Table of contents for Vol. LVII, No. 3 in Opera Canada

The annual conference of the International Artists Managers' Association in Toronto last November proved a colourful affair, with all the meetings, schmoozing and networking progressing around some of the city’s leading cultural venues. From the Toronto Symphony’s Roy Thomson Hall and Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall through the gorgeous Aga Kahn Museum to the Spoke Club, a hipster hangout in the trendy west side’s Fashion District, the geography of the meeting circuit matched the conference’s Cultural Crossroads theme quite handily. Between the meetings, performances aplenty curated to showcase Canadian artists and creators illustrated the theme splendidly, too, while the Montreal International Musical Competition used the conference to announce a bold new departure from what is perhaps more a cultural meeting of the ways than a crossroads. Starting in 2018,…

I must have been expecting Erika, the shy, sheltered, bookish young Nordic blueblood she was playing in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa, but when Carolyn Sproule showed up in the lobby of Wexford’s National Opera House on a sunny Saturday afternoon in late October, I was a little surprised by just how happy and hardy, outgoing and outdoorsy she seemed. “Yes, Erika is kind of different from me, I think!” she agrees, at a quiet table upstairs in what once was the opera house’s cafe. It’s set for four, for a private function before that night’s curtain, but right now the room is empty, and again I’m reminded of Vanessa, with its unoccupied first-act table set for two. “She’s very complex—she has this amazing progression throughout the opera, and it’s a challenge…

Opera Canada Publications is seeking a trailblazing editor who will shepherd the organization forward in its new direction as the central print and online hub for everything “Canadian” in opera. Opera Canada magazine has been the go-to source for Canadian news from the international world of opera for almost 60 exciting years. We are now seeking an editor with vision, enthusiasm and editorial experience to take our brand to the next level as the incumbent, Wayne Gooding, steps down after 25 years with the organization. Overview: Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the Editorial Director is responsible for: The editorial content of each quarterly issue of the magazine Developing the editorial program and managing the overall editorial production process, which will include writing, editing, display writing, sourcing graphics, managing the network of…

Starting at 1 p.m. EST unless otherwise stated CBC Radio 2 Metropolitan Opera Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts Jan. 14 La bohème Puccini C: Rizzi; Pérez, Phillips, Fabiano, Arduini, Lavrov, Van Horn, Plishka Jan. 21 Roméo et Juliette Gounod C: Noseda; Damrau, Grigolo, Madore, Petrenko Jan. 28 Il barbiere di Siviglia Rossini C: Benini; Yende, Korchak, Mattei, Muraro, Petrenko Feb. 4 Rigoletto Verdi C: Morandi; Peretyatko, Volkova, Costello, Luc?ic´, Mastroni Feb. 11 Carmen Bizet C: Ettinger; Agresta, Margaine, Álvarez, Ketelsen Feb. 18 I Puritani Bellini C: Benini; Damrau, Camarena, Markov, Pisaroni Feb. 25 Rusalka Dvor?ák C: Elder; Opolais, Dalayman, Barton, Jovanovich, Owens Mar. 4 Werther Massenet C: Gardner; Christy, Leonard, Grigolo, Bi�ic Mar. 11 La traviata Verdi C: Luisotti; Yoncheva, Fabiano, Hampson Mar 18 (Peformance from Fall 2016) Guillaume Tell Rossini C:…

CDs LE NOZZ E DI FIGARO Mozart DGG: 479 5945 At the time of writing, this new Le nozze di Figaro was nominated for a Grammy Award, another feather in the cap for Canadian conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin, who has been appointed to succeed James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera. This recording marks the fourth installment in Deutsche Grammophon’s ambitious project to record all seven of Mozart’s mature operas with Nezet-Seguin. Given the abundance of fine Nozze recordings out there, the question is: do we need yet another? Recorded live in concert at Baden-Baden in 2015, this new version, while not erasing memories of the greatest from the past, is very fine and a worthy addition to the Mozart discography. The ensemble cast is very strong. Christiane Karg is a vocally…

HONOURS AND AWARDS On the eve of Canada’s 150th anniversary, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, included a wide-ranging mix of names related to the vocal arts in the end-of-year announcement of 100 new appointments to the Order of Canada, which itself celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017. Baritone Russell Braun was named Officer of the Order “for his accomplishments as an internationally renowned opera singer and cultural ambassador for our country;” tenor Michael Schade was also named an Officer “for his achievements as a renowned tenor and for his contributions to the world of opera;” Toronto-born Howard Shore was named an Officer of the Order “for his contributions to the film music industry as an internationally celebrated composer and conductor:” though best known for his extensive…

There is something of a wise old man in the young tenor Owen McCausland—particularly when he talks about life management and career planning. He is sensible in conversation, arguments well weighed, talk sedately paced, views taken always longue durée. With his neatly trimmed ginger beard and the broad-shouldered physique of a hockey player, the Maritimer looks any age the stage directors will need him to be. No wonder he already sang Tito—a Mozart role that usually goes to a much older tenor—when the Canadian Opera Company asked him, a member of the Ensemble Studio and the understudy, to jump in for an indisposed Michael Schade for four performances of the Christopher Alden-directed La clemenza di Tito in 2013. Maturity was also in evidence in a more recent Alden-directed production at…

Soprano Ambur Braid had no preconceptions about how to play the role of Dalinda in the Canadian Opera Company’s autumn production of Handel’s Ariodante, so she was as surprised by the limping, cowed, abused character who emerged from rehearsals as audiences would be by her portrayal of damaged psychological goods still faithful to her abuser. There was nothing surprising, though, about the musical and dramatic intensity Braid brought to the role, nor the accuracy and aplomb she brought to her four high-lying solo arias. Ariodante was the first of three back-to-back assignments for the Terrace-BC native in Toronto this season, with the second being 12 performances as the Queen of the Night in the COC’s Die Zauberflöte this Jan./Feb. This has become a signature role over the past year, the…

STUART HAMILTON September 28, 1929 – January 1, 2017 “Wait a minute, I have to get my other glasses!” Patrons of Toronto’s Opera in Concert were familiar with this line because Stuart Hamilton forgot to bring his reading glasses onstage with him on more than one occasion. This delayed the beginning of many a neglected French opera, which he led from the keyboard, and endeared him to his audience, as did many other idiosyncrasies in a life dedicated to opera and the vocal arts. Bringing more than six decades of wondrous achievement in the Canadian cultural arena to a close, Hamilton succumbed to prostate cancer at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto on New Year’s Day at the age of 87. Legendary as a vocal coach, broadcaster, raconteur, artistic director and…

Ask Hamilton, Ont.-born Michael Nyby how and why he started singing, and he can honestly reply: “I did it to impress a girl.” As a teen, he was interested in punk rock and blues, music became his extra-curricular interest in high school and he played guitar and sang in bands. “We were all pretty bad”, he laughs, “so that career arc was going nowhere fast.” At 16, he met a girl who planned to major in voice after high school. “I dropped all my other interests then and there to pursue the same goal, which as a love-struck teenager, seemed like the only reasonable thing to do.” And thanks to this infatuation, he now holds a Bachelor of Music in voice performance from Ithaca College, a Masters of Opera from…

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 December 15, 2016. Programs subject to change. Calgary Opera. 403-262- 7286. calgaryopera.com. Filumena (Estacio). C: Dean; D: Robinson. Szkwarek, G. Dahl, Turnbull, Love, Glenn. Feb 04, 08, 10. Turandot (Puccini). C: Mechavich; D: Deedrick. Capalbo, Pomeroy, Magisano, Sylvestre. Apr 01, 05, 07. Canadian Children’s Opera Company (Toronto). 416-366-0467. canadianchildrensopera.com. Brundibar (Krasa). D: Ivany. Mar 02, 03, 04, 05. Canadian Opera Company (Toronto). 416-363-6671. coc.ca. Echo/Sap’a. Newman. Jan 05M. Die Zauberflöte (Mozart). C: Labadie; D: Corcoran; Des & Ctms: Hee Cho; Lght: Zielinsky. Tsallagova/ MacKinnon, Haji/ McCausland, Hopkins/Addis, Braid, Juric´/Boehler, Colvin, Gantner. Jan 19, 26, 29M, Feb 01,…