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4/4 stars
"Come to have your eyes dazzled; stay to have your heart moved."
"There are so many riches on display in this 2000 opera from Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho that one hardly knows where to start."
"COC Music Director Johannes Debus has delved into the heart and soul of this work, with his ensemble constantly providing every necessary nuance of Saariaho’s music, from its subtlest sigh to its most heart-rending scream."
"Director Daniele Finzi Pasca understands just what is needed and he fills the stage with triple images of each of our three leading players, swirling some through the air, letting others emerge seemingly from the depths of the earth."
"The setting of Jean Rabasse is a dazzling maze of arches, lighting fixtures and floating silk that combine to create a unique universe, one which Finzi Pasca and Alexis Bowles have lit with a daring skill."
"If I had seen nothing but the stunning Act IV sequence on board the ship headed for Tripoli, where the work of the other designers is joined by eloquent projections from Roberto Vitalini, I would have been able to go home content from the visual splendour, yet emotional depth of it all."
"There is more than world-class eye candy here and the three leading players make this work transcendent."
"No one, truly, can capture the essence of manly pain as well as [Russell Braun] does. Add to this the burnished redwood of his voice, capable of the most powerful explosions as well as the gentlest covered notes and you have a work of art."
"Erin Wall also brings amazing reserves of emotional depth to the Countess who finds love and death live side by side. And the richness of her vocal instrument, capable of suddenly slashing into searing pain, completes the picture."
"Krisztina Szabo tackles the eerie role of The Pilgrim with similar success, going from seemingly detached matchmaking to shatteringly involved guilt as the work evolves and following every step with a breathtaking clarity."
"Love From Afar is yet another indication that, when it comes to exploring how deeply original the art of opera can be, the COC deserves our awestruck thanks."
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"I guarantee you’ll fall under its spell."
"Saariaho’s score glistens and shimmers with complex colours that evoke other realms and times, beautifully realized by Johannes Debus and the COC Orchestra."
"What’s most innovative about this production, however, is how [Director Daniele] Finzi Pasca lets each character be represented by three performers, who do things like soar through the air or whirl around like dervishes. This movement goes beyond acrobatics to suggest something spiritual and profound."
"[The singers] draw on every colour in their voices to express their characters’ inner lives. They may not be singing traditional arias about love, but their voices will affect you all the same."
4.5/5 stars
"Director Daniele Finzi Pasca injects the very latest in modern stage technology, tempering it at almost every turn with a theatricality as old as time itself."
"Finzi Pasca's three hugely talented principals'... alter-egos create a dreamlike world around them, disappearing and reappearing in Jean Rabasse’s achingly beautiful set design, as if by magic, trailing often hauntingly gorgeous costumes designed by Kevin Pollard."
"In Finzi Pasca’s world, they not only fly and spring fully formed from nowhere, but thanks to collaborations with videographer Roberto Vitalini, lighting designer Alexis Bowles (who with Finzi Pasca manages to bend light to their will) and movement consultant Julie Hamelin, they also appear to walk on water as well as under it."
"They create a world of wonder that not only provides a magnificent showcase for three rich and evocative voices, but in the process, they provide enough sensory engagement that the charm of Saareiaho’s seemingly spartan score is slowly revealed, assisted at every turn by the artists of the COC Orchestra, under the assured baton of Johannes Debus."
"The warmly earnest baritone of Russell Braun was everything it needed to be."
"Johannes Debus and the COC orchestra gave it their all."
"Just as operas once sent you to the exit whistling, this one might send you home thinking."
"The Canadian Opera Company’s opening-night performance sounded both luxuriant and austere... delicately realized by conductor Johannes Debus and the COC Orchestra"
"[Russell Braun, Erin Wall and Krisztina Szabo] showed the best of their extensive art, singing beautifully and somehow managing to fill out characters that might in other hands have seemed like debating positions set to music."
"There were treats for the eyes from the beginning to the end."
"The three-person singing cast is as spectacular as the staging."
"The COC Orchestra was at its best under music director Johannes Debus."
"Toronto baritone Russell Braun and mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó are at their vocal best as troubadour-prince Jaufré Rudel and the Pilgrim who acts as matchmaker between the lovelorn man and distant captive Clémence, strongly portrayed by Canadian-American soprano Erin Wall."
Russell Braun as Jaufré (downstage left), Erin Wall as Clémence (back, centre) and Krisztina Szabó as the Pilgrim (downstage right) in the Canadian Opera Company production of Love from Afar, 2012. Photo: Michael Cooper