No costume necessary

Posted on December 20, 2012 by barczablog

Tonight I witnessed the first of Tafelmusik’s annual presentations of Händel’s Messiah at Koerner Hall, being presented nightly until the 22nd, followed by the annual singalong Messiah on the afternoon of the 23rd at Massey Hall.

Who is that be-wigged maestro?

The four at Koerner Hall are led by Ivars Taurins, while the singalong is led by the composer himself.  Okay okay, so it’s actually Taurins, channelling Georg Frederick Händel.  Having seen the video of the singalong broadcast on Bravo (last year), I suspect that this exercise has been very good for Taurins.  I recall that Anton Kuerti once said that in playing Beethoven one must to some extent become Beethoven.  Romantic identification?  Surely.

But what I saw tonight from Taurins has me believing that Taurins has gone very deeply into character, gaining a profound understanding of who the composer is, and more importantly, what he’s really written.

He needs no costume. At times that felt like the genuine article up there, conducting his own masterpiece.

Best moment?  Again this is a person view, seen through tears that were dripping off my beard.

One of my favourite numbers is the chorus “Lift Up Your Heads”.  It’s a curious thing, a dialogue between segments of the chorus as if to explain to us in a Socratic fashion, just what we’re experiencing with God and belief.  Taken from Psalm 24, Händel takes these few words:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.

Just looking at these meagre few lines,… I’m tearing up.  Here’s the good thing about a blog.  If I were in class or speaking to friends my voice would be breaking and I am sure I would elicit at least some laughter (deservedly).

I watched Taurins get a couple of inches taller conducting this.  He gave us two very distinct voices, with the chirpy women singing the first part, the questioning males, inquiring (“who is the King of Glory”?), the women answering, and so on.  It went by at a ferocious pace, which gives it tension that’s usually missing in older – style recordings.  I was ambushed by Paul McCreesh’s recording, where the dialogue is very clear indeed.  But I daresay it’s even clearer in the live performance I saw, where – I swear—Taurins seemed to be inviting his choristers to distinguish one section from the next, by singing with a different deportment (one side very clipped, the other more relaxed, for example).

Have a listen ….(!)…although i think Taurins & the Choir are even more vivid live & in person.

It needs to be said that Taurins is a choral conductor leading an orchestra.  This is a good thing even if in the (at least formerly) macho world of orchestral music, these kind of gestures or a bar-for-nothing isn’t usually done.

So what..!

Taurins seemed to treat the orchestra like another part of his chorus, with voices that just don’t happen to have any text but are still every bit as articulate & clear as what you find from the singers.  Instead of merely beating bars –which almost every conductor does—Taurins conducts phrases, sometimes several bars in one sweeping gesture, and then with an answering gesture if necessary.  If a series of words are being sung, Taurins marvellously punches out the big word in a sentence that he wants emphasized.  And surprise surprise, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir deliver exactly what he asks.

There were even places where he stood stock still, as if admiring the Christmas tree: looking adoringly at his choir, as they delivered ravishing music, adoring him right back.  The smiles I saw all over the place were genuine, unfeigned admiration.  I suppose this at least is part of the long-term experience of playing Maestro Händel: that the choir see his portrayal, and are in various ways seduced.  But of course that probably starts in rehearsal, and is a long-term and loving relationship.

I have never seen such committed conducting.  For the entire length of this large work, Taurins was dancing about the stage, not letting up for “Worthy Is the Lamb” or the closing “Amen”.

When the soloists were required to come to the fore, it was a different kind of conducting, perhaps because Taurins did not want to take any focus from his quartet:

  • Soprano Joanne Lunn
  • Mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy
  • Tenor Aaron Sheehan
  • Bass-baritone Douglas Williams

I am unsure about the dramaturgy of the different approaches taken by this quartet, that each imply a different sort of drama: although I know that each had great moments.   I am still trying to wrap my head around the contradictions of baroque performance, which is at times a medium for display and showing off skill, at other times about deep moods & sensitivity to emotion.  Couple that with Messiah, a work that is a drama of the spirit, and one may be perplexed at some of the choices. Should one emphasize the drama, or let the text & music speak for the inner passions of the situations?  I suppose it depends on the section.

Lunn was unquestionably the most dramatic.  Her best moment I felt was in stepping forward for the recitative “Thy rebuke hath broken his heart”. What an interesting idea: that “thy” is addressed at the chorus who have indeed been rebuking Jesus.  And she seemed so deeply engaged, I was jolted in a new way by this passage, finding a whole new way of seeing it.

Of the four, I would say that Lunn’s voice is perhaps the most true to historically informed performance of Händel, often being very clear & direct, with less vibrato than any of her colleagues onstage.  Lunn’s delivery of the Christmas lines concerning the shepherds was for me the highlight of Part One, delivered with unshakeable conviction and a lovely innocence.

My one negative is perhaps me being a stickler.  Lunn was a most enthusiastic and committed soloist, often nodding her head with her lines.  This was powerful in “If God be for us, who can be against us, ” whereas the nods undermine “I know that my redeemer liveth”.   While this may be excellent acting, the problem at this moment is that an affirmation of faith should not be dramatic.  It’s an enthusiastic attempt to signify belief, but it’s not good to remind us that this is an attempt to persuade. This affirmation of faith needs to be as calm and assured as ownership or breathing itself.

McHardy faced down a tough challenge, in arguably the most difficult single number in the entire work, namely “He was despised”.  McHardy underplayed, in comparison to what Lunn was doing, a sincere calm passion in the slow “he was despised” section, a more powerful, angry delivery in the “he gave his back to the smiters” section.

The men sang beautifully, but without the conviction I saw from the women.  I am sure all four care, so forgive me if this sounds critical; but you can’t miss when the two women are singing along with the “Hallelujah chorus” (they looked so sweet, too…absorbed in the music) while the men are staring elsewhere.  It’s a little thing, but perhaps something to consider: that all four be working from the same style-sheet.  That’s one thing I had in mind when I spoke of dramaturgy, but there’s more.

For instance –to invoke a line that was satisfactory but not brilliant—I will never be content with the usual delivery of “unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?” …now that I have heard what Michael Schade does with this line.  No I did not see the TSO Messiah (that includes Schade), but I do have him on the Harnoncourt recording.  Schade delivers the first part as recitative, then snaps into a voice that is truly God-like in its ostentation and loving delivery.  How can I listen to this line as mere connective tissue after hearing Schade channel God?

And it was fun watching the orchestra play the “Pifa” (a pastoral symphony introducing the scene of the shepherds with their flocks), watching Allyson McHardy, after she admitted in her interview that this was the processional at her wedding.  I don’t think I’ll ever listen to that music quite the same way again.

Yes the soloists –and several instrumentalists – were stars.  But as far as I am concerned Taurins is the real star.  I’m very impressed, and now am eager to see him on the new DVD of the Messiah that’s been released recently.

Considering that the run is sold out, that’s probably your best bet.

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Beatrice Rana – Chopin and Scriabin

Posted on December 19, 2012 by barczablog

When you like a composition, chances are you’ll listen to a recording by a new unfamiliar artist whether or not you’ve heard any fanfare or PR.  And so, when I saw that Beatrice Rana’s debut recording with ATMA Classical was mostly devoted to Frédéric Chopin’s twenty-four Préludes Op 28, I wanted to hear.

Is it one work or twenty-four?  Although some of these preludes get performed independently, the cycle works wonderfully as a unit.  I can’t help thinking that our assumptions need to be flexible to recognize changing attitudes and approaches.

  • On the one hand, other contemporary media such as opera or symphonies can furnish hints about how such a work was received and understood in its time.  While today we perform the cycle in a whirlwind of passion without any intervening applause– comparable to the relatively taut audiences for symphonies and operas–there was a time when arias and symphonic movements earned, not just applause, but multiple encores.  I recall reading that the premiere of Berlioz’s Harolde en Italie saw both inner movements encored, one being performed a third time (although I can’t recall which).  And so it shouldn’t surprise us that a few of these little jewels are sometimes removed from their exquisite setting (the complete cycle of twenty-four) to be played discreetly on their own.
  • On the other hand recordings –particularly CDs, which are so much more flexible than LPs—encourage an entirely different relationship to text, allowing us to get to know them better than was possible in times when our only option was live performance.  Mahler only came into his own, only truly appreciated, after listeners were able to listen and re-listen to his mammoth works in the comfort of their living room.

Yes you can have it both ways. The work (or works if you prefer) seems poised between traditions.  While paying homage to previous masters, particularly JS Bach, the cumulative effect is powerful indeed.

Pianist Beatrice Rana

Who is Beatrice Rana? ATMA’s site tells us

In June 2011, Beatrice Rana, then 18, became the one of the youngest winner of a first prize at the Montreal International Music Competition. As well, she won each of that year’s special prizes. She is, said Le Devoir, “not only a pianist but, above all, an artist.

In 2012-2013, Beatrice made her debut with several orchestras, including the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, the Südwestdeutsche Orchester, and the Aarus Symfonieorkester in Denmark. She also performed as a guest artist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, the symphony orchestras of Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg, the Kuala Lumpur Philharmonic Orchestra, the Violons du Roy, and the Orchestre Métropolitain with Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Though only 19 years old, Beatrice has performed in major concert series including the Tonhalle de Zurich, Montreal’s Pro Musica, the Società dei Concerti de Milan, and the Vancouver Recital Society, and at many festivals, including the Festival Berlioz de la Côte Saint-André, the La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival, the Festival Radio-France de Montpellier, the Folle Journée de Nantes, the Flâneries de Reims, the Festival Busoni de Bolzano, and the Festival de Lanaudière in Quebec.

Beatrice has won numerous prizes at competitions such as the Muzio Clementi Competition, the Concours International de San Marino, and the Bang & Olufsen pianoRAMA Competition. She began studying piano when she was 4, and became a student of Benedetto Lupo at the Conservatoire Nino Rota, from wich she graduated at the precocious age of 16. She now studies in Hanover with Arie Vardi.

Rana offers a conservative reading, and I mean this in a good way.  Many of the preludes include passages that can be ambiguous when played quickly, when interpretive liberties with accents & emphases cause us to lose a sense of the work’s meter and so to change the shape of the piece.  I believe that if you start it with a particular shape, while you may bring out voices in places, play with it briefly, that the preludes should be essentially static from beginning to end.  In this sense, I prefer a straight-forward and conservative reading, whatever its pace.  This is what I believe we find in recordings by the great Chopin interpreters, such as Rubenstein, Arrau, Ohlsson and Zimerman.  I think of Chopin as a neo-classicist, not unlike Mozart & Debussy and therefore want transparency & a respect for structure in the execution, especially simple compositions such as these.

Rana is sometimes reticent, playing a prelude quietly, but each one is self-consistent, shaped with eloquence and nobility.  Before too long I relaxed into the performance, put at ease by her easy mastery of the requirements of these short pieces.

The CD also includes two other Chopin Préludes and the op 18 sonata of Scriabin.  The French spelling of this Russian composer’s name appears on the CD—a nod to the PQ Government language laws?—so be aware of this if you google it.  The easy way is simply to look for ATMA and Chopin and Rana.

The Scriabin shows us more of Rana’s fluidity, particularly with evenly shaped phrases of perpetual motion constructions.  As such it’s a good match to the Chopin Op 28, albeit somewhat more angular & chromatic.

Rana was still in her teens when the recording was made, not that you could tell from her excellent playing.  Another star is born.

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cohorts

Posted on December 17, 2012 by barczablog

At one time in Ontario there used to be something called “Grade 13”, the last year of high-school before one went on to University.  My online reading tells me that, while there were a few other places where one had grade 13, most places only go up to Grade 12.  I don’t claim to know the history of such distinctions, only that educators noticed that we were different, and sought to harmonize our educational system with other nearby places such as the rest of Canada & the USA.

And so it came to pass that Grade 13 was abolished, Grade 12 becoming the last year of high-school.

Imagine the year of the change.  Those in Grade 13 would go on to university, and so too, those who were in Grade 12.  As a result, two different sets of graduates would emerge from high-school, some having matriculated from the old 5 year high-school curriculum, others emerging from a new 4 year program.  That year –when twice as many kids descended upon the universities of Canada—a phrase came into common usage in the educational sector, namely “the double cohort”, describing twice as many freshmen, then (the next year) twice as many in second year, and awhile later, a larger than usual contingent of graduate school applicants (not necessarily double, but likely bigger than normal).

It may be that some academics always called the students a cohort, but the first year I caught wind of it was in the lead-up to the year(s) that our population would be doubled.

The word “cohort” has a militaristic echo, but the metaphor is useful.  It sounded as though a huge contingent of soldiers would descend upon the unsuspecting populace, perhaps bringing up unconscious echoes of the shore-leaves seen in such films as On the Town.  After all, university students can be just like soldiers (not just in age, but in their desire for enjoyment of a drink).

It all came back to me recently as I attended a memorial celebration at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.

In the room people did what people usually do at parties: gather with their friends & colleagues.  This means that in different parts of the room, people would be organized by their sense of affiliation.  In an educational environment this can often mean something just like cohorts.  On one side of the room were the older grads, who had left decades ago.  In another one bunch were those who had been in the school roughly twenty years ago.  In another group in the room were the current students talking amongst themselves.

Hermann Geiger-Torel (photo from Susan Weiss)

On the wall if one cares to look, there are pictures of former mentors (both educational & professional), particularly Hermann Geiger-Torel, the one-time General Director of the Canadian Opera Company.

It struck me as I noticed the way people were socializing, that cohorts are a kind of subtext for our lives.  I’m getting older.  We all are.  Those who are my age –the ones of course that I know and who know me—represent my own cohort, and we’re aging together.

I can’t get this impression out of my head.  When I attended the COC ensemble studio auditions I was aware that the current group will eventually leave, to be replaced by a new cohort, year by year.  Watching young singers perform in groups such as Opera Five –in their recent program of one act works—I was touched by their youth even as I took in their position on the threshold of mastery and eventual greatness.  And as I tried to remember all the new names of singers  in European productions the same construct stayed with me, as if the new singers were recently students (as they surely were), and were soon to be retired (as eventually they would be).

I am listening to Barack Obama, as he addresses the congregation in the prayer meeting Sunday December 16th, saying “we know our time on this Earth is fleeting”.  I was contemplating my own fragile voice, roughed up by a bit too much fun on an exhausting Saturday night of partying, glad to be alive.  We are all flowers with a brief span, even if we’re not plucked like those whose names Obama listed in the service, not yet “called home” by God.

The talents we see onstage are fragile, mortal.  We shouldn’t need violence to notice our vulnerability, to appreciate the brevity of our time on Earth & the flowering of talent.  I am grateful for the blessing of friends & ability around me, the opportunities to enjoy our frailty in live performance.  If we were like machines –if no one ever fluffed a note or missed an entry—we’d be immortal.  Young or old, whichever cohort you might belong to, our humanity argues for our gratitude.

We are not machines.  Hallelujah.

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Nut Cracking

Posted on December 15, 2012 by barczablog

Life goes on.  The assertion is banal and boring in good times but a comfort the morning after a day of madness.  Parents and grand-parents suddenly recognize blessings they’d forgotten.  So what if our kids aren’t perfect (and who wants perfect anyway)?

And so, while the holiday season pales before the kind of things some people had to live through on December 14th, the calendar turns over whether we’re paying attention or not. 

One of my favourite seasonal celebrations is found in The Nutcracker, Tchaikowsky’s ballet score.  While it’s tempting to play, I try to keep it fresh for Christmas by keeping it locked away until this time of year, to make it especially magical.  I played it at a Christmas party last week, and will play some in church next week.

It was one of many texts shared with children at home.  Sometimes we’d read books together, sometimes we’d watch something on television.   Or in a theatre…!  In revisiting those familiar characters & tunes, I am quickly whisked into a warm Christmas sensibility as surely as if Jimmy Stewart, Alastair Sim and/or Darren McGavin had abducted me. 

There are lots of nuts out there, and so it’s reasonable that there would be a few versions of Nutcracker as well.  There are several audio recordings, which is an entirely different issue.  Right now I’m thinking of the ballet on video.

By a curious coincidence, the progression I experienced through my three favourite versions seems to correspond to my (or our) maturation process.  As we children get a bit older, the versions give us a bit more depth.

Version 1) was the Nutcracker I parented with, a Nutcracker originally from 1977, available in the 1980s on television and captured by me on VHS to be replayed each year, the one with Mikhail Baryshnikov (who’d also choreographed), and Gelsey Kirkland from the American Ballet Theatre.  On video everyone may look as young as Jimmy Stewart or Donna Reed, but this is already 35 years old.

In this reading Drosselmeyer is a benevolent and kind mentor figure, offering a dream to Clara, introducing her to a very careful and safe kind of sexuality.  This is a coming of age myth that’s not conflated with the messier issues in ETA Hoffmann’s original.  You see some of those conflicts in this sample.  There’s a dark tinge that the dream must end: but it’s not tragic, just sad and bittersweet.

Version 2) The Nutcracker (1986) is directed by Carroll Ballard, who also directed Never Cry Wolf & The Black Stallion.  We’re in a film world and so the art-direction (Maurice Sendak’s designs from a previous production) is in vivid colours (much better than the ABT version), captured by wonderful cinematography. Even so, this one is more than a quarter of a century old, sigh…Sendak brings his story-book sensibility, a Freudian world where children face trauma and pain, where nothing is infantilized or under-estimated.

As a result this version is messier.  Drosselmeyer is not only quirky but clearly resembles his sister (Clara’s mom), suggesting levels of incestuous desire pulling at the wholesome fabric of a tale with more depths than you can throw a shoe at.

We see a proper transformation in Clara, from child to adult. .  Maurice Sendak’s design shows his Freudian influences, from childhood to adulthood, meeting a prince on the other side (as the Nutcracker has also been transformed) in a breath-taking series of images. 

Version 3) The Hard Nut choreographed by Mark Morris seems so much newer but sigh alas alack, even this one is from twenty one years ago, in the early 1990s.  It’s edgy in so many ways.

In some ways Morris’ take is more innocent than any other version, invoking the retro wackiness of the 1960s, a world familiar to me from my childhood.  Then it surprises you, as for example in the gorgeous pas de deux between Drosselmeyer and his transformed Nutcracker prince, something i read as a narcissistic moment recognizing that coming of age is ultimately a romance with the self.  It’s unapologetic and yes stunningly beautiful.

Here’s one of my favourite scenes, a deliciously wacky take on the waltz of the flowers.  Yes those are men in tutus and isn’t it beautiful?

~~~~~

If there’s a lesson here –thinking particularly of my recent focus on opera and Regietheater—it’s in noticing how little controversy there is in the dance world.  I’ve lamented to friends that here in Toronto, the National Ballet’s annual version of this cash-cow is so safe and conservative.  But then again I suppose that this is the way a company pays attention to its audience.  Yet I wonder if Karen Kain and her National Ballet were to embrace the dark side –whether in Sendak’s sense of primal psychology or in Morris’s sense of adventurous mise-en-scène and playfulness—whether there would be any payback.  She /they have a captive audience every year.

Sigh, yet while I may dream that some day we’ll see something deeper and more dangerous from the National, I need to remember where we started this discussion.  Today is all about safety, and I will not criticize anyone who wants to retreat into any kind of cocoon.

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Press Release: Puppetmongers’ Cinderella in Muddy York

Posted on December 13, 2012 by barczablog
 “Press releases and announcements” are presented verbatim without comment.
PUPPETMONGERS proudly presents Cinderella in Muddy York
December 28, 2012 -January 5, 2013
at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace
Created and performed by Ann Powell and David Powell
Directed by Sue Miner
 
Toronto (November 7, 2012)  Puppetmongers celebrates its 23rd anniversary of delightful winter holiday performances this season with the return of its twice Dora-nominated favourite, Cinderella in Muddy York, created by Puppetmongers’ Co-Artistic Directors (and brother and sister) Ann and David Powell, and directed by Sue Miner. This year, with a move to Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace, the magical Cinderella in Muddy York runs with 2pm daily matinees from December 28, 2012 to January 5, 2013 (except no performance January 1st).

A whimsical take on Toronto history that will tickle the funny bones of adults and children alike, Cinderella in Muddy York is a fairy tale of a Cinderella in Canada, reset in 1834 at the time when “muddy” York is about to become Toronto.

Puppetmongers’ Cinderella story is the tale of young Ella, born and raised in Muddy York, who seems to be the only member of her family able to cope with daily life in their drafty cabin at the edge of civilization. But will her newly landed step-mother and sisters squash Ella’s self esteem as they attempt to reduce her to servitude?

When an invitation arrives from Government House, inviting them all to a ball in honour of the city’s renaming to Toronto, hopes are high of meeting the eligible bachelor son of the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. True to the classic fairytale, with a little magic Cinderella manages to get to the Ball, satisfying the romantic expectations of all.

This witty and acclaimed work is ingeniously staged with beautiful rod-marionettes, inventive special effects and the charming performances of David and Ann as live actors along with their puppets. A traditional marionette theatre is imaginatively transformed to create scenes evoking the wilderness, settler life and early Canadian society, and the historic references, costumes, scenery and musical selections are authentic to the era. This is a delightful way to learn about Canadian history. _At the end, children often ask, “Did this really happen here?”

“[Cinderella in Muddy York] plays beautifully to children and adults alikeŠ. the humour is subtle and beguiling. This show is magic for everybody. Go to it immediately.” – CBC Radio’s Lynn Slotkin (slotkinletter.com)

“NNNN Š.sure to become a Holiday classic.”  – NOW Magazine’s Jon Kaplan

The enchanting winter holiday performances by the Puppetmongers’ brother and sister team Ann and David Powell have become a delightful tradition for families and theatre-goers in Toronto these last two decades, although Puppetmongers Theatre has been bewitching audiences for 38 years with their extraordinary creations. At the forefront of puppetry arts in Canada, Puppetmongers have won numerous awards including five UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry, the Presidents Award from the Puppeteers of America, the Harold Award for contribution to the Toronto theatre community and many Dora and Chalmers nominations. Their production of Cinderella in Muddy York earned a Citation of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry from l’Union International de la Marionette – USA in 2010.

Director Sue Miner is the co-artistic director of Pea Green Theatre Group with Mark Brownell, for which she has received numerous Dora Award nominations. She has thrice been nominated for the Pauline McGibbon Award for her work as a director.

 
Puppetmongers presents Cinderella in Muddy York
Created and performed by Ann Powell and David Powell, Directed by Sue Miner
 
Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue
Dec 28, 2012 – Jan 5, 2013; Suitable for adults and ages 5 and up.
 
Performances:   Daily matinees at 2:00pm (no performance January 1st)
 
ViositTickets:  $25 adults; $20 child/senior/student (Family bundle of 4 tickets for $75)
Group rates available through box office. More info: www.puppetmongers.com or 416 469 3555
 
Sister and brother, Ann and David Power of Puppetmongers Theatre perform their holiday show Cinderella in Muddy York from Dec. 28, 2012 to January 5, 2013 at Theatre Passe Muraille. Visit puppetmongers.com for info.
Posted in Press Releases and Announcements | Leave a comment

Press Release: COC’s 2013 Tristan und Isolde

Posted on December 13, 2012 by barczablog

“Press releases and announcements” are presented verbatim without comment.

For immediate release: December 12, 2012

LEGENDARY DIRECTOR PETER SELLARS AND RENOWNED VIDEO ARTIST BILL VIOLA MAKE COC DEBUTS WITH AWE-INSPIRING PRODUCTION OF WAGNER’S TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

CELEBRATED CANADIAN TENOR BEN HEPPNER MAKES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED RETURN TO COC MAINSTAGE IN A SIGNATURE ROLE

Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company opens its winter season with one of music history’s most influential works, Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.  The COC’s 2013 presentation of Tristan und Isolde marks legendary director Peter Sellars’ company debut and the first time his original, awe-inspiring production has appeared in North America.  This multi-sensory experience features video imagery by internationally renowned video artist Bill Viola, who “has come up with an image of the scale and scope, grandeur and immensity, and genuine transcendence that Wagner was imagining,” says Sellars.  COC Music Director Johannes Debus, who conducts his first production of Tristan und Isolde, leads the COC Orchestra and Chorus through Wagner’s epic masterpiece as well as an acclaimed cast led by celebrated Canadian tenor Ben Heppner in a role for which critics have hailed him as “the great Tristan of this generation” (Associated Press).  Last seen at the COC in 1987, Tristan und Isolde returns for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on January 29, February 2, 8, 14, 17, 20 and 23, 2013, and is sung in German with English SURTITLES™.

The COC’s Tristan und Isolde is the first time Sellars’ production has been performed by an opera company other than Opéra national de Paris, since its premiere in 2005.  The design features a 40-foot-wide screen suspended above and behind a somberly lit space, featuring only a square platform for a set piece.  Accompanied by video, singers have minimal staging as they project the emotional depth of the piece through their voices.

Renowned theatre, opera and festival director Peter Sellars is one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the performing arts in the world, and he makes his COC debut with this production of Tristan und Isolde.  Following his iconic stagings of Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte in the 1980s, Sellars established a reputation for unique stagings of classic and contemporary operas, and has directed productions for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Glyndebourne Festival, Netherlands Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera, among others.

Bill Viola is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading artists, and has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art.  The video imagery he has created for this production provides literal, metaphorical and spiritual complements to the tragic love between Tristan and Isolde.

COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducts his first production of Tristan und Isolde when he leads the COC Orchestra and Chorus.  Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde premiered in 1865 in Munich and is considered to be one the most revolutionary and influential works in music history due to Wagner’s use of tonality, orchestral colour and harmonic suspension.  Wagner raised the union of music and drama to new heights with Tristan und Isolde with the sheer power and passion of its score.

Based on the tragic medieval tale of two lovers fated to share a forbidden but undying love, Tristan und Isolde features two of the most strenuous roles in all of opera.  The title characters must sing above a 100-piece orchestra with vocal power and tonal brilliance, and possess the sheer stamina required to sing these roles over four hours of musical performance.  At any given time, there are only a handful of singers in the world who are able to meet all the challenges of these two roles.

The COC’s Tristan und Isolde marks tenor Ben Heppner’s long-awaited return to the company’s mainstage, having last appeared in a COC production in 1996’s Pagliacci.  Excelling in some of the repertoire’s most challenging roles, Heppner is acclaimed worldwide for his beautiful voice, intelligent musicianship and sparkling dramatic sense.  In the role of Tristan, he’s been praised for his “utter honesty and visceral power” (New York Times) and called “the finest Tristan since Vickers” (Fanfare).  Singing opposite Heppner is a German soprano known for her mastery of the Mozart, Strauss and Wagner repertoire, Melanie Diener, in her COC debut as Isolde.  Cited for her “genuine transcendence” (The Guardian) and “beaming, youthful Wagner voice” (Opera Today), Diener has collaborated with many of the major orchestras and conductors of today, is a frequent performer at the prestigious Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals and has been heard at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra national de Paris and the Vienna and Berlin state operas, among others.

Sharing the title roles with Heppner and Diener for two performances (February 8 and 23) are German tenor Michael Baba and American soprano Margaret Jane Wray.  Baba makes his COC debut as Tristan.  His wide operatic repertoire, ranging from Mozart to Wagner, has created a great deal of demand for his voice.  He has performed throughout Germany, Austria, the United States and Japan, and recently gave his debut performance as Tristan at Salzburg’s Landestheater.  Wray is an award-winning dramatic soprano known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner, and has performed at the world’s major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Berlin State Opera, and Opéra national de Paris.

Matching this acclaimed principal cast is an equally strong and renowned supporting roster of singers.  German bass Franz-Josef Selig has established himself on the international arena as one of the world’s most sought-after basses.  He makes his COC debut as King Marke of Cornwall, the man betrayed by Tristan and Isolde’s love affair.  The role of Isolde’s maid, Brangäne, is sung by Greek-American mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas, winner of the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and hailed for her “capacious power” and “a voice lustrous and exciting” (San Francisco Chronicle).   American bass-baritone Alan Held, a “commanding figure both vocally and dramatically” (Globe and Mail) and who was noted as “on his own is worth the price of admission” (Toronto Star) for his star turn in the COC’s double-bill production of A Florentine Tragedy/Gianni Schicchi last spring, returns as Tristan’s servant, Kurwenal.  American bass-baritone Ryan McKinney, praised for his “elegant and articulate” vocalism (OC Register) and powerful voice that “drips with gold” (Opera News), is the courtier Melot.  Rising young artists and Ensemble Studio graduates bass Robert Gleadow and tenor Adam Luther return as the Steersman and the Sailor/Shepherd, respectively.

The COC’s Tristan und Isolde is a production from Opéra national de Paris.  Tony-Award winning designer the late Martin Pakledinaz created the costumes.  James F. Ingalls, who has worked extensively in theatre, opera and ballet and frequently with Sellars, designed the lighting.

TICKET INFORMATION
Single tickets for Tristan und Isolde are $12 – $390 (includes applicable taxes).  Tickets are available online at coc.ca, by calling 416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, located at 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Standing Room
Sixty $12 Standing Room tickets are available at 11 a.m. the morning of each performance, in person only at the Four Seasons Centre Box Office.  Limit of two tickets per person.  Subject to availability.

Young People
Special young people’s tickets are priced from $23 to $110 (includes applicable taxes).  These ticket prices apply to those who are 15 years of age or under, accompanied by and sitting next to an adult.

Opera Under 30
Patrons between the ages of 16 and 29 may purchase $22 Opera Under 30 tickets as of January 19, 2013 at 10 a.m., online at coc.ca, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre Box Office.  Program patrons may opt to pay $35, whereby their tickets are automatically upgraded to the best available the morning of the performance they are attending.  Opera Under 30 is presented by TD Bank Group.

Student Group Tickets
Student group tickets are $22 per student and may be purchased by calling 416-306-2356.

Rush Seats
Rush seats, starting at $22 and subject to availability, go on sale at 11 a.m. on the morning of each performance at the Four Seasons Centre Box Office.  Limit of two tickets per person.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The COC’s production of Tristan und Isolde has been generously underwritten by Lisa Balfour Bowen and Walter M. Bowen; Philip Deck and Kimberley Bozak; Donald O’Born; Tim and Frances Price; Colleen Sexsmith; and Sandra L. Simpson.

Bill Viola is generously sponsored by Cecily and Robert Bradshaw.

Ben Heppner is generously sponsored by Ryerson and Michele Symons.

Tristan und Isolde Production Sponsor: BMO Financial Group.

Presenting Sponsor of SURTITLES™:  Sun Life Financial.

Official Automotive Sponsor of the COC at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts:
Jaguar Land Rover Canada.

Official Media Sponsors:  CTV and The Globe and Mail.

Digital Marketing Sponsor:  Delvinia.

The COC Ensemble Studio, underwritten in part by Peter M. Deeb and The Slaight Family Foundation, is Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals and provides advanced instruction, hands-on experience, and career development opportunities. The Ensemble Studio is also supported by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, RBC Foundation and other generous donors.

COC ANCILLARY EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Opera Connect: Bram & Bluma Appel Salon Star Talk: Peter Sellars in Conversation with Richard Ouzounian
The Canadian Opera Company’s Opera Connect – a new series of events connecting the public with the artists who create opera – teams up with the Toronto Reference Library to present the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon Star Talk: Peter Sellars in Conversation with Richard Ouzounian on January 28, 2013 at 7 p.m. at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St.). Renowned stage director Peter Sellars discusses his innovative body of work, including the hotly anticipated recreation of his Opéra national de Paris production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the COC this winter.  Toronto Star theatre critic Richard Ouzounian conducts the interview.  Opera Connect: Bram & Bluma Appel Salon Star Talk: Peter Sellars in Conversation with Richard Ouzounian is a FREE event.  Tickets can be booked in advance starting December 31, 2012 by registering at http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/appelsalon.

Opera Exchange – Wagner and Adaptation: Tristan und Isolde
The Canadian Opera Company’s renowned Opera Exchange series continues on February 2, 2013 at 9 a.m. with an exploration of one of music history’s most influential works, Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.  Taking place at the University of Toronto’s Edward Johnson Building (80 Queen’s Park Cres.), the event features an exclusive chat between UofT Professor of English and Comparative Literature Dr. Linda Hutcheon and soprano Margaret Jane Wray (Isolde in the COC’s Tristan und Isolde), as well as a performance by COC Ensemble Studio graduate Christopher Mokrzewski of Wagner’s famous Liebestod, transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt.   The COC’s Opera Exchange series is presented in collaboration with the Munk School for Global Affairs and the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.  Tickets are $20 per person and are available online at coc.ca, by calling COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, located at 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.  A limited number of tickets can also be purchased at the door on the morning of the event.  Discounts are available for university students and faculty.

BMO Financial Group Pre-Performance Opera Chats
Free to ticket holders, the COC offers 20-minute introductions to the opera and its themes in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts 45 minutes prior to every performance.

Tristan und Isolde Interactive Features on COC Radio
Through COC Radio, visitors to coc.ca can find, in one place, a variety of audio and digital features available for streaming, all aimed at exploring an opera and its background as well as the artists appearing with the COC.  Among the resources on Tristan und Isolde, visitors will find a podcast series sponsored by Decca: The Opera Label.  Hosted by the COC’s Gianmarco Segato, the podcasts explore the opera and its background, featuring discussions with opera enthusiasts and experts as well as interviews with members of the production’s cast and creative team.  COC Radio podcasts are also available for free download through iTunes.

About the Canadian Opera Company
Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The COC enjoys a loyal audience support-base and one of the highest attendance and subscription rates in North America. Under its leadership team of General Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC is increasingly capturing the opera world’s attention. The COC maintains its international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation by creating new productions within its diverse repertoire, collaborating with leading opera companies and festivals, and attracting the world’s foremost Canadian and international artists. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, hailed internationally as one of the finest in the world. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the Four Seasons Centre opened in 2006, and is also the performance venue for The National Ballet of Canada. For more information on the COC, visit its award-winning website, coc.ca.

Posted in Press Releases and Announcements | Leave a comment

Good night, 4-D Regie

Posted on December 13, 2012 by barczablog

This is an extension of the conversation earlier this week.  Yes I get that the title is unintelligible, but even if I presented it fully –Good night, Four dimensional Regietheater—it’s pretty cryptic without some explanations.

Let me simply start with the basic premise that a consensus changes over time, resulting in a shift in meaning over time.  The business with time is related to the space-time continuum, where time is the fourth dimension; I’ll expand on that later.

Let’s talk about opera, first.  I point –for example –to the two different views of Wagner’s Lohengrin addressed in the comments following my previous post (a review of the La Scala opening of that opera), each one centred in a different era.  I spoke of Lohengrin as a religious allegory, while La Cieca spoke of the deep structure, calling it a “Jungian coming of age story”.

When I spoke of Lohengrin as religious allegory, I was really addressing the work as written, which I think needs to be the chief departure point when accusations of “Regietheater” (an often pejorative word) are being hurled.  If someone thinks a director is imposing meaning upon a work, what’s the actual surface that is being defaced, and is that so bad?

I am really speaking of how I understand Lohengrin at the time Wagner created it rather than how it’s understood now.  While we can understand the opera as a tale concerning a girl and her love for a knight, I believe Elsa stands for all humanity, while Lohengrin represents a redemptive agent such as Jesus Christ.  If the church is understood as the bride of Christ, what happens if we try to tell the tale of such a marriage?  I think that’s precisely what we see in this opera.  Ortrud tempts Elsa, dropping all pretense in the last scene where she shows her loyalty to earlier pagan gods, who have been ignored in the new Christian culture.

La Cieca gave a deeper and more contemporary reading of the opera (his comment after the post) citing Bettelheim.

When one looks at a page of playtext or operatic score one’s four-dimensional perception is distorted.  The printed icons of permanence –words and/.or music on the page—are illusory.  When brought into the theatre where they are performed they are subject to fourth dimensional reality: the ravages of time.

Where the choral set-pieces in Lohengrin were at one time celebrations of German national pride, unapologetic declarations of militarism, they simply can’t exist that way without irony or commentary.  Opera directors do not normally ignore such powerful issues, but instead will somehow modify or even deconstruct what is placed before us.

And so, instead of Lohengrin stepping forward as an invincible knight, the Guth production asks Jonas Kaufmann to behave more like Kaspar Hauser, a problematic figure whose behaviour offers a workable parallel to the actions of Wagner’s grail knight.  While the director gave this historical figure (and Grimm) as his chief subtextual influences, he did not mention his counter-discursive demons, nor did he have to do so.  When a director presents one of the key operatic topics such as religion or war, one can expect something to be inscribed over top of the dated score.  That’s an effect of the four-dimensional nature of culture.

We can’t turn back the clock, although there are countries that seem to defy progress in their confident embrace of values anathemic to western mores. (for instance those that criminalize homosexuality or where women who are raped are blamed)  Our own extended cultural conversation across many generations makes a four dimensional text intelligible.  The disconnect between the original –such as Lohengrin—understood in a more literal or conservative way, and more recent readings that reflect a different understanding is reconciled in allowing for the changes in the human heart., a four-dimensional understanding of what it is to be “human”.

It may not be scientific but my intuition sees a kind of linear development of audience sophistication, of a gradual accrual of signifiers and images in the public consciousness whereby directors use tropes of surprising complexity.  The tropes I spoke of in the review –the use of child-doubles, the displacement of historic era, and self-reflexive images—all require a willingness to engage with the text far beyond its first original sense.  Those resisting complex imagery seem literal-minded and backward to me.  That complexity is embraced in Europe and resisted in America speaks volumes.

And while we speak of such things, i must add that I resist calling anything “Regietheater” because that’s pejorative (even if it’s better than epithets such as “Eurotrash”).

I keep waiting.  Is it time to put Regie to bed?  Regietheater is a word that is as weak as “terrorist” or “hippie”, and tells you more about the speaker’s attitude than about what they’re really trying to say.  Sure, there are productions that are more extreme than others. All the more reason to be specific.  In the world of spoken word theatre, where the textual discrepancies are a normal part of life, one doesn’t call attention to the gap between the book and performance any more than one points at tall buildings or cars: because we’ve seen those before too.

Good night, Regie.

Posted in Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

La Scala Lohengrin 2012

Posted on December 11, 2012 by barczablog

Wagner’s Lohengrin opened the season at La Scala, Milan in a new production directed by Claus Guth.  That it was Wagner rather than Verdi in this season of centennials—both Guiseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner were born in 1813—is the least of it.  The performances and the production are both newsworthy in different ways.

It’s a cast already boasting major talent.  Jonas Kaufmann is currently peerless in this repertoire, Rene Pape solid as ever as the King, and Tómas Tómasson now making a name for himself with quirky portrayals such as his recent Dr Schön in the La Monnaie Lulu.  And Daniel Barenboim’s conducting, always energetic and never lacking in drama was as good as any version I can recall.

Soprano Annette Dasch (photo: Daniel Pasche)

But the big headline was Anja Harteros’s cancellation. Her replacement Annette Dasch seemed to ride the adrenaline of her late arrival in a portrayal to match the other high-powered talents.  If I should return to this video for a second viewing it would be for another look at her fascinating reading, which I shall unpack in my discussion of Guth’s production.

Guth invokes a series of Regietheater tropes we’ve been seeing recently.

  • Child doubles of protagonists feature in Herheim’s Parsifal and Warlikowski’s Lulu.  And so Guth presents a child-version of both Elsa & Gottfried on several occasions
  • Reframing stories set long ago into more recent times, often contemporary with the composer and even as an exploration of the composer himself (thinking of several different Parsifal productions beginning with Syberberg’s film).  .
  • Self-reflexive devices add depths.  In Warlikowski’s Lulu we watch multiple images of the heroine filmed earlier on screen while she acts something different, including a moment when another singer reflectively studies Berg’s score. In Lepage’s Tempest for example, we’re watching Prospero’s magic working upon a set evoking the inside of a theatre.  In Guth’s Lohengrin the set again suggests a theatre space enclosing an inner playing area that includes an upright piano.

I’ve read some of Guth’s pre-production comments on operachic’s site (who quotes from an interview given with Giuseppina Manin) after the fact of seeing the production.  I almost wish I hadn’t seen this, even if it reminds me that in the presence of good performances & good singing, I can find meaning in almost anything. Guth speaks of Grimm’s Fairy tales as inspiration for the neurotic Elsa, and Kaspar Hauser for Lohengrin.

But watching the opera, I didn’t experience the production in terms of divergence from the original.  The central relationships are solid, the main drama that I demand from this opera –Elsa’s dilemma—is front & centre: as it should be.

I should probably add that I am a bit tired of the ongoing conversation I regularly encounter concerning Regietheater, concerning the over-writing of the text with new imagery from the director & designer.  I get that “Grimm” isn’t precisely “Wagner”.  Even so Guth takes an odd story –and Lohengrin is one of the oddest—and in my opinion redeems it with his delving.  The story is ridiculous as a fairy-tale, only making sense to me as an allegory of Christian faith.  Or you can do as Guth does, and find another rationale, and then see if the story works.  By and large, i would say Guth succeeds.

I can easily see Elsa as a damaged child, abused by the interference of Ortrud: as Guth would have it.  And so, as she mourns her missing brother, her redemption is conflated with her affliction.  Lohengrin comes from nowhere, offering himself to her; when he leaves at the end of the opera, and Gottfried appears instead (this part very much as written) Elsa seems to confuse her brother and her husband, even as she dies.

Elsa’s choice to let the insane fears (planted in her head by Ortrud & Telramund) master and kill her dream of happiness seems as much out of fear of intimacy as anything else.  I have never seen a wedding night between Elsa & Lohengrin look so much like a wedding night, which is to say, very physical.

Why were they wandering in a marshland?  they’re in a fertile mysterious landscape, remininiscent of female anatomy.  I am remembering an undergrad prof who made the same claim about Coleridge’s  Kubla Khan.  This poem with its “pleasure domes” includes this passage:

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
And ‘mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:

It’s a common feature of romantic art to let the landscape and the sensibility reflect one another.  Lohengrin and Elsa leave civilization behind, as on this wedding night Elsa almost loses her virginity, nearly transcending her childhood traumas.  No wonder Telramund comes lurching out from between the trees, yet another violator.

I admit I am disappointed when directors ignore the opera’s allegory, even as I embrace the alternatives they posit.  I would argue that one of the chief reasons for Regietheater is the urge to deface our western cultural monoliths.  In Lohengrin a director gets a good shot at three different targets:

  • Wagner
  • Christianity
  • German history

It was likely a hidden blessing that Dasch came to the production with little preparation time and great pressure.  All this played into an Elsa on the edge of madness throughout, wonderfully sung and very effecting.  She had me in tears within ten seconds.

Here’s the link.  No I wasn’t in attendance, but the camera work in this video is remarkably intimate.

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

10 Questions for Allyson McHardy

Posted on December 9, 2012 by barczablog

Mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy has a voice that invites sensuous adjectives.  Radiant?  Dusky? Sumptuous?  You be the judge.

In the past year I wrote about her participation in two very different productions by the same composer, namely Händel:

Don’t let the Handelian concentration fool you however.  McHardy sings more recent repertoire as well, such as Peter Bengston’s The Maids.

In the coming season McHardy will be heard in Händel’s Giulio Cesare (Michigan Opera Theatre), Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Opéra de Montréal), Beethoven’s Symphony No.9,  Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher , in recital with pianist Stephen Ralls at the Glenn Gould Studio, and later this month in Messiah with Tafelmusik.

McHardy’s recordings include the JUNO and ADISQ nominated La Conversione di Clodoveo, Re di Francia by Caldara (ATMA), Bellini’s Norma with the Warsaw Philharmonic, Serinette and A Midwinter Night’s Dream by Harry Somers (Centrediscs). A recording of her recent performance of Händel’s Orlando with will be released on ATMA in 2014.

I ask McHardy ten questions: five about herself, and five about singing Messiah this month with Tafelmusik.

1) Which of your parents do you resemble (what’s your nationality / ethnic background)? 

I wouldn’t say I strongly resemble one parent over another.  I would say I’ve inherited my Mom’s sensitivity (the good kind) and my Dad’s sense of humour.

Allyson Mchardy

Mezzo-soprano Allyson Mchardy

My musical legacy comes mainly from my grandparents on my Dad’s side.  Visits to my grand-parents’ house were where I felt the most in my musical element.  When I was a child I thought anyone who had a piano in their house was rich.

Although they lived in a modest house in middle class neighbourhood to me, that was Grandma and Grandpa McHardy. They had a big old upright that both my Grandpa and Uncle Sandy would play. Usually Scottish folk music or other popular music.  Neither of them read music. They would just sit down and play for what seemed an endless amount of time.  The music would just keep coming.  I liked to sing and dance around the living room with my brother and cousins.   Sometimes Sandy would get out the fiddle while Grandpa played piano.  That was a real treat, again all by ear.  My Grandparents bought a piano for our family when I was about eight years old. That was a very exciting day.  They felt strongly that music was something that should be in our house too.

2) What is the best thing / worst thing about being a singer?

The best thing about being a singer is singing.  As difficult as some days on the road are, when I start singing it all fades away. There are many other wonderful things about being a singer.  I love being in interesting cities, I love the freedom that this career affords me, I love that I am always learning new music and exploring new characters. I am so grateful for all the wonderful colleagues I’ve met, and I am especially grateful for all the adventures on the road I have been able to share with my husband and daughter.

The worst thing about being a singer is when I have to be away from my family.  As I said, I love BEING in interesting cities.  I don’t always love getting to those interesting cities.

3) Who do you like to listen to or watch?  

Händel.  Anytime, anywhere.   I’m not just saying that because I’m singing Messiah.

I really don’t listen to opera or other vocal repertoire unless it’s for work purposes.  Listening to an opera CD I find, well, difficult, frustrating.  I’d much rather go to a live performance or be singing it myself. If I were to pick my favourite mezzos, Simionato, Borodina and our very own Maureen Forrester. She was truly one of the most beautiful lyric singers.

I love listening to Leonard Cohen, Lhasa de Sela, Simon and Garfunkel, Billie Holiday and the Beatles.  My days are often full of music and sound.  Silence can be very satisfying too at the end of a long day!

4) What ability or skill do you wish you had, that you don’t have?

I wish I knew how to drive a standard transmission. This would come in very handy when renting cars in Europe! Especially at this time of year, I wish I knew how to carve a turkey really well. I also need to work on my gravy. I’d really like to become a more skilled knitter.

5) When you’re just relaxing and not working what is your favourite thing to do?

My relaxation is spending time with family and friends, knitting, reading and most definitely cooking.  One of my favourite things to do with my 5 year old daughter is bake. We have a list of recipes we like to make including Grandma McHardy’s famous oatmeal cookies.  Eating well is such a challenge on the road. When I get home the first thing I want to do is get in the kitchen.  It’s very much the centre of our home. The time I spend with my family is the kitchen is equally as nourishing to me as the food we make.

Five more about the Tafelmusik Messiah:

1) How does singing the mezzo part in Messiah challenge you?

Messiah‘s challenge is keeping the text alive.   Everyone knows Messiah. We’ve heard the words so many times it’s very easy to take them for granted. When I say “But who may abide the day of his coming”  in my first aria what am I really asking?  For me it’s not a rhetorical question.

2) What do you love about Messiah 

Everything.  Messiah never grows old for me.  When I hear the overture start it’s like the skies open up. Handel kinda does that to me in general.

3) Do you have a favourite moment in Messiah?  

I have many favourite moments in Messiah. The soprano “there were shepherds abiding in the fields” recit I love.  The chorus  “Surely he hath borne our griefs”, the tenor recit “Thy rebuke hath broken his heart” just about reduces me to tears every time i hear it.   But my most treasured moment is  the Pastorale Symphony. I’ve always loved this piece.  It sets the scene so beautifully for the announcement of the birth of Jesus. The calm before this incredible event.  It may have been a bit of hubris on our part but my husband and I chose it to be the processional at our wedding.  We were married at Christmas time at the Toronto’s historical Enoch Turner Schoolhouse in the classroom.  There was barely room for all our guests let alone an orchestra so we had it played on guitar. It was wonderful.

4) How do you relate to Messiah as a modern woman?

The Messiah experience for me has so many layers.  It’s hard to separate the singer/musician from the woman.  What I would love to know is how someone who hears it for the first time responds. I think then we would find how a modern woman relates to it.  I would hope that after having seen and heard it, it becomes apparent the value of coming together to hear a live performance of a work that has stood the test of time. I love my ipod as much as anyone but the most satisfying, powerful and lasting musical experiences are the ones we share.

5) Is there a teacher or an influential recording you’d care to name whose work you especially admire?

I’ve had many wonderful people help me along through my career.

I’ve worked with my voice teacher Neil Semer for many years now.  The first lesson I had with him was when I was in the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble I knew his technique was something I had to follow.  He never ceases to challenge me and I know he is 100% in my corner.

~~~~~~~

Allyson McHardy appears in the Tafelmusik presentation of Händel’s Messiah Wed. Dec 19, Thurs. Dec 20, Fri. Dec 21 and Sat. Dec 22 at 7:30pm, plus the singalong  Sunday Dec. 23rd at 2:00 pm: at Koerner Hall.

www.allysonmchardy.com

Allyson McHardy (photo: Bo Huang)

Allyson McHardy (photo: Bo Huang)

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

$5.99 or $4000.00?

Posted on December 9, 2012 by barczablog

Psycho-therapists in films can be very funny, very painful, and yes, painfully funny.   Sometimes what we’re given is patently false & artificial, but occasionally we see something with more than a grain of truth.

Hollywood knows psychiatry the way it knows acting: because it’s home turf.  The business of the shrink is so similar to the work of the film-maker –separating pretense from sincerity, discovering motivation, seeking truth—that it’s no wonder cinema is so adept at portrayals of counselling.

I saw Hope Springs tonight, a darkly comic film that stars Meryl Streep as Kay, married to Arnold, played by Tommy Lee Jones.  Kay is willing to pay for the help of Dr Field, a marriage guru (Steve Carrell), at a week-long treatment at his office in Maine.  Even if you never saw this film, it can’t be a surprise that Streep & Jones are wonderful to watch as the troubled couple.

By now the buzzwords of popular psychology and self-awareness have permeated daytime TV.  Where would Oprah be without “dysfunction”, without “abuse” and the hundreds of other terms coined to unpack our troubles in front of a live audience?  It’s especially close to home for me at this time, having just watched Milton Granger’s Talk Opera, a comically absurd piece that asked us what it would be like to interrogate the troubled lives of a popular opera such as Rigoletto in a primetime talk show.

That’s how commonplace this thinking has become, how banal and how universal.

As I watched Kay & Arnold answer Dr Field’s probing questions, I was thoroughly impressed by the performances, the penetrating writing (by Vanessa Taylor) and direction (David Frankel).  We have become a do it yourself culture, everyone with opinions if not outright expertise.  Kay begins her voyage of self-discovery in a bookstore, where she finds Dr Field’s book before bringing her husband to Maine for the retreat.

I suppose that’s what my headline is getting at.  You can pay thousands of dollars for professional help.  Or you can try to find the truth on Pay per view (which in my case cost $5.99).

I am pleased to see Carrell following the path of other comedians before him, undertaking a serious role.  Like Tom Hanks & Robin Williams, there’s so much more Carrell can do than play a funny man.

I don’t think i am giving anything away if i say that this material is essentially romantic comedy, whether or not the couple stays together or not.  Nobody is shot in this film.  There are no car-chases or exploding sky-scrapers.  In fact i don’t think we even see a gun the entire time.

And while therapists will probably disagree, i believe we can learn a lot from movies like this one.   Save your $4000 and see the film instead.

It’s cheaper.

Would you buy a used movie treatment from this man?

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Psychology and perception, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments