"You may have seen this opera before. And you may see it again. But you probably won’t ever see it performed as well." Robert Harris, Globe and Mail.
The reviews are in and Il Trovatore is a hit! But the final two performances of our production of Verdi's masterwork are October 28 and 31. If you haven't seen Il Trovatore or are thinking of seeing it again, here are the top four reasons you should catch it before it's gone. Don't miss out!
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Posted by Danielle D'Ornellas / in Il Trovatore / comments (1) / permalink
For Episode 4, we welcome back Opera Canada magazine’s editor, Wayne Gooding along with blogger, John Gilks and Gianna Wichelow, the COC’s Senior Communications Manager, Creative. Hosting once again is the COC’s Adult Programs Manager, Gianmarco Segato.
This week in the news we debate Robert Everett Green’s Globe and Mail article: “Il Trovatore has an ugly resonance against a backdrop of Roma persecution” and the Opera Canada Corner features Wayne’s round-up of highlights from the upcoming opera season across Canada.
There’s an interview with Canadian director Marilyn Gronsdal who is heading to Opéra de Montréal to re-mount the COC’s production of The Flying Dutchman. Also, on the eve of the new season of Metropolitan Opera live HD transmissions, we had a lively round-table discussion about the influence of the HD phenomenon on opera.
Let us know you’re listening! Contact us with your ideas/thoughts/comments on Facebook, Twitter or by email (community@coc.ca). Tell us what opera production in Canada you are most looking forward to seeing and we'll put your name in a draw for a prize courtesy of Universal Classics!
Posted by Gianmarco Segato / in The Big COC Podcast / comments (1) / permalink
by Suzanne Vanstone, Senior Communications Manager, Editorial at the Canadian Opera Company
It is always a great moment for our company to have the opportunity to create a new production for our audience, and it has been Alexander Neef’s goal, since his arrival, to regularly introduce new productions to the COC’s repertoire. This fall we present Johann Strauss II’s delicious Die Fledermaus, which has not been performed here since 1991.
Set designer Allen Moyer (Nixon in China) and costume designer Constance Hoffman (Julius Caesar) discuss a few of the visual aspects of this production as well as what influenced some of their design choices. All the members of the creative team were interested, from the start, in presenting a well-known work in a fresh, relevant way. They felt there was great potential in delving further into Strauss’s Vienna as well as subsequent periods in Viennese history.
Moyer was delighted to hear that Neef had chosen director Christopher Alden (The Flying Dutchman, Rigoletto) for this project. “The only person I would really want to do Fledermaus with would be Christopher. I enjoy doing ‘pretty’ things but Fledermaus has been done so much, and we wanted to take a new look at it. It’s like mounting Così fan tutte – you can do a production that is completely lighthearted and slightly flippant, or you can do a production that also acknowledges the pain and betrayal that is part of being an adult and falling in love.” The team wanted to see what lay behind the froth and fluff and champagne.
Posted by Danielle D'Ornellas / in Die Fledermaus / comments (0) / permalink
Sara Fulgoni in the COC production of Bluebeard's Castle. Photo: Michael Cooper © 2001