Konstantin Krimmel: a commanding presence
News
Don't miss: Toronto Opera Initiative's Don Giovanni
NewsNeed a last-minute-Valentine's-Day opera fix? This Saturday at 7pm at College Street United Church, Toronto Opera Initiative presents Mozart's tale of romance and love (?), Don Giovanni. The cast is full of exciting young artists, including baritone Andrey Andreychik in the title role, and Toronto Opera Initiative founder and General Manager, Jaclyn Grossman as Donna Anna.
Don't miss: The Cocktail Époque
NewsOff Centre Music Salon is all about presenting classical music "in an innovative atmosphere that evokes the spirit of a 19th century European salon." The beautiful Trinity-St. Paul's Centre is a great space to hear these fantastic artists, and tickets for The Cocktail Époque start at just $5.
Coming up: Norma by request
NewsNext month, Opera by Request is bringing some winter warmth in the form of Bellini's bel canto stunner, Norma. Soprano Naomi Eberhard will sing the title role, alongside fellow soprano Jessica Lane as Adalgisa; and tenor Jason Lamont sings Pollione, the man caught in one of opera's most beautiful love triangles. Norma is one night only, February 6, 7:30pm,
Don't miss: La voix humaine
NewsCampsall is an emerging singer to watch, and we were lucky to catch her and pianist Brahm Goldhamer in their dress rehearsal performance. She worked with "phenomenal director" Oliver Klöter to create a dense, claustrophobic telling of the one-sided phone conversation between a suicidal woman and her silent, invisible lover. "He was very patient with me," says Campsall, who admits that Poulenc's music is challenging, and achieving her level of comfort with it is a long process.
Don't miss: the songs of Leonard Cohen
NewsFor something different this winter, head over to Theatre Passe Muraille to hear Theatre 20's production of Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen. Tracey Power directs this "eclectic cabaret" of Cohen's music, along with music director and arranger Steven Charles. The show had its premiere in Vancouver in 2012, and has since traveled to Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Victoria, Vernon, Banff, and Fort McMurray.
Don't miss: Dmitri Hvorostovky at Koerner Hall
NewsHvorostovsky has cancelled several February dates for Il trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, but we all hope he's feeling well enough to sing, at Toronto's Koerner Hall, if only for the selfish pleasure of hearing his voice (and maybe catching a glimpse of that hair).
#COC1617
NewsLast night, the Canadian Opera Company announced their 2016/17 season in style, with the COC Orchestra on the Four Seasons Centre Stage. Brent Bambury, of CBC Radio One, hosted the night, chatting with COC General Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Johannes Debus about the exciting season to come.
Tosca & the NYCO Renaissance
NewsNYCO Renaissance's general director is Michael Capasso, who previously ran Dicapo Opera Theatre, a small New York-based company that has since "disbanded", and which was sued in 2013 by the musicians' unions for failure to pay their artists. Capasso is "thrilled" about directing the revived company, despite any questions of his ability to keep it financially afloat.
Squeezebox at Soundstreams
NewsMacerollo will also play one of over 200 works composed for him by R. Murray Schafer, the "surreal" La testa d'Adriana, with fab soprano Carla Huhtanen. "Dressed in a tattered tuxedo and top hat, he luresthe audience to his side show, the bodiless head of a woman saved at the instant before her death. She is awakened by his music and sings an aria of gurgles, trills, whispers, and pops before subsiding once again into her comatose state."
Learning: Opera Overtures with Kyra Millan
NewsSoprano and opera comedienne Kyra Millan returns to the Royal Conservatory of Music for their Opera Overtures course, each Monday night from 7-8:30pm, March 21 to April 18. Over five weeks, partipants will "learn about the history, the music, and the sublime and sublimely ridiculous elements that make opera so fabulous."