Oh, Giuseppe Verdi, how I adore your dedication to stories worth telling. You are, of course, a splendid composer whose soaring melodies and lush orchestrations fly beautifully from the mouths of the COC’s chorus and the bows of its spectacular orchestra (here under the capable baton of Marco Guidarini) but the real reason I love […]
Two strong but ultimately uninspiring productions are currently playing at the Four Seasons Centre as the kick off to the Canadian Opera Company’s 2014/15 season. Though they’re of comparable overall quality, Falstaff and Madama Butterfly have little in common. The former is visually grand with lots of awkwardly long breaks to change the elaborate sets […]
Opera and subtlety don’t often go well together. Opera comes from the greatest possible highs and lows of the human experience, from the glorious pain of love, murder, and suicide. So, it is stunning to see a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto full of subtle nuance in its direction and acting, bringing out its grandiose […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2013 My Theatre Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Adrianne Pieczonka is one of the most important Canadian opera talents in the world. Consistently among our favourite performers at the COC, the thrilling soprano and two-time My Theatre Award nominee is always a joy to see […]
The Canadian Opera Company’s current repertory program is one of its most delightful ever, beginning with Mozart’s fairly harmless Cosi fan tutte and raised to wonderful heights by Verdi’s magnificent Masked Ball. I don’t plan on wasting much time talking about Cosi since, at 3 hours and 30 minutes, it’s already taken far more than it […]