North. To Nottingham’s Theatre Royal they brought touring productions of six short operas split into double bills – on the two nights I saw (November 2 and 3), performed with real...
At Zoomer Hall (the performing space of 96.3 New Classical FM) on Nov. 6, I had the pleasure of attending a concert involving ten young artists, under the auspices of IRCPA, short for International Resource Centre for Performing Artists. For the avid opera fan,...
Is Canada’s own ‘Merry’ Widow really Canadian at all? Marketed as Canada’s own ‘Merry’ Widow, referencing Franz Lehar’s famous German operetta The Merry Widow, Toronto Operetta Theatre’s single performance of Calixa Lavallée’s The Widow (presented in hounour of...
Missing, a co-commission by City Opera Vancouver and Pacific Opera Victoria, opened at Vancouver’s York Theatre on Nov. 3 and moves to Victoria for an already sold-out run on the 17th. A courageous commission, yes, but also canny: COV and POV must have put out feelers...
On Nov. 1, 2017, the Canadian Opera Company presented its annual Centre Stage Gala featuring the Ensemble Studio Competition. The order and wording of this title is not without significance. The evening is as much about the glittering, fundraising dinner that takes...