Winter may not be over quite yet, but the COC's Free Concert Series continues in March with some creative and interactive performances. From contemporary dance, to family-friendly opera and Portuguese-inspired Latin Jazz, our March concerts will help you make it to spring!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - Ballet Creole - Tounkande
Ballet Creole, one of Canada's most innovative and dynamic dance companies, extends the celebration of Black History Month into March with an exhilarating new production. Tounkande is a unique collaboration with master drummers from Africa and Trinidad and Tobago. The production brings together the song, dance and rhythms of Guinea, West Africa and celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the Malinke people. See a clip from Ballet Creole's production, Breaking Out, below.
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Posted by Kristin McKinnon / in Free Concert Series / comments (0) / permalink
It's Valentine's Day! We thought about some of our favourite romantic arias or duets for the holiday and discovered that picking romantic music isn't always so easy in opera!
Gianna Wichelow, Senior Communications Manager, Creative - My choice is less about sentiment, more about seduction: I’m a sucker for a bass-baritone voice. Ruggero Raimondi as Don Giovanni sings the serenade, “Deh vieni alla finestra” with that unique voice of his, redolent of dark, spiced chocolate. His “non esser gioa mia con me crudele” (Do not, my joy, be cruel to me) has a slight hint of menace. Of all the versions I’ve heard of this, he brings to it the greatest sense of the Don as a seducer. Watch it here.
Bearitone Bear, Social Media Engagement Officer - Anything from Walton's The Bear.
Claire Morley, Communications Assistant - For me, it’s a tie. The final duet in Der Rosenkavalier, “Ist ein Traum / Spür nur dich” when Sophie and Octavian are finally able to be together (and for me, nothing beats Barbara Bonney and Anne Sofie von Otter’s rendition here) is heavenly. And “Che farò senza Euridice” from Orfeo ed Euridice, especially when sung by countertenor Andreas Scholl, is heartbreaking in its simple longing for one’s beloved. Listen to it here.
Cameron McPhail, baritone, Ensemble Studio member - That's easy. My choice would be "Within this frail crucible of light" from The Rape of Lucretia, because when you're an opera singer and away from your wife on Valentine's Day, you're bitter, lonely and wish everyone was feeling like you! ;) Hypothetically!
Posted by Danielle D'Ornellas / in Opera Appreciation / comments (0) / permalink
Posted by Danielle D'Ornellas / in La clemenza di Tito / comments (1) / permalink
Sara Fulgoni in the COC production of Bluebeard's Castle. Photo: Michael Cooper © 2001