Philippe Sly started his career in the world of opera as something of a wunderkind. At the age of 21, while still an undergraduate at Montreal’s McGill University, he was awarded one of the Grand Prizes in the 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The...
Eleven days of absurd artistic competition came to an end in a two hour squeeze on Thursday night. At the end of the marathon even our famously grateful Canadian audiences could not find the strength for standing ovations. I can’t imagine how the singers felt. I’ve...
The second semifinal started with a warning that we would first hear an overture; the previous night's unannounced one must have really freaked people out. The question going into last night’s concert was whether mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny and baritone Brian Murray,...
The competition moved to the big garish canoe, the Maison Symphonique, for the rest of the aria rounds; it’s hard on the eyes but cozier for big voices than Bourgie Hall. Most singers sounded much better than in the little room where their power can be alarming, with...
The absurdity of comparing performers becomes the most acute in the finals. Typically, by now, token local competitors and other political choices are eliminated and your ears are left with more than they could possibly eat. This was certainly true in the Art Song...
Nikkei-Canadian Teiya Kasahara developed The Queen in Me over about five years, bringing the latest iteration with orchestra to a sold-out, three-show run at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre June 2-4. Co-produced by the COC, Nightwood Theatre, Amplified Opera (of...
It was harder to enjoy the singers in the Art Song semifinals, the rep orbiting late 19th century romantic poetry like a donkey tied to a grindstone. Angst is universal: don’t we all go through a phase of uncontrollable sighing and obsessions with flowers, moonlight,...
Spring is well underway, and so is Canada's opera scene. June offers an exciting lineup of events for opera lovers, many in celebration of Pride Month. Whether you're looking to enjoy an in-person production, a virtual...
(and we taste disappointment for the first time) The second eight-hour concert hits differently. Repertoire begins to repeat, Bourgie Hall’s “discount sepulchre” vibe closes in; you glare with outrage and longing at the judges’ complimentary cushions. It becomes...
Nicole Lizée and Nicolas Billon’s new work R.U.R. A Torrent of Light was, overcoming many COVID inflicted delays, finally presented by Tapestry Opera in collaboration with OCAD University in the Great Hall at OCAD. The story concerns a couple; Dom and Helena, who own...
It’s good that music competitions are rare. It keeps them weird. I suppose for many people they are just concerts, which sounds like it would be nice. Since you’re reading this in Opera Canada you’re likely more familiar than most with competitions, which are one of...
The Canadian Opera Company has announced its first full mainstage lineup after three seasons of COVID-forced closures. The 2022/2023 season is a solidly 19th-century affair, with the two temporal outliers being Mozart’s 1786 Le nozze di Figaro and Richard Strauss’s...