Reviews
Review: Gerald Finley brings an “aching pathos” to Metropolitan Opera’s Bluebeard’s Castle
To see or not to see: that’s the question posed by Metropolitan Opera’s intriguing pairing of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle. The eponymous princess of Tchaikovsky’s opera, blind from birth, has been zealously shielded from the harder truths of her condition by her...
Review: L’Opéra de Montréal’s Champion offers redemption…in black and blue
What makes a man? His wins? His losses? His mistakes and regrets? His memories? Is it in how he sees himself, or in how others see him? These are some of the questions the audience is left with at the end of Champion, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s 2013...
Review: Canadian Opera Company Elektra “a rare theatrical perfect storm”
Best productions of Elektra have a lead singer who can make the jagged vocal score sound effortlessly smooth and a director who can finesse the extremes of Greek tragedy into something psychologically believable for the 21st-century viewer. James Robinson’s Canadian...
Review: Die Fledermaus a 2018 antidote from Toronto Operetta Theatre
Tired out from the Holiday Season festivities? How about something frivolous, frothy and fun to get rid of those post-Christmas blues? It’s always nice to end the year—and 2018 has turned out to be quite the annus horribilis for the world—with some escapist...
Review: Festival d’Automne à Paris’ Kopernikus: a “brilliant performance” of Claude Vivier’s “other-worldly, ethereal work”
Kopernikus (Rituel de la mort, 1978-79) was Claude Vivier’s only opera. Seen Dec. 4th at Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris, this production concludes Le Festival d'Automne à Paris 2018's series of five concerts dedicated to the work of the enigmatic Québecois composer....
Review: San Francisco Opera’s It’s a Wonderful Life “Everyone loved it. There were tears.”
San Francisco Opera’s It’s a Wonderful Life (seen Nov. 20th), Jake Heggie’s latest work for the operatic stage, might be called a musical—and he would not object. He declares that he has been writing them for years. Still, his prior successes with Dead Man Walking...
Review: Bavarian State Opera’s Otello: Gerald Finley’s Iago shines in misguided staging
Bavarian State Opera’s new production of Otello (seen Nov. 28th) would seem to have all the ingredients for a compelling take on Verdi’s distillation of Shakespeare’s tragedy: top soloists Jonas Kaufmann (Otello), Anja Harteros (Desdemona) and Gerald Finley (Iago);...
Review: Manitoba Opera’s Don Giovanni captivated “21st century savvy listeners”
It’s no mere tilting at windmills that Mozart’s Don Giovanni, rising from its own grave 231 years since its premiere in Prague in 1787, shudders with even greater resonance in today’s brave new #MeToo world, where modern day moguls fueled by their own narcissistic...
Review: UofT Opera’s Street Scene “gripping” despite unfocused story
Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, presented by UofT Opera and directed by Michael Patrick Albano takes advantage of a talented ensemble while dealing with what is a rather unfocused work for the stage. As seen on Nov. 22, the opera’s themes—relevant when introduced in 1946...
Review: Calgary Opera’s “excellent” Roméo et Juliette plus announcement of new management
Calgary Opera opened its new season in daring fashion on Nov. 17th with a bold and expensive production of Charles Gounod's five-act tour-de-force, Roméo et Juliette. Current General Director Keith Cerny impressively finessed bringing Claude Girard's famed, 1986 Opéra...
Review: Against the Grain Theatre’s Bound v. 2: “no less powerful or radical for its simplicity”
Against the Grain Theatre’s Bound v.2 (seen Nov. 19th) is opera for our times. Handel arias and ensembles have been adapted into a production that appears to border on dystopian but is, in many ways, startlingly relevant despite its source music: four “wanted persons”...
Review: ICOT’s The Journey: Notes of Hope is a moving story about migration, re-discovery and self-acceptance
There have been many stories told in every art form of late about immigration, migration and displacement. Our country knows its fair share of émigré stories, many of which have been turned into operas and musicals. But no story has been quite so moving as the one...