Brilliant conducting by Italian maestro Paolo Carignani, coupled with the sensational singing of French mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine as Carmen, and the passionate delivery of Canadian tenor David Pomeroy as Don José, make the COC’s production of Bizet’s warhorse worth the price of admission. All, however, is not perfect. Bizet’s Carmen can be a two-edged sword. […]
At the recent Sondra Radvanovsky concert at Koerner Hall, my former boss at Classical 96 FM joked that I had discovered the soprano who is now considered the belle of the opera world. That is not far from the truth in terms of Toronto. He remembered when I came back from Spoleto Festival USA in […]
This season, the remarkable Opera Atelier is celebrating its 30th anniversary. During these three decades, the company has continued to educate the audience in the delicacies of baroque opera. In other words, for long-time fans of the company, the concept of 17th and 18th century performance practices seems completely natural, as opposed to the aesthetic […]
Toronto Operetta Theatre took a big leap of faith in 2008 by mounting the world premiere of the Canadian operetta, EARNEST, The Importance of Being. Here’s a quote from my 2008 review for Classical 96 FM. “A new Canadian music work is a significant event, and the charming chamber operetta EARNEST, The Importance of Being, […]
This is the age of the auteur opera director. With the endlessly repeating standard repertoire a fact of opera life, companies are now searching for productions that give a fresh take on the classics. New opera, of course, is always going to be fresh. Thus, directors and their visions are what drive opera productions these days. The […]
