Views
8 years ago

Volume 12 - Issue 7 - April 2007

  • Text
  • Theatre
  • April
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • Arts
  • Musical
  • Yonge
  • Symphony
  • Choir
  • Orchestra

TOK

TOK ONTOOrfilIBl'L\miGuillermo Silva-MarinFounder andGeneral DirectorA tra nscendenta I work for the lyric stage!'·' I'Sean WatsonTheremmyDidowby Franz LeharKevin Mallon, ConductorGuillermo Silva-Marin,Stage Directorsponsored byThe Margaret BrecknerFoundationApr. 22 at 2 pm,Apr. 24, 25, 27, 28 at 8 pmand Apr. 29 at 2 pmST. LAWRENCE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS416-366-7723 1-800-708-6754 www.stlc.comUl - • -~j' .... d - . --i;;..,...-~Scarborough Music Theatrepresentsrhe Mikadoba i lbert & s ullivanFocus On Opera: April 2007by Christopher HaileA stroll down the centuriesArriving in June is the inaugural Lurninato Festival, a multidisciplinaryaffair that includes the visual arts, dance, theatre, music,literature and opera. We will have more to say concerningthe Luminato opera component in a later column, but in the meanwhile,as opera fans know, opera itself is a multidisciplinary artform. April has become the month when the widest range of operaticactivity is available in Toronto and environs. So people neednot wait for June to experience a festival of multidisciplinary art.This April affords an opportunity to stroll through four hundredyears of operatic endeavour. Let's start far back in time.1604 Le Veglie di Siena.The earliest work to beperformed this April is aprecursor to opera, themadrigal comedy Le Vegliedi Siena (Night Gamesof Siena) by Orazio Vecchi(1550-1605). Madrigalswere usually publishedin groups, but thefi rst collection meant totell a coherent story wasfl cicalamento delledonne al bucato (TheGossip of Women in theLaundry) by AlessandroStriggio from 1567. Vecchi's work is the finaleof Toronto Consort's2006-07 season and thecompany's first stagedAlexander Dobson as Lampari/la in TorontoOpe re Ila Theatres production of El Barberillode Lavapies by Francisco Asenj o Barbieri,February 2005, at the Jane Mallett Theatre.He s back in Dido and Aeneas/ Aeneas and Didofor Toronto Masque Theatreperformance . Theevening features dancers,commedia dell'arte characters, madrigalsand instrumental works. Joiningthe Consort from Montreal willbe stage director and actor Marie­Nathalie Lacoursiere, commedia artistJean-Frarn;:ois Gagnon and dancersAnne-Marie Gardette and PierreChartrand. This rarity plays April20 and 21.www. torontoconsort. org .April 26-28May 3-5, 10-128:00 pmTickets I ·00each*April 29 & May 62:00 pm* Special Sing Along MatineeSaturday, May I 2 at 2:00pmViolins, violas, cellos, and bowsComplete line of strings and accessoriesExpert repairs and rehairsCanada's largest stock of string musicFast mail order serviceCall 416-396-4049 For Tickets or Visitwww.theatrescarborough.comfor more information~~, ~ -~ ---~ . -~-:- ...... .----------,2 6 WWW .TH EWHO LENOTE .CO M' I@.,~www thesoundpost cominfo

1689/2007 Dido and Aeneas/Aeneasand Dido. Toronto MasqueTheatre continues its survey ofHenry Purcell's major music theatreworks with his Dido and Aeneas.The TMT pairs this workwith the world premiere of Aeneasand Dido, a contemporary treatmentof the same story by JamesRolfe, composer of such recentsuccesses as Beatrice Chancey andSwoon. The two works will featurebaritone Alexander Dobson,soprano Teri Dunn, dancer Marie­N athalie Lacoursiere, mezzo-sopranoVicki St. Pierre, sopranoMonica Whicher, the ExultateChamber Singers and a period instrumentband directed from theviolin by Larry Beckwith. Performancesare April 25, 27 and28 at the Young Centre in the DistilleryDistrict.www. torontomasq uetheatre. ca.1774 Orphee et Eurydice. In 1997Opera Atelier presented ChristophWillibald Gluck's Italian Oifeo edEuridice of 1762 at the Royal AlexandraTheatre. Oifeo showedthe beginnings ofGluck's attemptsto reform opera by viewing operaas sung drama rather than simplya series of showpiece arias. Now,ten years later, OA presents theCanadian premiere of Gluck's1774 French version written forhis former music pupil Marie Antoinette,who later wed Louis XVIof France. For Paris, Gluck ex-panded and rewrote parts of theopera, transposed the title rolefrom the castrato to the tenor voiceand included additional ballet sequences.OA 's production starsColin Ainsworth as Orpheus, PeggyKriha-Dye as Eurydice and JennieSuch as Amour, complementedby the Artists of Atelier Balletand the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestraand Chamber Choir underAndrew Parrott. It plays April 28-May 5 at the Elgin Theatre.www.operaatelier.com.1843 Don Pasquale. With Donizetti'scomic opera Don Pasquale, the64th of the composer's 66 operas,we move into the end of the be!canto period. Among Donizetti'sopere buffe, this is second only tohis L 'Elisir d'amore (1832) in popularity.The story has commediadell 'arte antecedents and concernsthe plot of young lovers to thwartthe plans of an old man, Don Pasquale,to marry a younger woman.Joining the Toronto Philharmoniaunder Maestro Kerry Stratton forthis concert performance will besoprano Martha Guth as Norina,tenor James McLennan as Ernesto,baritone Jesse Clark as Dr.Malatesta and bass Gregory Atkinsonin the title role. Stuart Hamiltonwill be the narrator. The performancetakes place on April 12at the George Weston Recital Hallat the Toronto Centre for the Arts.See www.torontophil.on.ca.1849 Luisa Miller. Moving intoromantic opera, the Canadian OperaCompany opens its spring seasonwith Verdi's Luisa Miller, thethird of Verdi's four operas basedon plays by Friedrich Schiller. Laststaged here in 1997, the plot findsLuisa forced to choose betweenher love for Rodolfo and savingthe life of her father. The newproduction from the Teatro di SanCarlo in Naples is directed by JoseMaria Condemi and conducted byRichard Bradshaw and DerekBate. Soprano Serena Farnocchiareturns to sing the title role, tenorMikhail Agafonov is Rodolfo,Alexander Marco-Buhrmester isLuisa's father, mezzo-sopranoLarissa Kostiuk, last with the COCas Carmen, returns to sing Federica,the noblewoman Rodolfo ismeant to marry. Canadian bassPhillip Ens, acclaimed for his performancesas Fafner and Hundingin the COC's recent Ring Cycle,is the Machiavellian Wurm. Tenperformances take place April 10-May 11 at the Four Seasons Centre.See www.coc.ca.1875 Carmen. There is no performanceof Bizet's Carmen thismonth, but there is a performanceby Canada's best-known Carmen,Jean Stilwell in her cabaret showCarmen UnZipped. While theshow will include the Habanerafrom the opera, the point of theprogramme is to challenge our perceptionsof how an opera divashould look and behave. The songsaccompanied by Patti Loach willrange from Harold Arlen to MooseCharlap and new songs by JohnBucchino. The performances onMarch 30 and April l at Tapestry'sErnest Balmer Studio in theDistillery District will serve tolaunch Stilwell's CD of the sametitle.1892 I Pagliacci1918 Bluebeard's Castle.Providing a good introduction tocontrasting operatic styles at theturn of the 20th century, BramptonLyric Opera, now in its fourthseason, presents a fully staged doublebill of Ruggiero Leoncavallo'sI Pagliacci sung in Italian and BelaBart6k's Bluebeard's Castle sungin English. In the Leoncavallo,James Clantar sings Canio,Shoshana Friedman-Brazeau isNedda and Jay Stephenson is Tonio.In the Bart6k, Gerrit Theulesings Bluebeard with Kelly Winteras his inquisitive bride Judith. Theartists will be joined by the BramptonLyric Opera Orchestra and Chorusin the new 880-seat Rose Theatrefor one performance only onApril 29.Seewww.bramptonlyricopera.ca.1905 The Merry Widow. The early20th century was also the SilverAge of operetta, of which the mostCONTINUES PAGE 28Patricia O'Callaghan, J ean Stilwell & Theresa Tova!'1- DIVaS May 26/27 at 8pmTapestry favourites Trish, Jean & Tova perform their best lovedcabaret songs and newly conunissioned work.TIX: advance I door I studentsWORDpLay June 617/8 various timesFestival of libretto readings. T lX: I studentsSaNCtUaRy SON~ June9ttoat3pmBy Marjorie Chan & Abigail Richardson. Developed in partnership withTheatre Direct Canada, this new opera tells the moving true sto1y of a circusand zoo elephant whose keeper leads her to freedom after a life in captivity.Workshop presentation. TIX: I studentsA PR IL 1 - M AY 7 2007tapestRy New opeRa woRks-tHe DOORS aRe wme opeNlThe Ernest Balmer Studio55 Mill St. Bldg 58, #3 15. Distillery Historic DistrictFor TIX call: 416.537.6066 x 221T' . . l~¥" lJ> IP Pl s R -, lWWW.THEWHOLEN OTE. COM 2 7

Volumes 21-25 (2015-2020)

Volumes 16-20 (2010-2015)

Volumes 11-15 (2004-2010)

Volumes 6 - 10 (2000 - 2006)

Volumes 1-5 (1994-2000)