Table of contents for Vol. LVIII, No. 4 in Opera Canada

“What am I doing this season? People ask me and I can’t remember. That’s how much stuff comes and goes every month.” Nathan Brock is on a roll at the Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg State Opera), where he has been Kapellmeister since 2015. The multilingual conductor (he speaks Spanish, French, German and Polish) attended the University of Toronto and later, Zurich University of the Arts. A protege of Kent Nagano, Brock has led a number of orchestras in France and Italy, and conducted at Komische Oper Berlin and Royal Swedish Opera, as well as the symphony orchestras of Toronto, Quebec, Edmonton, Nova Scotia, Victoria and Thunder Bay. Balancing new productions and revivals, old works and new, dance and symphonic repertoire, is no small feat. “As a conductor, yes, it’s about focusing…

Each autumn, thousands of music lovers flock to northern Italy to mark the birthday of composer Giuseppe Verdi. Taking a major role in the celebrations is Festival Verdi, an annual opera event which features an array of performances and productions. The festival, founded in the 1980s, stages works at various locales including the Teatro Regio di Parma, the Teatro Farnese (also in Parma), and the Teatro Verdi di Busseto. What makes the event, and indeed its surrounding area, so special is the extent to which the world of the composer remains largely intact. The premiere stop for any opera lover is a trip to Le Roncole, a thirty-minute drive north of Parma. A stop off the highway leads one through gently rolling hills and meadows into the tiny village, with…

In a few short decades, the Young Artist Program has become a ubiquitous element in the career arc of the contemporary opera singer. These programs, colloquially known as YAPs, are housed within opera companies for which young singers hope to work; they are meant to be a stepping stone of sorts, bridging the gap between academia and a singer’s professional career There’s a symbiotic relationship between the YAP and the company. The latter accepts a group of singers into their YAP—often including a pianist or two—who enjoy the rare luxury (in North America at least) of a season-long contract. The singers will take on small roles in the company’s mainstage performances; understudy larger roles; shadow professional music staff in the rehearsal room—all at an efficient and relatively low cost for…

“[It’s about] digging deep into the experience of young people and mining it to the fullest…The CCOC is producing great art, and the education comes from that.”DEAN BURRY In reviewing the 2004 premiere of The Hobbit, commissioned from Dean Burry by the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, The Globe and Mail’s Robert Harris wrote, “One only wishes that as much effort, time and energy could go into every musical event presented on Toronto stages as has clearly been lavished on this one.” His words summarize an enterprise that continues to give so much to so many people. Hundreds of children have grown up in what was born as the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus (CCOC) at the close of summer in 1968. This past fall, the thriving company marked its 50th anniversary.…

“Both the beauty and the frustration of a singing career is that you can never stand still and rest on your laurels,” muses soprano Mireille Asselin, in a recent conversation. Now into the second decade of a burgeoning career, it’s time for a little re-assessment and reflection: “I find myself always learning new repertoire, growing my technique, pushing myself in new directions as an artist, and planning into the future.” To be sure, standing still is simply not part of her DNA. When I wrote her first profile for Opera Canada some seven years ago, she was a new member of the COC Ensemble Studio. Even at that early stage of her career, her beautiful voice and engaging stage persona made one sit up and take notice. The COC certainly…

For more than a decade the world of opera has undergone (and continues to undergo) wide ranging changes. Whether dealing with the economic downturn after 2008; live HD transmissions in movie theatres or, changes in public tastes and demographics, the genre has had to adapt to survive. As custodians of each company’s ‘product’ and philosophy, it has been left to artistic directors to grapple with these challenges and lead opera in Canada to a viable future. 2008’s financial crisis led to the demise of several North American companies (remember Opera Hamilton and Opera Lyra?) and accordingly, artistic budgets came under increasing pressure. “I know it may sound strange, but I don’t think in financial terms.” That is the unequivocal motto of Pacific Opera Victoria’s (POV) Artistic Director, Timothy Vernon. “I…

Morris Panych is blunt about his relationship to opera. “I know nothing about opera! But there are certain things I love.” The acclaimed Canadian theatre artist is the creator of The Overcoat, a movement-based dramatic work featuring the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, based on a short story by Gogol. It premiered at the Vancouver Playhouse in 1998. Twenty years later, it’s been turned into an opera with composer James Rolfe, thanks to a unique partnership between Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, Canadian Stage and Vancouver Opera. “It’s kind of fascinating,” Panych says, “you get to a place in your career and go, I’ve tried a lot of things! Why don’t I try this?” The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring premiered in Toronto in late March and is being presented by Vancouver Opera for…

It was just another quiet mid-winter day, Feb. 9th to be exact. I was sitting in front of my computer doing some writing when a news release popped up on my screen: “Canadian Opera Company General Director Alexander Neef Appointed Artistic Director of Santa Fe Opera.” Talk about the heart skipping a beat! I calmed down when I read the small print—“his seasonal role in Santa Fe is to complement his COC portfolio.” Starting Oct. 1, 2018, SFO will be run by a triumvirate—Robert Meya as General Director, together with Neef as Artistic Director, and Harry Bicket as Music Director This coming June marks the tenth anniversary of Alexander Neef’s tenure as General Director of the Canadian Opera Company—“It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here 10 years, which is a…

CANADA CALGARY Calgary Opera’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (seen Feb. 3) presented a visually attractive, compellingly performed account of the opera. While originally set around 1830, it is invariably played as if the period is late imperial Russia, the time of Tolstoy and Chekhov. And so it was on this occasion—Scott Reid’s sets began in modern minimalism, becoming more extravagant for the final two acts, enhanced by elaborate costumes from Malabar. Overlaying this essentially straightforward telling of the story, were a series of backdrop film projections played during the musical interludes which were, to say the least, eyebrow raising. Consisting of silent movie era black-and-white snippets, they portrayed in close-up scenes of Onegin (baritone Phillip Addis in this instance) in various states of high emotional disturbance (think Rudolf Valentino)—all…