This is a look back at 2012 through the rose-coloured glasses of someone who prefers to avoid negativity.

Most impressive singer: Jane Archibald.  I’d already been persuaded by her Zerbinetta in the recent COC Ariadne, then I heard her Haydn CD which won awards in 2011 (and elicited my favourite pun of the year: see the headline) but was floored by her charisma & wit in Semele. I wonder when we’ll see her here again?  In January the COC announces their next season and alas i don’t believe she’s in anything next season, but perhaps the following year..(!)

Most interesting couple: Frida & Diego at AGO, a study of a relationship and yes, lots of art: until Jan 20th.  I wrote a lot about it and don’t feel i was anywhere near exhausting the subjects they raise:

• feminism, sexuality & gender
• aboriginals & colonialism
• disability & medicine
• workers & socialism
• ecology
  …and i suspect there are more

Most eagerly awaited (three different events come to mind)

• Opera Atelier’s Der Freischütz, at least as a musical milestone.  I believe David Fallis met the challenges head on, without simply replicating the opera as we’re accustomed to hearing it (with modern instruments).  Marshall Pynkoski’s programme notes suggest there may be more of this to come.
• While we’re speaking of historically informed performance of romantic music, I was thrilled to finally hear Tafelmusik play Beethoven’s “Eroica” symphony and Mendelssohn’s “Italian” symphony.  I hope this is a sign of what’s to come.
• But I’ve waited longest to hear Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, memorable musically and for Robert Wilson’s mise-en-scene.

Most impressive performance, period:  Stewart Goodyear in the Beethoven Marathon.  In an old-style display of virtuosity, Goodyear made it look easy.  I don’t believe people appreciate his brilliance.  Beethoven sounds brand-new, even while being true to the score.  His scherzi are fast & light, witty & dramatic.  His slow movements are profound and probing.  His contrapuntal movements (Op 101 & 106 especially) are startlingly accurate, faster than i’d believed was possible.

Most visceral theatre:  Dark Matters, an inter-disciplinary creation on the boundaries of choreography & puppet theatre: it was very good theatre.

Closest to my heart: Early in the year I interviewed Michael Slattery, then reviewed his highly original CD “Dowland in Dublin”. It’s in my car, where i listen to it regularly and i posted a small sample a few weeks ago in response to the COC ensemble competition as a cautionary note about our mortality.

Game-changers: 

• The Toronto opera community has become a remarkably vibrant place, full of small companies producing exciting productions.  I can’t list them all, but 2012 was an occasion for several remarkable presentations, often giving an operatic spin to works that weren’t acually opera.  THAT is what i see as game-changing:
  • From Queen of Puddings Music Theatre: Beckett? Feck It!,
    after 2011’s Svadba
  • Against the Grain (who also did an actual opera with The Crucible which i missed) offered The 7 Deadly Sins (and Holier Fare)
  • A creative multi-media presentation to accompany Christopher Butterfield’s song cycle Contes pour enfants pas sages
  • And this time it was most definitely opera, presentation & style, and its unique approach to vocal art were the most original thing i saw and heard all year: Dufort’s Julie Sits Waiting

Merry Christmas..!

Composer Louis Dufort (Photo: Diane Charland)