It’s only day three of week one of our Summer Youth Intensive, and already we have been hearing some true talent from our all-female group. This morning, the girls rehearsed in the spacious Imperial Oil Opera Theatre, where many of the COC’s productions come to fruition during the season.
Through excerpts from Verdi’s Nabucco, Bizet’s Carmen, and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the SYI group worked on their vocal technique and diction in an ensemble rehearsal led by Kyra Millan.
Read more...
Posted by Blanche Israël / in Opera Appreciation / comments (1) / permalink
What he'll be doing with us: Atom Egoyan, switching from film director to opera director, will bring his production of Salome back to the COC in the spring of 2013.
Where you might have seen him: He's primarily known as a film director, nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) for The Sweet Hereafter in 1997. Some of his other best-known films are Ararat (2002), Exotica (1994), and Chloe (2009). He's also done plenty of directing for live theatre: earlier this year he directed Cruel and Tender for Canadian Stage. He's no stranger to the COC, either – you might have seen his Salome for the COC in 1996 or 2002, or his Die Walküre in 2004/2006.
Interviews and profiles: In this video interview, Egoyan talks about how he came to the opera world and what makes opera directing so artistically rewarding:
Sneak preview: The essay "Seeing and Hearing Egoyan's 'Salome'," part of which is available via Google Books, takes a detailed look at the production (as it appeared in its last incarnation). Also, take a look at some photos from the production!
Photo of Atom Egoyan by Anthony Woods.
Posted by Cecily Carver / in Salome / comments (0) / permalink
Beekeeper Fred Davis updates us on the honeybees that live on the roof the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. located at 145 Queen St. W., here in Toronto: We installed five new queens just over two weeks ago and, based on what we see, they have all been accepted by the hives. Plus I created a new hive by moving some queen cells to a distant location on the rooftop. Remember each hive has only one queen so I removed the under-performing queens before I introduced the new queens. We now have healthier hives with new queens rearing more brood! Thanks, Fred!
Posted by Gianna Wichelow / in FSCPA Honeybees / comments (0) / permalink
Sara Fulgoni in the COC production of Bluebeard's Castle. Photo: Michael Cooper © 2001