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 […]
I had heard through friends that the Oshawa-based Ontario Philharmonic was not your average community orchestra, and that turned out to be correct. In fact, OP is a crackerjack professional orchestra. The guest concertmaster was none other than the excellent Marie Bérard who is concertmaster of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. It’s hard to imagine […]
The first act of the COC’s production of The Tales of Hoffmann is worth the price of admission. English director Lee Blakeley has done such a brilliant job with Olympia (Andriana Chuchman), that we can forgive the messy Guilietta (Keri Alkema) act, and puzzling Prologue and Epilogue. His Antonia (Erin Wall) act falls somewhere in between […]
Obeah Opera is an astonishing piece of music theatre. Imagine 15 women with powerful voices, many well-known soloists in their own right, singing a cappella in almost every style of black music. Then layer in majestic solos and ensemble pieces rich in harmony. This just scratches the surface of the impact of Obeah Opera. Produced […]
Just in time for Family Day, World Stage kicked off with, Everything Under the Moon, a collaboration between Toronto visual artist Shary Boyle and Winnipeg composer Christine Fellows. You know a show has hit the mark with children when they are absolutely quiet, and both the younger and older members of the sold-out audience sat […]
