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The Dora Mavor Moore Awards, an annual ceremony honouring the best in Toronto Theatre, handed out three awards to the COC's artists on Monday evening: 

• Orfeo ed Euridice, directed by the Toronto-born Robert Carsen, won the award for Outstanding Production (Opera Division). 

• Alan Oke, who played Gustav von Aschenbach in October 2010's Death in Venice, won the award for Outstanding Performance (Opera Division). 

• Harry Bicket, who conducted Orfeo ed Euridice, won the award for Outstanding Musical Direction (General Theatre Division). 

Praise for Orfeo ed Euridice

"The whole show was like that, each element reinforcing the others, prodding you to hear something in a new way or to understand what words and music were getting at all along. This is why we go to music theatre; this is why it exists." - The Globe and Mail 

"I left the opera house that afternoon, with a renewed sense of wonder and appreciation for the power of music, and for the men and women of genius who bring the work to life, in this case Robert Carsen. The Canadian director and set and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel have created a production that is timeless, sparse, and devoid of the trappings of grand opera, focusing instead on the emotional core of the music and the action that best serve this ancient myth." - La Scena Musicale

Photos

Download Lawrence Zazzo (foreground) as Orfeo in the Canadian Opera Company production of Orfeo ed Euridice, 2011. Conductor Harry Bicket, director Robert Carsen, set and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel, and lighting designers Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet.   Photo: Michael Cooper	Download Lawrence Zazzo as Orfeo in the Canadian Opera Company production of Orfeo ed Euridice, 2011. Conductor Harry Bicket, director Robert Carsen, set and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel, and lighting designers Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet.  Photo: Michael Cooper
Download Lawrence Zazzo as Orfeo and Isabel Bayrakdarian as Euridice in the Canadian Opera Company production of Orfeo ed Euridice, 2011. Conductor Harry Bicket, director Robert Carsen, set and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel, and lighting designers Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet.  Photo: Michael Cooper	Download Robert Carsen, director of the Canadian Opera Company production of Orfeo ed Euridice, 2011.

Praise for Alan Oke

"Oke, who spends most of the opera’s two hours onstage, is a remarkable actor, who tiptoed deftly along the oh-so-delicate line between dignity and emotional defeat. His honeyed tenor matched each mood with its extraordinarily wide dynamic and expressive range." - Toronto Star

"Scottish tenor Alan Oke sang the role superbly, with a flexible lyrical sound, wonderful pitch and clear words, conveying all of Aschenbach’s tortured speculations and desires within the very specific reaches of Britten’s melodic limning of his character." - Globe and Mail

Photos

Download Alan Oke, front, as Gustav von Aschenbach in the Canadian Opera Company production of Death in Venice, 2010. Conductor Steuart Bedford, director Yoshi Oida, set designer Tom Schenk, costume designer Richard Hudson, choreographer Daniela Kurz and original lighting designer Paule Constable.	Download (l – r) David Hurwitz, Peter Savidge as the Old Gondolier, Alan Oke as Gustav von Aschenbach and Caleb McMullen in a scene from the Canadian Opera Company production of Death in Venice, 2010. Conductor Steuart Bedford, director Yoshi Oida, set designer Tom Schenk, costume designer Richard Hudson, choreographer Daniela Kurz and original lighting designer Paule Constable.
Download Alan Oke as Gustav von Aschenbach and David Hurwitz in the Canadian Opera Company production of Death in Venice. Conductor Steuart Bedford, director Yoshi Oida, set designer Tom Schenk, costume designer Richard Hudson, choreographer Daniela Kurz and original lighting designer Paule Constable.	Download Alan Oke, winner of the 2011 Dora award for Outstanding Performance (Opera Division) for his performance of Gustav von Aschenbach in the Canadian Opera Company's 2010 production of Death in Venice.

"Conductor Harry Bicket transformed the COC Orchestra, slimming down the violin tone, coaxing a newly woody timbre from the lower strings, and putting plenty of air into Gluck’s phrases. The whole score (the original 1762 version) sounded fresh and agile." - Globe and Mail

"Another reason to rejoice was the Handel and Classical specialist Harry Bicket in the pit. The orchestra played Gluck’s music with great serenity and the kind of light that was in perfect accord with the stage lights." - Definitely the Opera

Photo

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Harry Bicket, the conductor of the Canadian Opera Company production of Orfeo ed Euridice and the winner of the Dora award for Outstanding Musical Direction, General Theatre Division. Photo © Richard Haughton.