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Category Archives: Reviews
Woolf at the door, Orlando in your head
Thursday night I experienced Orlando: Ema Nikolovska with Sean Shibe. A good concert shows us how and why. How to curate, assemble, share, perform. And why we do this at all, the community of listeners & watchers observing. I felt … Continue reading
Opera Atelier’s Descent of Orpheus
Watching Opera Atelier open their fall season at Koerner Hall Thursday October 22nd was a snapshot of their history in one impressive show. Their new production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s The Descent of Orpheus (1686), continues the company’s exploration of theatre … Continue reading
Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews
Tagged Alexander Cappellazzo, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Christopher Bagan, Christopher Dunham, Daniel McGrew, David Witczak, Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, Les Arts Florissants, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Marshall Pynkoski, Mireille Asselin, Mireille Lebel, Olivier Bergeron, Opera Atelier, Orfeo ed Euridice, Pelleas et Melisande, Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Descent of Orpheus, Toronto Summer Music
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Virtuoso Traviata to close COC fall season
I was glad to see the final show in the Canadian Opera Company’s fall run of La Traviata Saturday afternoon October 17th, a chance to hear the trio of principals (soprano Kathryn Lewek, tenor Long Long & baritone Russell Braun) … Continue reading
Third time’s a charm with Egoyan-COC Cosi fan tutte: starring Johannes Debus
I got lucky. The Canadian Opera Company Cosi fan tutte that I saw Saturday October 10th is the best one yet. This is the third time that the COC have staged the Atom Egoyan production of the Mozart opera “Così … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged American Idol, Atom Egoyan, Bernard Labadie, Canadian Opera Company, Cosi fan tutte, Daniel Okulitch, Debra Hanson, Frida Kahlo, Ian Derrer, Ingmar Bergman, Joel Allison, Johannes Debus, Lauren Fagan, Laurence Kilsby, Lorenzo Da Ponte, Marilyn Gronsdal, Martina Myskohlid, Owen McCausland, recitative, Russell Braun, Sir Thomas Allen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woody Allen
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Drama and lyricism from Scarborough Philharmonic Showpieces
Scarborough Philharmonic opened their 2026-27 season Friday October 2nd with something of a bombshell announcement. SPO’s Artistic Director & Conductor Ronald Royer stood before us, disclosing that he’s fighting cancer. He confidently predicted he would beat it, returning fully next … Continue reading
Provocative To a Flame for an audist world
I’ve learned a new word. My new word is “audism“: discrimination or prejudice against deaf individuals. So if someone practising racism is a racist (practicing discrimination around race), I would add the word audist. When I first tried to type … Continue reading
Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, My mother, Reviews
Tagged 1s1 Theatre, American Sign Language, André du Toit, ASL, audism, audist, Beth SIlver, Dawn Jani Birley, Edgar Allan Poe, Erin Shields, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Juliana Monk, Jung-Hye Kim, Laura Warren, Modern Times Stage Company, Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre, Nickeshia Garrick, Nightwood Theatre, Prince Hamlet, TAF, The Fall of the House of Usher, To a Flame, Why Not Theatre
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Irresistible Traviata from Canadian Opera Company learning the lessons of Avis.
I feel fortunate that I had the privilege of seeing Verdi’s La Traviata today through the eyes of someone discovering the work for the first time, the Canadian Opera Company matinee at the Four Seasons Centre. When I arrived Erika … Continue reading
Posted in Opera, Reviews
Tagged Andriana Chuchman, Avis Rent a car, Canadian Opera Company, Emma Pennell, Four Seasons Centre, Franco Zeffirelli, Giuseppe Verdi, Ileana Cotrubas, Kathryn Lewek, La Traviata, Long Long, Luke Norvell, Matthew Polenzani, Paolo Carignani, Placido Domingo, Reginald Smith Jr, Russell Braun, Teresa Stratas
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Yuja Wang plays Prokofiev: a study in contrasts to open the Toronto Symphony season
“Yuja Wang Plays Prokofiev” might be the title of the Toronto Symphony’s opening concert of the 2026-27 season Thursday September 24th, but we heard a great deal more last night. Yuja also played four brilliant encores in a breath-taking display … Continue reading
Having it both ways with Measure for Measure at Crow’s Theatre
Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”. It straddles genre boundaries, enigmatic & challenging, darkly funny. Yes it’s still considered a comedy even though we hear a lot about executions & life in prison, offering glimpses of a … Continue reading
