Table of contents for Fall 2015 in Opera Canada

“It is with deep regret that we have decided to cease operations, effective today. There will be an immediate shutdown of the current performance season, the 31st in the company’s history. The Board will now review options on how it may adjust its future operations.” This was the laconic opening of the October 14 announcement from the board of Opera Lyra in Ottawa, its suddenness catching the nation’s opera industry by surprise. Certainly, the company has had a rocky financial history over the past few years, and temporarily ceased operations in the 2011/12 season to retrench. But it seemed to be on an upward trajectory under the leadership of General Director John Peter (Jeep) Jeffries, and the board was certainly in a more bullish mood just four months ago, when,…

Soprano Wendy Nielsen knows as well as anyone that a career in opera is invariably a circuitous journey. Despite a beautiful voice and solid training (undergraduate studies begun at Mount Allison University and completed at University of Lethbridge and a Master’s from University of British Columbia), her application to University of Toronto’s opera school in 1987 was turned down. Undeterred, she carried on with single-minded purpose, forging an enviable career on both sides of the Atlantic. She has also become a much-sought-after voice teacher, mentoring many of the best operatic talents in Canada. She has been teaching in the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio since 2008, and was named Head Vocal Consultant in 2012. Twenty-five years after that inauspicious UofT rejection, she was appointed Lecturer in Voice and Opera there,…

However varied their positions on his political involvement with National Socialism, the many biographies of Richard Strauss all construct a narrative of a child prodigy who rose to national and international fame through his tone poems, before switching to opera in his 30s. The subsequent story they all tell is a familiar artistic one of a creative rise, followed by decline, but ending with a glorious “Indian Summer.” The difficulty is that there is little agreement on where either the decline or the Indian Summer actually begins. For some, his genius starts to fade as early as 1911 with Der Rosenkavalier, when he left behind the modernist experimentation of Salome and Elektra; for others, it is in 1929, with the death of Hugo von Hofmannsthal, his librettist for 20 years.…

CDs DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL MOZART DG: 479 4064 Yannick Nézet-Séguin is quickly gaining credence as the superstar conductor of his generation, and this stunning new recording of Mozart’s other Singspiel is the latest proof of his ability to stir up a storm on the podium. The legendary yellow label continues to demonstrate its confidence in his ability to sell recordings, with this third (following critically acclaimed releases of Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni) in a planned seven-part series of live recordings of Mozart operas, in cooperation with Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and featuring the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and renowned Mexican-French tenor Rolando Villazón (who joined the Canadian conductor in spearheading the project). Villazón appears, of course, as the young Spanish nobleman, Belmonte, bent on rescuing his beloved Constanze…

HONORS AND AWARDS The Canada Council has announced that designer Michael Levine is the recipient this year of the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. The $50,000 prize is awarded annually to recognize the highest level of artistic excellence and distinguished career achievement by a Canadian professional artist in music, theatre or dance. Levine is one of the most celebrated and sought-after theatre designers on the international circuit, and his considerable body of work in opera has been seen on leading stages on both sides of the Atlantic. He designed all four operas for the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, and made his debut as director with Das Rheingold, which officially opened the company’s Four Seasons Centre opera house. (The COC is…

The lengthy career of Calgary Opera General Director & CEO W. R. (Bob) McPhee, CM as he was named earlier this year, has been an illustrious one, studded with multiple successes. Still, he says the recent awards in recognition of his important role on the Canadian arts scene caught him completely off guard. “They were a total surprise, especially when the Order of Canada came. I’ve done lots of references for others for the Order, so when I received a call I thought it was just another reference they wanted. I didn’t return the call for three days. I was totally in shock when I found out it was actually me they were calling about.” It turned out some pretty remarkable people had stepped forward and filed the references nominating…

Compiled by B. Krsek. Legend: C: conductor; D: stage director; Des: designer; Ctms: costumes; Lght: lighting; Chor: choreographer; *new production; **world premiere; ***national premiere; Op: opening date; M: matinée. Information correct as of Sept. 30, 2015. Programs subject to change. Against the Grain Theatre (Toronto) againstthegraintheatre.com. Messiah (Handel). MD: Mokrzewski; D. Ivany. Hegedus, Khalil, McCausland, Ludwig. Dec. 16,17,18,19M. Calgary Opera. 403-262-7286. calgaryopera.com. Lakmé (Delibes). C: Gerrard; D: Diamond. Kutan, Hill, McPhail, uminski. Nov 21, 25, 27. The Canadian Art Song Project Recital Series (Toronto). canadianartsongproject.ca. The Living Spectacle. Braid, Huhtanen. Nov 07. Canadian Children’s Opera Company (Toronto). 416-366-0467. canadianchildrensopera.com. Remembrance Day Event. Nov 11. Winter Celebrations. Nov 28. Canadian Opera Company (Toronto). 416-363-6671. coc.ca. La traviata (Verdi). C: Guidarini; D: Arbus; Des: Hernandez; Ctms: O’Connor; Lght: Doshi; Chor: McCormick. Siurina/El-Khoury,…

Newfoundland-born composer Dean Burry is no stranger to Torontobased Canadian Children’s Opera Company, which commissioned two operas from him with The Hobbit (2004) and The Secret World of OG (2010). But Burry’s appointment as CCOC’s Artistic Director this summer brings a closer relationship and ongoing responsibilities ranging from programming, casting and directing to fundraising, publicity and special projects. Coincidentally, outgoing Executive Artistic Director Ann Cooper Gay had already programmed a revival of The Hobbit for next June (9-12), with Tulsa Youth Opera mounting it a week later in the U.S. It will be a busy year for Burry as he works the new appointment into his schedule. While this summer he left the after-school opera program he created for the Canadian Opera Company after 17 years, he continues to teach…

Clarence Frazer Growing up, baritone Clarence Frazer was an avid football and hockey player. He still keeps fit through a range of sports, so it’s no wonder he describes his debut as Figaro in the Canadian Opera Company’s Il barbiere di Siviglia last spring, covering for the indisposed Joshua Hopkins, in athletic terms: “I was getting ready for my Ensemble Studio performance of the show, but never thought I’d get the call for the mainstage. It was like being called up to the “Big Club” from the minors to start Game 7 of the World Series in a home game.” The critically acclaimed debut opened doors to further mainstage assignments; this fall, Frazer portrays Jean in the North American premiere at Canadian Stage/Soundstreams of Philippe Boesmans’ Julie (Toronto, Nov.), followed…

Wendy Nielsen BY JOSEPH SO “I think I was born to be a teacher. I feel in all honesty that everything I did before prepared me for this. Sure, the singing was thrilling. But now I want to imbue these things I learned in students.” W. R. (Bob) McPhee BY STEPHAN BONFIELD “We have a huge body of outstanding singers, and I believe we should hire them first. They can do anything in opera just as well and even better.” Carrol Anne Curry BY CATHERINE KUSTANCZY “Well-intentioned artistic policy can be made by very wellintentioned people, but if it’s not made by people who’ve walked the walk, it may not be helpful.”…

Rare is the individual who can transition between the worlds of music, politics and administration with grace. Yet Carrol Anne Curry moved seamlessly from opera singer to government official, and then to Managing Director and Manager, Opera division, of Toronto-based Dean Artists Management. If a rolling stone gathers no moss, Curry is a spinning wheel who knows the Canadian cultural terrain thoroughly enough to lead and inspire a whole new generation of operatic explorers. When we speak at her well-appointed apartment in North Toronto, Curry’s ragdoll cat darts to the door in greeting, before settling on the carpet nearby. “She’s not really a cuddler,” Curry says with a chuckle. A captivating mix of feisty, elegant and thoughtful, she is a sparkling conversationalist with a myriad of fascinating tales and opinions…

Starting at 1 p.m. EST unless otherwise stated (All 1 p.m. EST unless otherwise stated) CBC Fall Season Oct. 3 Andrea Chenier Giordano Royal Opera, London Oct. 10 La Juive Halevy RCA recording Oct. 17 Luisa Miller Verdi Hamburg State Opera Oct. 24 La clemenza di Tito Mozart Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris Oct. 31 Madama Butterfly Puccini San Francisco Opera Nov. 7 TBA Nov. 14 Khovanshchina Modest Mussorgsky Vienna State Opera Nov. 21 Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Weill Royal Opera, London Nov. 28 La Straniera Bellini Theater an der Wien, Vienna Radio-Canada Fall Season (Saturday afternoon at 1.p.m. on the Web, encore radio broadcast on Sunday afternoon) Oct. 3/4 Fidelio Beethoven Salzburg Festival Oct. 10/11 Queen of Spades Tchaikovsky Rome Opera Oct. 17/18 Il trovatore Verdi…