There has been little if no question over the years that Mozart's opera seria, Idomeneo (1781), is considered to be the composer's masterpiece in the genre. But something new seemed to pop out at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre on April 6 that I had initially missed...
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Review: Against the Grain Theatre & Vivier’s Kopernikus: technology takes on ritual
Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) opened Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus: A Ritual Opera for the Dead on Apr. 5 at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille in a staging that featured a multi-disciplinary ensemble, roaming orchestra, and some very moving music. The work is one of the...
Take Note! Announcing Opera Canada’s emerging artists recital series
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Not your usual night at the opera—be among the first to discover Canada’s newest opera talent! [/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image="11489"...
In memoriam: Roger Moore (1939-2019)
The recent passing of philanthropist Roger D. Moore sent shock waves through the Toronto opera scene. A beloved figure within the Canadian classical world, Moore was the recipient of a 2010 Opera Canada—‘The Rubies’ award, an honour which, as former Opera Canada...
Feature: Claude Vivier: A cosmic seeker’s star ascends
In 1801, Goethe wrote to Felix Mendelssohn that “where nothing new is actually produced, an art cannot make itself vividly felt.” Innovation and impact are ideas Canadian composer Claude Vivier took to heart. Born in 1948 to unknown parents,Vivier studied at the...
News: 19/20 Calgary Opera Season Reveal!
This morning, the 19/20 Calgary Opera season details were released, the first under the new senior leadership team of Artistic Director, Bramwell Tovey, and Managing Director and CEO, Heather Kitchen. Here's our season rundown: The 19/20 Calgary season opens in...
News: Manitoba Opera 19/20 season
Manitoba Opera recently released details of their upcoming 19/20 season—their 47th— featuring an American classic and an iconic French opera. The season kicks off in November with the Manitoba premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. Loosely based on the Apocryphal tale...
News: L’Opéra de Montréal’s Twenty-Seven brings Gertrude Stein’s salon to life
The lives of infamous arts patrons Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas are making their way to the opera stage and they’re bringing the City of Lights with them. L’Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal presents Twenty-Seven, from March 23-31, as a part of the L’Opéra...
Review: Joyce El-Khoury in Welsh National Opera’s Roberto Devereux
Of course it is a gross simplification to say that Donizetti is all about the singing; but the focus is undeniably on beautiful, exciting and agile voices. And Welsh National Opera’s 2019 presentation of Roberto Devereux, which I saw in Birmingham on Mar. 8th,...
Review: Christopher Dunham embodies Don Giovanni for SOLO
On Mar. 2, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera produced a fully staged production of Don Giovanni. Under the artistic direction of maestro Sabatino Vacca, this relatively new company’s mandate is to promote “the magnificent world of operatic entertainment across Southern...
Review: Edmonton’s Mercury Opera La Bohème offers “emotional penetration”
Edmonton’s Mercury Opera prides itself on being a maverick enterprise, taking grand opera into alleys and subway corridors, arid barrens and inner-city parks. It once produced Puccini’s Il tabarro on a docked riverboat. Last year, Mercury Opera staged La traviata in a...
News: L’Opéra de Montréal 19/20 Season
The time has come for the L’Opéra de Montréal 19/20 season to be announced! Tchaikovsky opens the season on September 14 with his most famous opera, Eugene Onegin. The ultimate opera of lost love and bitter regret will feature real life couple Étienne Dupuis and...












