Reviews
Rusalka at the COC — Darkness in Still Waters
Canadian Opera Company premiered a sensuous and sumptuous, new-to-Toronto production of Rusalka on Oct. 12th. Sir David McVicar’s wildly entertaining staging of Dvořák’s story of a doomed water sprite ranges from the delightfully silly to the profoundly human. The...
Manon at the Met—a marvelous revival keeps Massenet fresh
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Laurent Pelly’s drab production of Massenet’s Manon will never be a favorite of mine (he’s got a far, far defter hand for comedy), but the performance I saw on Oct. 2nd—its third of the new Met season—managed to easily outshine its...
COC Turandot — Making people out of porcelain
Canadian Opera Company’s (COC) season-opening presentation of Puccini’s Turandot (seen Sept. 28th) showcased the full force of legendary avant-garde director Robert Wilson’s genre-shattering impact on opera. As much as Wilson’s sparse, hard-edged aesthetic felt deeply...
Dutch National Opera: Pagliacci/Cavalleria rusticana—A double bill turned inside out
With a double bill that opened the Dutch National Opera (DNO) 19/20 season on Sept. 5th, Robert Carsen celebrates the traditional tandem of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with a special twist. First, he begins with Pagliacci rather than...
Review: Manitoba Underground Opera 2019 Summer Festival
Manitoba Underground Opera (MUO) rose again from the netherworld of a frigid Winnipeg winter with an all-new summer festival of site-specific opera. The festival, loosely themed Reflections of Ourselves, was performed in repertory style between Aug. 16th -24th at a...
Review: Highlands Opera Studio —Tales of Gods and Social Media
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Now in its twelfth season under the leadership of General Director Valerie Kuinka and Artistic Director Richard Margison, Highlands Opera Studio (HOS) presented an impressive array of events highlighting the talents of twenty-five...
Review: Halifax Summer Opera Festival—The Full Report!
Among the many cultural summer happenings occurring simultaneously in the province of Nova Scotia, the 15th annual Halifax Summer Opera Festival (HSOF) distinctly held its own. In the true spirit of a festival, it hosted events in several venues across the city...
Review: Mercury Opera Carmen in a “legendary Edmonton greasy spoon”
Having the title character's leg brush up against your thigh is just one unique prospect in attending a Mercury Opera Carmen. The Edmonton company brings traditional opera into tight spaces, and the performers are apt to be singing and gesticulating their hearts out...
Review: Étienne Dupuis & Philippe Sly star in new Ivo van Hove Don Giovanni for Paris
For the last production of the season celebrating the 350th anniversary of Opéra national de Paris, Mozart’s Don Giovanni was entrusted to Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove. Famous for his minimalist stagings and radical innovations at the Toneelgroep, a repertory...
Review: Robert Carsen “Bausch period” Iphigénie in Paris
Between the Parisian museums, theatres and opera houses, when Robert Carsen is in town, it is very likely that he is up to more than one project if not three or four. In many ways, he is like the great fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld for whom he paid homage in a...
Review: Sondra Radvanovsky brings “incredible beauty” to Royal Opera House Andrea Chénier
Composer Umberto Giordano and librettist Luigi Illica stuffed their 1896 opera Andrea Chénier full of setting-specific details from the French Revolution. All the leading figures of that time are referenced, whether in a major role, a cameo, or in passing. Probably...
Review: Frédéric Antoun is “noble and sincere” in Opéra Comique’s Manon
When Opéra Comique announced it would be programming Jules Massenet’s Manon (seen May 13th) as part of their spring season I was overjoyed. Not only is it one of the most beloved operas of the French Romantic repertoire but it premiered in this very house in 1884 and...