In His Own Words

Alexander Neef, General Director


12/23/2010

Home for Christmas

After all the travel chaos my flight from Paris to Toronto yesterday went very well and was just 45 minutes delayed. During these past few days I had had my doubts about being able to get back for Christmas. I'm so glad I'm here now.

In the meantime, most of our artists for The Magic Flute have arrived and we're in rehearsals for this new production since Monday already. There will be lots to talk about next year as we get it ready for opening on Jan. 29.

Since the summer I owe you a blog entry about two wonderful composers who both celebrated their 200th anniversaries in 2010. I will try to get this done before the end of the year.

Happy Holidays to all readers!

Posted by Alexander Neef / in Travel / comments (2) / permalink

Corno di Bassetto (12/23/2010 10:43:44 AM)
I trust that you will include Robert Schumann. It seems that although in a sense he came quite close to Opera as a dramatic form he never crossed over to the real thing. His music mirrored his life. In the whole of his music his "Widmung" sums up his dedication which for me is really quite overpowering and perhaps because it is so personal such writing would not translate to the opera stage.
Definitely the Opera (12/24/2010 9:54:43 AM)
Happy holidays, and thanks for the great programming. My Christmas wish would be to hear Anne Sofie von Otter on the COC stage before she retires, which will probably be within next 5-7 years... Can't wait to see her in Frankfurt in June next year, and meanwhile in recital in February at the RCM.