Artists exist to create Art. Why does the state of the world today make them question that purpose and has it always been so? Susanna Fournier and ted witzel have been asking themselves that, and why they keep trying to give up Art (and failing) for twelve years during which time the world has just got even more fucked up. The result is take rimbaud; a play by Susanna Fournier, directed by ted witzel currently playing at Buddies in Bad Times in partnership with the Howland Company.
As has become the custom, the two members of the Ensemble Studio completing their stints at the end of this season gave a “Les adieux” recital in the RBA on Tuesday. It was time to say goodbye to Emily Rocha and Duncan Stenhouse with Liz Upchurch as our stalwart accompanist.
Emily chose a programme of mostly French chansons which was really rather lovely. She sang smoothly and expressively in Bizet’s Chanson d’avril and with a rather elegant languor in Paladilhe’s Psyché. There was more of the same in songs by Debussy and Poulenc; beauty, control, expressiveness! The one venture intoi opera was “Prendi, per me sei libero” from Donizetti’s l’elisir d’amore reminding us that she will be singing Adina at the COC next season. Elegant singing here too, coupled with plenty of heft.
Continue readingTwenty eight years ago Liz Upchurch, Alain Coulombe and Michael Colvin joined the COC’s Ensemble Studio at a time when Richard Bradshaw led the COC.. Yesterday they gave a recital in the eponymous amphitheatre. It was pretty impressive.
Student recitals are another great opportunity to hear great music for free. On Sunday I attended soprano Leandra Dahm’s recital at Mazzoleni Hall. It was a caredfully curated programme lasting just over an hour and it was really good.
How many Indigenous artists does it take to make an Opera Indigenous? That was one of many questions up for discussion at Stories Don’t Die presented by the Artists of Indians on Vacation at the Terminal Theatre on Saturday afternoon. The backdrop to all this of course is the withdrawal of Edmonton Opera from their role in the creation and presentation of Ian Cusson and Royce Vavrek’s Indians on Vacation in February following the not entirely unexpected “revelation” that Thomas King; author of the novel on which the opera is based, is not Indigenous as he had long claimed. Edmonton Opera chose, unilaterally, to pull out after a protest by a small group of Indigenous activists in Edmonton. To the protesters, the false claim by Thomas King was reason enough to cancel an opera they hadn’t seen but is it? The Artists of Indians on Vacation clearly believe otherwise and Stories Don’t Die makes a strong case for its survival and further development.
The last Soundstreams concert of the season took place at the Jane Mallett Theatre on Saturday evening. In Terra Pax: Lamenting the losses of war was curated by Anna Pidgorna. While by no means only about the Russian invasion of Ukraine that was a strong thread running through the concert.
I really enjoyed Operamania at the Great Hall last November so I was rather looking forward to Operamania II at The Parkdale Hall on Friday evening. Basically it was the same folks; Opera Revue augmented by Greg Finney, Ryan Downey and Queen Hezumuryanga plus the four wrestlers of Junction City Wrestling and much of it was the same fun material so it should have been a blast.
The COC’s production of Massenet’s Werther opened at the Four Seasons Centre on Thursday evening. My full review is published at Bachtrack.
TL/DR version… there’s some excellent music making but the production doesn’t really elevate a rather dull, sentimental opera.
@bachtrack
I suppose one of the most well known “relationship” stories in classical music history is the one concerning the marriage of Robert and Clara Schumann, his illness and death and the role that Johannes Brahms played in Robert’s last years and Clara’s subsequent life. So why not create a song recital programme around that theme using songs by all three composers? That’s what Liz Upchurch and Jane Archibald have done and they presented it in Temerty Theatre on Wednesday evening.
Maeve Palmer
I finally made it to AtG’s Opera Pub for the first time in a long time. Ladst couple of times I went it was at the Drake and that just felt so wrong! It’s now at the Tranzac which just makes all kinds of sense. It’s a decent size, it has a pretty good bar and it’s easily accessible on the the TTC. And it feels like a pub, not the lobby of a five star hotel. Also it has lots of AtG history including the original La Bohème (2011) and the 2017 remount. Stay there please AtG. Continue reading
operaramblings 