The season beckons
by Christopher
Hoile
Those
with a taste
for opera off the beaten track are in for an
exciting opera season in 2008–09. Famous operas that have rarely or
never been
staged in Toronto will make their appearance along with several world
premieres. (Traditionalists, despair not, however, because these
rarities are
balanced by a healthy dose of the tried and true.
The most
anticipated works of the season are two COC premieres—Prokofiev’s epic War
and Peace (1945) and Dvorák’s most popular opera Rusalka
(1901).
After Wagner’s Ring cycle, War and Peace, based on
Tolstoy’s
novel, is the most massive work the COC has ever mounted. It is over
four hours
long and features over 60 named roles. The enormous cast includes such
Canadians as Russell Braun as Prince Andrei, Judith Forst, Jean
Stilwell and
Gregory Dahl as well as familiar foreign guests like Mikhail Agafonov
and
Laryssa Kostiuk. Tim Albery, who directed this production for the ENO,
also
directs here. The work runs October 10 to November 1, 2008.
Rusalka takes us from
the realm of history to fantasy. Michael Schade sings the role of the
Prince
who falls in love with the water-nymph of the title sung by Julie
Makerov, who
must make a terrible sacrifice for her love of a mortal. Richard
Bradshaw had
promised Nicholas Goldschmidt that the COC would perform the work to
honour him
and, though both masters have passed away, the COC has not forgotten
the
promise. Rusalka runs January 31 to February 23, 2009. Were
these two
operas less rare, the COC’s productions of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
(April 11 to May 7, 2009) and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(May
5–23, 2009) would steal the limelight. The first has not been staged
here since
1979 and the second receives its main stage premiere.
The COC season
is filled out with such favourites as Mozart’s Don Giovanni
(Oct. 5–31,
2008) with Brett Polegato in the title role, Beethoven’s Fidelio
(January 24–February 24, 2009) with Adrianne Pieczonka as Leonore,
Puccini’s La
Bohème (April 17–May 24, 2009) and a COC Ensemble Studio
production of
Mozart’s Così fan tutte (June 15–21, 2009).
Moving on from
the COC, Toronto will witness at least three world premieres in the
coming
season. In February 2009, Queen of Puddings will unveil Inês,
the latest
opera by James Rolfe to a libretto by Paul Bentley. This will be a
retelling of
the tale of Inês de Castro (1325–55) updated to Toronto of the
1960s and
influenced by Portuguese fado. On March 28–29 Opera in Concert and the
Esprit Orchestra present Kamouraska by Charles Wilson, a complete
reworking of
his 1975 opera based on the novel by Anne Hébert. Then June
9–14, Soundstreams
presents The Children’s Crusade by R. Murray Schafer. The
opera, written
for over 150 performers, including the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus
and the
Toronto Consort, was inspired by the bizarre and ill-fated Children’s
Crusade
of 1212.
The season also
abounds in Canadian and Toronto premieres. From October 8 to November
16, 2008,
the Tarragon Theatre presents the Toronto premiere of The Black
Rider by
the unlikely trio of Tom Waits, Robert Wilson and William S. Burroughs.
The
Brecht-and-Weill-influenced opera, popular in Europe ever since its
1990
premiere in Hamburg, is based on the same story as Carl Maria von
Weber’s 1821
opera Der Freischütz.
Opera in Concert
has two Canadian premieres on tap. On October 4–5, 2008, it presents
Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux (1837) and on November 20, 2008,
it has
Saverio Mercadante’s La Vestale (1840). Among other rarities
this
season, Opera in Concert with the Aradia Ensemble present Haydn’s opera
buffa Il
Mondo della luna (1777) on February 1, 2009. The University of Toronto Opera Division has scheduled Domenico Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio segreto
(1792)
for October 30 to November 2, 2008, and a Ravel double bill of L’Enfant
et
les sortilèges (1925) and L’Heure espagnole (1911)
for March 5–8,
2009. Toronto Operetta Theatre offers Carl Zeller’s delightful classic Der
Vogelhändler (1891) from December 26, 2008 to January 4, 2009,
and Kurt
Weill’s musical of old New York, Knickerbocker Holiday (1938),
February
18–22, 2009.
For
more familiar works,
the revitalized Opera Hamilton begins its new season on October 30 and
November
1 with The Magic Flute starring Colin Ainsworth, Shannon
Mercer,
Alexander Dobson and Audrey Elizabeth Luna. Opera Atelier adds to its
growing
repertoire of Mozart’s operas with a new production of The
Abduction from
the Seraglio on November 8–15, with David Fallis conducting the
Tafelmusik
Orchestra in the work’s North American premiere on period instruments.
So many
operas, so little time!
