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4 stars (out of 4)
". . . [O]pera doesn’t get any better than the Canadian Opera Company’s current production of Death in Venice, which opened at the Four Seasons Centre on Saturday night.
"Although this adaptation of Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella by British composer Benjamin Britten . . . doesn’t come with hummable arias, it packs a wallop. The music and words are so inextricably intertwined in their depiction of a middle-aged writer’s breakdown, and the dramatic pacing so well measured, that they immediately conjure the magic of great theatre.
"It’s hard to imagine anything better than what we get at the hands of conductor Steuart Bedford—chosen by Britten to lead the opera’s premiere in 1973—fellow Briton, tenor Alan Oke in the lead role of Gustav von Aschenbach, and a strong, beautifully prepared cast and chorus.
"Bedford’s reading of the score extracts the full power of this modern music with gentle contours. He teases out the lyrical, while never letting us forget that there are dark emotional and physical undercurrents from the moment the stage lights go up.
"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.
"What makes this presentation really stand out is the exquisite staging by Japanese director, actor and writer Yoshi Oida. Although the set is little more than a series of boardwalks, it would be wrong to call it minimalist. Oida has shaped every last, tiny detail of the story so that all we see, hear and feel works together toward a focused dramatic message.
"This unforgettable production of Death in Venice is opera at its finest as fabulous musicianship meets imaginative yet respectful direction and fastidious staging. It satisfies emotionally as well as intellectually."
John Terauds, Toronto Star Read the complete review.
"Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice seems at first blush almost the opposite of an opera.
"And yet, as its Toronto revival at the Four Seasons Centre Saturday night demonstrated in an almost magically gripping way, it is an operatic masterpiece whose singularity is a potent part of its strength.
"Strongest of all its claims to be an operatic masterpiece is the astonishing freshness, delicacy, beauty and vigour of Britten's score. Stroke after stroke of its orchestral underpinning, enthrallingly unfurled . . . by the Canadian Opera Company orchestra, conducted by Steuart Bedford, disarms the ear and the senses.
"The singing is largely the province of Aschenbach himself, who is never off the stage. 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.
"Baritone Peter Savidge was consummate and smoothly various in seven roles of travellers and service people who assist Aschenbach's downfall.
"Japanese stage director Yoshi Oida was able to help the actors subtly and imaginatively create the sultry Venetian environment, and choreographer Daniela Kurz made the young people’s beach games exhilarating. Sandra Horst’s sure hand with the COC chorus added much to the spell the music cast.
Ken Winters, Globe and Mail Read the complete review.
5 stars (out of 5)
"If fine theatre, like fine cuisine, comes from blending all the components of a dish in such a way that the final sum is greater than all of its parts, then director Yoshi Oida is the operatic equivalent of a master chef. And the Canadian Opera Company's new production of Death in Venice is a musical banquet you shouldn't miss. "A co-production with the Aldeburgh Festival, Bregenz Festival, Statni Opera Praha and Opera National de Lyon, Death in Venice hit the stage of the Four Seasons Centre Saturday—and it held its audience spellbound until the final scene was sung.
"Strongly supported at every turn by baritone Peter Savidge (who tackles a multitude of roles, all of which add up to a devilish alter-ego for the struggling Aschenbach), Oke traces the proud intellectual's descent into madness with a strong passion and an understated grace. From the moment he encounters young Tadzio (performed with delicious spareness by dancer Adam Sergison), Oke uses a finely drawn vocal performance as foundation for a moving portrait of a man suddenly and inexplicably at the mercy of his senses. He is besotted not only by a single youth, but by youth itself, taunted by the gods from which he has held himself aloof and all but unnoticed by his fellow man.
"But while the story pivots around the tensions of two singers and a single dancer, Oida and his team fill the stage with life, bringing the canals and piazzas of Venice to life with stunning artistry, deploying a cast of expert singers and dancers (choreographed by Daniela Kurz and Katharina Bader) to maximum effect and creating an external landscape that, while riveting, never overshadows the internal landscape around which the story is built. "Thus supported, Britten's music is a powerful revelation, the soundtrack of a tortured mind, on which the sights and sounds of the world around it are allowed to intrude but never dominate."
John Coulbourn, Toronto Sun Read the complete review.
"The Canadian Opera Company’s presentation of Britten's final opera, Death in Venice, is absolutely flawless. Seldom has the staging of an opera so perfectly reflected the nature of the opera itself. The acclaimed production from the 2007 Aldeburgh Festival arrives in Toronto complete with its original director, Yoshi Oida, its original star Alan Oke as the central character Gustav von Aschenbach and its conductor Steuart Bedford, who first conducted the work when it premiered in 1973. It is a triumph for all concerned.
"Bedford brings out the spare beauty of the score and is especially impressive in the gamelan-inspired music associated with Tadzio that dominates the long, exciting ballet sequence of the Games of Apollo. Just like the score Oida’s staging is also spare and beautiful, using techniques from kabuki and mime to portray events on a raised platform in the midst of a shallow rectangular pool. He captures the multiple ironies of Mann’s story and Britten’s opera by emphasizing the performance as performance and having both Oke and Savidge on stage throughout changing costumes in full view. Oke’s performance as actor and singer is simply outstanding, one able to convey complex meanings from every word and gesture. Daniela Kurz’s choreography is boldly inventive. Give in to the eerie, illusive soundworld of Britten’s opera for a profound contemplation of the mystery of life at its close."
Christopher Hoile, Eye Weekly Read the complete review.
5 out of 5
"Yoshi Oida handles the work’s psychological and mythic undertows with sensitivity, using the streamlined, minimal Japanese aesthetic of Tom Schenk’s set for maximum effect. Unseen troughs of water reflect evocatively onto a series of paper panels in the backdrop, the subtle lighting shifts affecting mood. Naturalistic or abstract images are also projected onto a small screen, which can pivot to become a mirror during key scenes.
"Conductor Steuart Bedford, who helmed the opera’s 1973 premiere, brings out all the shimmering colours and shadows in Britten’s score, which can turn voluptuous or menacing in a heartbeat. The COC orchestra has seldom sounded more alive or spontaneous.
"Oke, onstage for nearly the entire opera, effortlessly handles the vocal and emotional demands, making his descent from ordered man of letters to figure of pathos sympathetic. Equally good is Peter Savidge, a figure of death who monitors Aschenbach’s movements and morphs into various characters he will encounter in his final days.
"You won’t leave the theatre humming any arias, but you will reflect on the hidden depths of the human condition."
Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine Read the complete review.