It’s not the first time I’m jealous of Alberta. The Leafs never win The Cup, while Calgary and Edmonton have each had their moments.

Joel Ivany has relocated out west, Miriam Khalil singing and teaching alongside him as they raise their family.

There’s another newer reason for my envy.

In 2024 both Calgary and Edmonton will be staging Das Rheingold, perhaps my favorite of all of Wagner’s music dramas. 

And one wonders whether they might present the rest of the Ring Cycle.

If you look at the webpages for the two opera companies (below) you see a fascinating contrast.

Both Edmonton and Calgary have Jubilee Auditoriums, a pair of big theatres where their respective opera companies often perform.

It’s no surprise to see that the Calgary production will be staged there, a perfect venue for a work requiring Wagner’s huge orchestra and the big voices we expect in his operas.

Edmonton however is trying something a bit different. Instead of their Jubilee Auditorium they’re staging their Rheingold at a smaller venue, namely the Maclab Theatre at The Citadel, a space holding 704 guests rather than the 2500 of the Jubilee Aud.

I see on the Edmonton Opera webpage:
“Adaptation by Jonathan Dove and Graham Vick, Orchestrated by Jonathan Dove”

Joel directed me to this page from Birmingham Opera for further information on their adaptation.

So in other words, something a bit different and unusual.

Yes I’m jealous. I try not to let my envy mess me up but sometimes I can’t help it. Over the past decade we saw Against the Grain Theatre –aka Joel’s previous company in Toronto—regularly find unexpected venues to present opera, true to the name of the company.

Pelléas et Mélisande done in a courtyard at dusk.

Figaro’s Wedding in a venue for weddings.

A little too Cozy, the AtG transladaptation of Cosi fan tutte done in a CBC studio, but re-done as a TV show.

More than a decade ago we enjoyed la boheme in English in a pub, first in Toronto then touring all across the country.

And there was also Messiah/Complex, a video adaptation of Handel employing singers and musicians from every province and territory of Canada. So although Toronto has the “Canadian Opera Company” maybe the real Canadians are in Alberta.

Joel may have gone out west yet his inventiveness isn’t gone. Maybe it’s hitting its stride in Alberta, with a cast of Canadians in that smaller venue, not unlike their many stagings of la boheme in bars across Canada. They were exciting precisely because the spaces were so tiny, the theatre so intimate.

In the first boheme I saw, I’ll never forget that Musetta came up behind me and ruffled my hair. Holy cow, you can’t do anything like that in a big theatre no matter how rambunctious your rhine maidens might be.

Das Rheingold is one of my favorite operas, one that our own Canadian Opera Company has only presented during their Ring Cycle in 2006 otherwise: never. It’s the same set they’ve used in their revivals of Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung, three huge long operas. Rheingold is comparatively short & sweet, so why not… COC? please???? Perhaps hire some of the people who will be singing in one of the Alberta productions.

In any case there it is, presented twice in 2024 in what might be mistaken for a new Battle of Alberta.

No there’s no hockey involved, but both Calgary Opera and Edmonton Opera will be staging Das Rheingold in 2024 in contrasting versions. I don’t want to invoke The Stampede even if my first impulse is to shout “Holy Cow.”

And I wonder whether Calgary and Edmonton will go on to stage the rest of the Ring cycle operas. We shall see.

Oh wait… I asked Joel via Facebook Messenger. He may be thousands of miles away but he confirms that this is the beginning of a Cycle, not just a one off. 

I won’t freeze in the dark but in the meantime I may pull out one of my Rheingold recordings to keep warm.

For further reading and to purchase tickets….

https://www.calgaryopera.com/23-24/rheingold
https://www.edmontonopera.com/das-rheingold

Calgary’s Rheingold goes on in April.

Edmonton’s Rheingold goes on near the end of May.