Volume 22 Issue 7 - April 2017

and women to make up the

and women to make up the Land Assembly. In addition new characters have been added to the opera to present a more informed history of the Métis and Indigenous people. The previously unattributed opening vocal line is now delivered by a character known as The Folksinger, to be sung by Jani Lauzon, a singer of Métis heritage. The new role of The Activist, to be played by Cole Alvis of Métis-Irish/ English heritage, will deliver the Land Acknowledgement as the opera unfolds, setting the tone for interpreting the action playing out on stage. A separate group of 30 artists will play the 39 named characters in the opera with baritone Russell Braun as the title character. Among these are Joanna Burt, a Métis/Saugeen Ojibway artist, who sings Sara Riel, Cree actor and playwright Billy Merasty as the Plains Cree chief Poundmaker and Cree bass-baritone Everett Morrison as Cree war chief Wandering Spirit. Justin Many Fingers, a singer, actor and dancer from the Lavern Kainai Blackfoot Reserve in southern Alberta, will perform two dance sequences titled “Buffalo Hunt,” in the last scene of Act II, intended as a reenactment of a Métis buffalo hunt. Asked if, despite the opera’s biases, it is still a work worth being revived, Hinton answered, “Definitely. I think it’s a magnificent work of art. And it’s really important that we revive it and examine it. It was the first opera written by Canadians with a Canadian story produced at the Canadian Opera Company and so it’s a very interesting thing to take a look at what was created 50 years ago, where we have come Comedy and Romance to rival Franz Lehár! in that time and how this piece sits within the repertoire of the works the COC does. I think it’s a really important complement to that. And I think the work is very powerful and very strong, but it requires context. “We have to look at Louis Riel as one of the first civil activists. He’s right up there to me with Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in the states. He was an incredibly progressive person for his time. So looking at the history again in operatic terms is incredible and the show has enormous, enormous power and range, from satire in the way that Macdonald and Cartier and their political manoeuvres are expressed, to deep tragedy of someone who gave his entire life for justice for the people and maybe expressed it best in losing it. There’s a tragedy in that. It’s a magnificent work in that regard, so all of the efforts of this production are to bring that genius to light in it and to see how we can see that with the knowledge we have today. Producing the work is not just a chance to look but but also to guide us forward.” Louis Riel runs for seven performances from April 20 to May 13 at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto and on June 15 and 17 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. (from left) Assistant director Estelle Shook, stage manager Stephanie Marrs, director Peter Hinton, baritone Russell Braun, and surtitles producer Gunta Dreifelds at an early rehearsal session for the COC’s new production of Louis Riel on March 17, 2017. Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera and theatre. He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com. Guillermo Silva-Marin General Director by Oscar Straus Based on George Bernard Shaw’s masterwork ARMS AND THE MAN Peter Tiefenbach, Conductor Guillermo Silva-Marin, Stage Director starring Jennifer Taverner, Anna Macdonald, Michael Nyby, Gregory Finney, Cian Horrobin, Eugenia Dermentzis and Austin Larusson Fun for the Whole Family! Ask about 50% off Youth and 30% off Groups. April 26, 28 at 8 pm & April 29, 30 at 3 pm TICKETS: - MISSISSAUGASYMPHONY.CA BOX OFFICE: 905-306-6000 THE MSO GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE HAZEL MCCALLION FUND FOR ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE AT THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MISSISSAUGA, A REGISTERED CHARITABLE PUBLIC FOUNDATION SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSAUGA. SUPPORTED BY THE LIVING ARTS CENTRE. 416-366-7723 | 1-800-708-6754 | www.stlc.com www.torontooperetta.com 14 | April 1, 2017 - May 7, 2017 thewholenote.com

KOERNER HALL IS: “ A beautiful space for music “ THE GLOBE AND MAIL Les Violons du Roy with Philippe Jaroussky THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only Québec City’s Les Violons du Roy, conducted by Mathieu Lussier, and extraordinary French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky perform a program of Baroque works by Händel, Bach, Fux, and Graun. Generously supported by David G. Broadhurst Dan Zanes with Claudia Eliaza: A Family Concert SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 1PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only A former member of rock band the Del Fuegos, Dan Zanes’s music is where sea shanties, English music hall, North American and West Indian folk music, play party songs, the spirit of early rock-androll, and soulful originals collide. The Montrose Trio & Friends FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only A Canadian chamber music all-star evening featuring pianist Jon Kimura Parker, violinist Martin Beaver, and cellist Clive Greensmith playing Brahms’s Piano Trio No. 1 and joined by special guests to perform Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence and Brahms’s Alto Songs. Generously supported by David G. Broadhurst. Presented in honour of R.S. Williams & Sons Company Ltd. Academy Chamber Orchestra SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2PM KOERNER HALL Free (ticket required) String students from the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists come together as the Academy Chamber Orchestra to perform two special concerts. Natalie Dessay with Philippe Cassard TUESDAY MAY 2, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only With French soprano Natalie Dessay “every vocal phrase is impelled by the emotion and dramatic intention of the moment.” (The New York Times) She and pianist Philippe Cassard will perform a program called “Women’s Portraits,” featuring works by Mozart, Schubert, Chausson, Debussy, and more. Presented in association with Alliance Française de Toronto and the Consulat Général de France à Toronto. The Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble THURSDAY, MAY 4, 8PM KOERNER HALL Free (ticket required) The GGS New Music Ensemble performs a program of cutting-edge contemporary music curated by Brian Current. TICKETS & ROYAL SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 www.performance.rcmusic.ca 273 BLOOR STREET WEST (BLOOR 237 BLOOR ST. & AVENUE STREET RD.) WEST TORONTO (BLOOR ST. & AVENUE RD.) TORONTO