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TSO Eruption

Posted on January 29, 2017 by barczablog

The Toronto Symphony have taken to giving brief powerful titles to their concerts. Last night it was “Eruption”, taking the name from one of the works being presented. But for all the primeval force implied by that word, we were dealing instead with something far more human, whether in the personnel before us or the pieces they played. Here’s the program:

Eruption by Edward Top, played by the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra plus key mentors in the TSO, a TSO Commission and World Premiere
Tchaikovky’s Piano Concerto #1, played by Stewart Goodyear and the TSO
United Anthems, (Sesquie for Canad’s 150th , a TSO co-commission and TSO premiere)
Dvorak’s Symphony #7

In the moments before the concert began there was a kind of frenetic energy in the hall, curiously apt if we were about to have an eruption. Normally before a concert you see some playing, a bit of conversation, while the players get ready. There was no mistaking the tumult of youth, about to give a world premiere. It was fun watching mentor talking to the corresponding principal player for their section, for instance the smiles and the occasional demonstrations one saw from Joseph Johnson –always easy to see because he’s front and centre—alongside the young principal cello of the TSYO.

I spotted Pat Krueger leaning over towards a fellow percussionist, clearly having a whale of a time in the moments before the concert.

Patricia Krueger, Principal Keyboard & Percussion for the TSO

Little did I realize that this was to be her final performance in a long career. And she clearly was enjoying every second. When Peter Oundjian came out to make his pre-concert announcement he pointed out that we were about to hear Krueger’s final performance with the TSO. After the huge applause and a bouquet of flowers (which I thought would have made a really intriguing mallet for percussion, even if it might make a bit of a mess, let alone the imprecise impacts on the drums), they went to work in Top’s flamboyant composition.

Next on the program was another occasion to remark upon youth, namely Stewart Goodyear’s reading of the Tchaikovky piano concerto #1. I wonder if this is his first appearance since the cancellation last year, when we had hoped to hear Rachmaninoff.

As you may be aware, the TSO have just come home after a brief tour to Ottawa & Montreal with these same pieces, more or less offering Goodyear (and the remainder of this program) as their calling card. Is there a better ambassador for Toronto than the sweet smile of Goodyear, who blew kisses to the adoring crowd last night? I have to think the orchestra is a loose and relaxed group after their little retreat, seemingly very tight and utterly responsive to Oundjian’s every tempo change.

Goodyear’s interpretation is remarkable in a few ways. He may have the largest dynamic range of any pianist I’ve ever heard. Yes he can play softly, but he gets sounds out of that Steinway that , well, make him a perfect spokesman for Steinway, which come to think of it is exactly what he is, as some of his recordings are for Steinway (who established a new recording label just a few years ago). If you want to know what a Steinway can do, pushed to the limit, you need to hear Stewart Goodyear. He plays the octave passages faster than usual, precisely articulated. In other words they sound big and loud but not blurred or unclear. When I think about what I used to take into a stereo shop to test record players, amplifiers, speakers, etc, the sounds coming out of Goodyear’s piano are like that: except they are more of a test of your perception, to hear details and clarity, nuances that you don’t hear from other piano players. I recall a professor years ago suggesting that when some of these 19th century pieces were written they expected a blur, expected a kind of messy chiaroscuro. (he was thinking of Wagner, but the same applies here) Did Tchaikovsky ever hear all the notes articulated so clearly, with such nuance, I wonder? I doubt it.

After the intermission came a short but charming Sesqui, namely United Anthems. The Sesquis are two minutes works that are co-commissions with other Canadian orchestras to commemorate our sesquicentennial year. Maxime Goulet’s contribution is a celebration of our multi-culture that elicited a few giggles in my vicinity. In the course of a couple of minutes we heard a bit of Oh Canada, a bit of God Save the Queen and in due course, intimations and suggestions of national pride as heard in anthems and patriotic songs.

And then came the Dvorak. As we come to the twilight hours of Oundjian’s time with the TSO, I am noticing the magical moments. Oundjian seems especially happy with these passionate Eastern Europeans such as Tchaikovsky and Dvorak, opportunities for the players to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Yes it does sometimes sound more like Brahms than Dvorak, possibly because the Czech was still finding his way towards his own authentic voice; or maybe Brahms was always a closet Slav, what with his syncopations and Hungarian dances (yes yes I know we’re not actually Slavs… but you get the idea). For this work especially it felt as though the ensemble and their leader were in synch, that the trip had brought them all together into a kind of groove.

H Thomas Beck

A final thought concerns another nod of respect towards our elders, this time a nod from Oundjian in the direction of H. Thomas Beck, to whom the TSO dedicated the concert. Oundjian gave a touching remembrance of him recalling his own early days with the TSO, so moving as I feel the gradual passing of torches within the ensemble, its organization and the community. Whatever else they ask of the Music Director –such as the ability to hold a baton and lead an ensemble—Oundjian’s heart and his loving mentorship are enormous factors for the TSO. I hope they’re thinking about this when they select a successor.

Posted in Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

Liv Stein

Posted on January 27, 2017 by barczablog

I’ve just come home from opening night of Nino Haratischwili’s play Liv Stein presented by Canadian Stage, directed by Matthew Jocelyn.

Novelist & playwright Nino Haratischwili

The first time I see something, a big part of my energy does into distinguishing between what’s exciting in the presentation as opposed to what’s exciting about the text. And as I start to get a sense of that text I find myself quibbling, wondering what if it had been done this way or that way, instead.

As a new play Liv Stein is quite an interesting story, and an absorbing evening in the theatre in Jocelyn’s hands. There are elements to the story that remind me very strongly of other texts, but if I were to take a playwright to task for being derivative, then I’d have to forgive Shakespeare and Brecht and a host of other playwrights.

I hate giving stories away, aiming for a spoiler-free approach. But this is a mysterious tale, one that invites us to speculate about the relationships, to question the stories we’re told. It’s less of a whodunit than a poetic meditation, getting us to feel the various connections between the characters and to question the validity of the world as portrayed. At times Jocelyn invites us to interrogate the surfaces, because we may feel that there’s much more going on.

That there are fantastic and poetic elements to this story was clear to Jocelyn, who opted to insert theatrical elements into his presentation, employing a style that at times calls attention to itself, pushing us away a little bit. It’s not excessively Brechtian, but it’s also not trying to be realistic. And so we’re invited to think about how this story works and how it makes us feel.

Liv Stein is a famous pianist who has abandoned her career in the aftermath of her son’s death. A young woman appears who knew her son. The gradual unfolding of her story reminded me of Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation, where a con artist pretends to be familiar with children of the family. I think we’re always wondering in Liv Stein: is this really a friend of Henri, Liv’s dead son, or is she a phony?

And so Jocelyn doesn’t make his stage-picture overly realistic, nor his actors terribly precise in their portrayal of musicians (Liv the concert pianist, her ex-husband Emil, who teaches music, and Lore, the young interloper who is also supposedly a pianist). We’re in the midst of an intellectual maze, seeking to discern truth, although it’s clouded by some powerful feelings. The language of Birgit Schreyer Duarte’s new English translation steers clear of musical jargon, staying instead in the realm of emotions and family dynamics.

I think you’ll have to see for yourself as to whether you’re seduced by the aptly named Lore’s stories. There’s a physical eloquence to Sheila Ingabire-Isaro that makes her immediately captivating in this white-bread world that she’s invaded, and might be on the verge of conquering: if plot trajectories were completely predictable. But this is not a banal story, the outcome not at all what I expected.

Liv Stein plays at the Bluma Appel Theatre until Feb 12th.

Liv Stein: Geraint Wyn Davies & Sheila Ingabire-Isaro

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Leave a comment

Tafelmusik names new Music Director: violinist Elisa Citterio

Posted on January 26, 2017 by barczablog

Toronto, January 26, 2017 … Helen Polatajko, Chair of the Board of Directors of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, is thrilled to announce the appointment of the “superb” (The Guardian) Italian violinist Elisa Citterio* to the position of Music Director. The unanimous choice of the orchestra and search committee, Citterio is renowned for her stunning virtuoso performances on baroque violin and her innovative approach to period performance. She succeeds Jeanne Lamon, whose remarkable 33-year tenure paved the way for Tafelmusik to become “one of the world’s top baroque orchestras” (Gramophone).

Milan-based Citterio immediately becomes Tafelmusik’s Music Director Designate and will fully assume her new role in July 2017, taking up full-time residence in Toronto along with her family. She divides her artistic life between orchestral work, including her former role as concertmaster and soloist with the orchestra of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, and an intense schedule as a chamber musician.

elisa_citterio_tafelmusik_music_director_designate

Violinist Elisa Citterio, Tafelmusik’s new Music Director (photo: Monica Cardiviola)

Citterio has recorded and toured, often as leader or concertmaster, with such ensembles as Dolce & Tempesta, Europa Galante, Accademia Bizantina, Accordone, Zefiro, la Venexiana, La Risonanza, Ensemble 415, Concerto Italiano, Orquestra del Monsalvat, Il Giardino Armonico, and Orchestra Academia 1750. She has been a member of the Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano since 2004.

Elisa collaborates closely with harpsichordist Stefano Demicheli in duo, and with violinist Stefano Montanari in their quartet, Estravagante, and will perform with both artists in Italy this summer. Upcoming highlights include concerts with Cecilia Bartoli, and a solo recital of Bach violin sonatas and partitas in Merano, Italy.

“After an extensive worldwide search, the musicians of Tafelmusik are delighted to welcome Elisa Citterio as our next Music Director. We have all found the search process to be an incredibly rewarding experience, enabling us to work with many of the world’s finest musicians in our field,” said Tafelmusik oboist John Abberger. “Elisa is an outstanding violinist who combines great virtuosity with deep musical knowledge and a warm and dynamic personality on stage. She immediately established an exceptional rapport with the orchestra, and the musicians are thrilled to have found such an inspiring and collaborative leader,” he said.

“It is with immense joy and excitement that I accept the position of Music Director of the extraordinary Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir. First of all, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to the entire Tafelmusik organization for the faith it has placed in me, and I’d especially like to thank Jeanne Lamon for her tremendous artistic leadership over the past three decades,” said Elisa Citterio.

“I’m incredibly honoured to take on this role, which gives me the privilege of working with such brilliant musicians. I’m fascinated by the possibility of exchange between our two countries, which are geographically distant, but which music unites through a shared language. I love the fact that we will be able to learn from each other and intertwine our distinct cultures and music without the need for words. I look forward to working with Canadian musicians and composers, and am eager to get to know Tafelmusik’s audiences in Toronto and on tour,” she said.

As Music Director, Citterio will be responsible for Tafelmusik’s overall artistic leadership including concert planning, touring, recording, education, and artist training. With a keen interest in contemporary compositions for period instruments, Citterio will continue Tafelmusik’s commitment to working with Canadian musicians and composers.

“The appointment of Elisa Citterio is a truly pivotal moment for Tafelmusik. It heralds the start of an exciting new chapter for us, as only the second Music Director in the orchestra’s 38-year history, and following the incredible legacy left for her by Jeanne Lamon,” said Managing Director William Norris. “The search was an exciting and invigorating process, and confirmed the reputation that Tafelmusik holds not just at home, but internationally. Elisa joins us at a time when we are seeking to further expand our reach, through attracting new audiences at home and also internationally through our busy touring schedule. Her artistic vision, dynamism, charisma, and collaborative approach are the perfect fit for us, and we can’t wait to have her start with us.”

Elisa Citterio made her Tafelmusik debut as guest director and violin soloist in November 2015 with Baroque Masters, a program that explored Italian, French, and German 18^th-century musical styles. She was immediately invited to return, and in September 2016 directed the opening concerts of Tafelmusik’s 2016/17 season at Koerner Hall. The program featured Handel’s Water Music and orchestral movements from Rameau’s opera-ballet Les indes galantes. The performance was hailed as “stylish, playful and filled with the spirit of movement, light and pleasure” (The Globe and Mail).

Tafelmusik’s formal selection process began in early 2013 and was undertaken by a committee consisting of Tafelmusik musicians, board members, administrative staff, and community representatives under the guidance of international search consultant Margaret Genovese of the Toronto-based firm Genovese, Vanderhoof & Associates. Together they lay the groundwork for the appointment of a music director who is an international-calibre soloist specializing in period performance and a leader who directs the orchestra while playing. Over a three-year period, the search committee identified potential candidates from Canada and beyond and invited suggestions from the public, as well as from a wide range of baroque music experts.

Andy Kenins, head of the Search Committee and past Chair of Tafelmusik’s Board of Directors said, “Tafelmusik’s artist-focused mandate and commitment to excellence and innovation have been of paramount importance throughout the painstaking process that led to Elisa’s appointment. Succession planning has been in the works for many years, and for the past decade Tafelmusik has been working with a wide range of Canadian and international guest directors in order to build the musicians’ flexibility and offer them the opportunity to explore a variety of different musical and personal styles,” he said. “Elisa brings exceptional leadership skills. She is an original and innovative thinker who has a remarkable ability to convey new ideas through music.”
Under the artistic leadership of Jeanne Lamon from 1981 to 2014, Tafelmusik has become one of Canada’s most successful international performing arts organizations. She recently assumed the role of Music Director Emerita and will continue to maintain an active role with the Orchestra, including appearances in Tafelmusik’s Toronto season and involvement in Artist Training programs such as the Summer and Winter Institutes.

Ms. Lamon hailed the appointment of Elisa Citterio, saying, “I have always maintained that the position of Music Director of Tafelmusik is the best job in the world, and I congratulate Elisa on her appointment. Attracting a music director of her calibre will greatly contribute to the artistic development of our musicians, and with Elisa at the helm, I’m excited and confident about Tafelmusik’s future. I am truly proud of what Tafelmusik has become, honoured to have been a part of such a wonderful group of musicians, and delighted to pass the torch on to Elisa.”

Ms. Polatajko added, “Tafelmusik’s vision is to be an international centre of musical excellence in period performance, and it is one of the top orchestras of its kind that performs, tours, records, and trains, reaching out to audiences throughout Canada and beyond. I would like to thank the Search Committee, whose painstaking work over the past three years has resulted in the appointment of Elisa Citterio — a musician and leader with a wide range of top-tier experience in solo performance, chamber music, orchestral repertoire, and opera, as well as artist training. Her international reputation is a real asset to the orchestra’s future development in these areas. Finally, we are incredibly grateful to Jeanne Lamon for more than three decades of magnificent work as Music Director.”

Toronto audiences will have the opportunity to see Elisa Citterio in concert May 4 to 7, 2017, when she returns to direct Tafelmusik’s debut performances of Haydn’s Symphony no. 98 in B-flat Major at Koerner Hall — part of the Mozart Mass in C Minor concerts that close the 2016/17 season.

*Pronunciation guide: Citterio [chee TEH ree oh]

ABOUT ELISA CITTERIO
“This is a musician who thinks.” —The Globe and Mail

“Uccellini’s Bergamasca showcased the group’s [Concerto Italiano] superb violinists, Elisa Citterio and Nicholas Robinson, who traded their lines with the loose spontaneity of folk fiddlers.” —The Guardian

“The performance by first violinist Elisa Citterio, lutenist Tiziano Bagnati, and cellist Marco Frezzato was a masterclass in how to play together.” — translated from Classic Voice

“Elisa Citterio … tackled the endlessly unfolding, seemingly unstoppable invention of Uccellini’s Bergamasca with infectious enthusiasm.” — The Scotsman

“There was no mistaking the electricity of the occasion, generated by Elisa Citterio, violin, and –at least for tonight—the leader of the orchestra. The chemistry I saw and heard and felt is surely something Tafelmusik will want to experience again.” — Barcza Blog

“From the outset, it was apparent that both Citterio and the Tafelmusik Orchestra were simpatico.” —Eatock Daily

“She brought energy and joy to each of the works on the program inspiring brilliant ensemble playing by our world renowned baroque orchestra. Her own playing in solo passages was stunningly beautiful.” —Toronto Concert Reviews
Elisa Citterio was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1975 and grew up in a musical family: her mother and brother are composers and her two sisters are professional musicians. Elisa began playing piano and violin as a pre-schooler, and as a teenager played baroque sonatas with her mother and sister. At sixteen she began formal studies in violin and viola at the L. Marenzio Conservatory in Brescia under full scholarship for five consecutive years. During her time at the Conservatory, she won many prizes in national competitions and graduated with the highest honours. She continued her post-graduate studies with Franco Gulli, Corrado Romano, Dora Schwarzberg, Matis Vaitsner, Ilya Grubert, and Dejan Bogdanovich.

In 2000, Citterio was selected as concertmaster and soloist with the orchestra of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, where she received intensive professional training in orchestral and chamber music repertoire, as well as violin technique. She made her debut at La Scala in 2000, playing the solo violin part in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with La Scala’s principal violist Danilo Rossi, under the direction of Stefano Ranzani.

Soon after graduating from the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, she began studying baroque violin technique, taking part in master classes with Enrico Onofri and studying with Chiara Banchini at the Schola Chantorum Basilensis, and with Luigi Mangiocavallo in Rome.

Between 2000 and 2004, Citterio won numerous prestigious orchestral auditions with such orchestras as I Virtuosi, the orchestra of the Opera of Rome, the orchestra of the Arena of Verona, and the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Riccardo Muti. In 2004, she became a member of the Orchestra of La Scala di Milano.

Citterio’s discography of more than 35 recordings includes Vivaldi concertos with Accademia I Filarmonici; Bach and Vivaldi concertos with Europa Galante; Handel Fireworks with Zefiro; Storie di Napoli with Accordone; Vivaldi The Four Seasons with Brixia Musicalis; Marini sonatas for solo violin with Opera Prima; Handel arias featuring soprano Sandrine Piau, and Corelli concerti grossi, both with Accademia Bizantina; the Goldberg Project, a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations transcribed for string quartet; Handel arias featuring Julia Lezhnieva, and Haydn symphonies, both with Il Giardino Armonico; Monteverdi madrigals with La Venexiana; Schuster quartets with Joachim Quartet; C.P.E. Bach trio sonatas with Helianthus Ensemble; Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony with Orquestra del Monsalvat, and a number of opera recordings with the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala under such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Edward Gardner, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Lorin Maazel, and Riccardo Muti.

For the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, together with Stefano Montanari, Citterio co-chaired the baroque violin studies program at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan.

ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, founded in 1979, is one of the world’s leading period performance ensembles. In January 2017 the orchestra appointed violinist Elisa Citterio as Music Director, succeeding Jeanne Lamon, who stepped down in 2014 following a remarkable 33-year tenure that began in 1981. Lamon continues her association with Tafelmusik as Music Director Emerita. The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, under the direction of Ivars Taurins, was formed in 1981 to complement the Orchestra. The orchestra performs some 80 concerts each year at home in Toronto, and travels extensively around the world. The choir and orchestra’s multi-platform recording label Tafelmusik Media was launched in January 2012, along with the Watch and Listen site. Tafelmusik’s discography of 80-plus CDs has been recorded on the Sony Classical, CBC Records, Analekta and Tafelmusik Media labels. Since 1991, Tafelmusik has received nine JUNO Awards and a Grammy Award nomination. Tafelmusik is the Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto and operates annual artist training programs, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and Tafelmusik Winter Institute. Managing Director William Norris joined the Tafelmusik team in 2015.

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

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Opera Atelier’s 2017-2018 Season

Posted on January 26, 2017 by barczablog

Announcing Opera Atelier’s 2017-2018 Season:

Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaroand Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (January 25, 2017): Toronto, ON – Opera Atelier’s founding co-artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg today announced the company’s 2017-2018 season, which opens with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Oct. 26-Nov. 4, 2017), followed by Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses (Apr. 19-28, 2018). Subscriptions to the two-opera season are available now at operaatelier.com or 416-703-3767 x222. Individual tickets go on sale August 8 through Ticketmaster.

Patrick Jang, Carla Huhtanen, and Phillip Addis in “The Marriage of Figaro” (2010). Photo by Bruce Zinger.

“We are thrilled to present a 2017-2018 season celebrating Love as the driving force that controls our destinies,” say Pynkoski and Zingg. “Comedy and tragedy, laughter and heartache are seamlessly blended in each of our season’s masterpieces, making them a timeless reflection on the role Love plays in all of our lives.”

The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart’s racy commedia dell’arte opera, had its premiere in 1786 and was a run-away success. Based on the shocking Beaumarchais play of the same name, Figaro is Mozart’s hilarious take on a tale of love, betrayal and forgiveness in a world on the brink of revolution.

The Marriage of Figaro features Douglas Williams making his Opera Atelier debut in the title role, with Mireille Asselin (Susanna), Stephen Hegedus (Count Almaviva),Peggy Kriha Dye (Countess Almaviva), Mireille Lebel (Cherubino), Laura Pudwell (Marcellina), Gustav Andreassen (Bartolo), Christopher Enns (Basilio/Don Curzio), Olivier Laquerre (Antonio), and Grace Lee (Barbarina). Opera Atelier’s Dora Award-winning production of The Marriage of Figaro runs October 26 (media night), 28, 29 (3:00pm), 31, November 3, and 4 (4:30pm). Time is 7:30pm except as noted. Figaro is sung in English with English surtitles.

Opera Atelier’s 2017-2018 season continues in April with Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, based on the Greek myth immortalized by Homer in The Odyssey. Monteverdi’s deeply moving opera centres on Ulysses’ return to his homeland and his reunion with his heroic wife Penelope and his son Telemachus after a twenty-year absence fighting in the Trojan War. This production abounds with gods, goddesses, flying machines and magical transformations, and celebrates the 450^th anniversary of Monteverdi’s birth.

Opera Atelier is thrilled to present dramatic tenor Krešimir Špicer in the title role. Špicer is internationally recognized as the world’s greatest interpreter of this role. His definitive performances have received superlative reviews in major theatres and festivals throughout Europe and the US, including BAM (New York), the Barbican (London), the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris) and the Berlin State Opera. At Aix-en-Provence, his performance with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants created a sensation and was recorded for DVD by Virgin Classics.

Špicer is joined in this production by Mireille Lebel (Penelope), Carla Huhtanen(Fortuna/Melanto), Christopher Enns (Telemaco), Isaiah Bell (Eurimaco), Aaron Sheehan (Eumete), Douglas Williams (Suitor), Kevin Skelton (Suitor/Jupiter), Michael Taylor (Suitor), Laura Pudwell (Nurse), Stephen Hegedus (Neptune/Time), and Meghan Lindsay (Minerva/Cupid). The Return of Ulysses runs April 19 (media night), 21, 22 (3:00pm), 24, 27, 28 (4:30pm). Time is 7:30pm except as noted.Ulysses is sung in Italian with English surtitles.

The Marriage of Figaro and The Return of Ulysses will be directed by Marshall Pynkoski and choreographed by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, with set design byGerard Gauci and lighting design by Michelle Ramsay. Both productions will feature the full corps of Artists of Atelier Ballet, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra under the baton of David Fallis.

Performances in Opera Atelier’s 2017-2018 season take place at the Elgin Theatre (189 Yonge Street) in Toronto. Subscriptions start at $95 and are on sale now by calling 416-703-3767 x222 or visting operaatelier.com/subscriptions. Single tickets go on sale on August 8, 2017. For more information visit Opera Atelier’s website:www.operaatelier.com.

2017-2018 Major Sponsors

Season Presenting Sponsor: BMO Financial Group

Season Underwriter: El Mocambo Productions

Opera Atelier gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

Opera Atelier is North America’s premier period opera/ballet company, producing the opera, ballet and drama of the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries. While drawing upon the aesthetics and ideals of the period, Opera Atelier goes beyond “reconstruction” and infuses each production with an inventive theatricality that resonates with modern audiences. Led by founding artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg since 1985, Opera Atelier has garnered acclaim for its performances at home as well as in the United States, Europe and Asia. Opera Atelier is committed to the development of young Canadian artists and offers innovative education programs for youth, as well as $15 tickets for ages 15 to 30.

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

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Toronto Symphony: 2017/18 and Peter Oundjian’s final season

Posted on January 26, 2017 by barczablog

TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian (Photo: Jaime Hogge)

The TSO unveils 2017/18 programming and celebrates Peter Oundjian’s final season

“Being Music Director of the TSO will always be the most incredible highlight and privilege of my life.” —Peter Oundjian

January 25, 2017: Today, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) proudly unveils its 96th performance season. From awe-inspiring music by legendary composers to dance-all-night Pops, and bold and experimental works to educational concerts and Hollywood films with live orchestra, the TSO has something for everyone. As 2017/18 will be Peter Oundjian’s 14th and final season as Music Director, the programming is an extended celebration of his extraordinary contributions to the TSO, and to the City of Toronto. The spotlight is on the Maestro throughout an exceptional season that features several special events, and many joyful performances curated and conducted by Peter Oundjian himself.

“There is so much I’m looking forward to next season,” says Peter Oundjian. “It has been a pleasure for us to work together to create a season that is truly celebratory. I have many great friends coming to play.”

The TSO season culminates in June 2018 with an abundance of momentous concerts conducted by Peter Oundjian, featuring special appearances by pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Brahms Symphony 1 on June 13 &14), Daniil Trifonov (Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 on June 16), and Emanuel Ax (Mahler Symphony 9, June 20–23). Revered Canadian actor Christopher Plummer also brings his magic to the TSO stage for an evening of Shakespeare and enchanting music (Bravo, Peter! on June 26).

With a rousing event, Peter Oundjian concludes his 14-year term as Music Director, by taking the podium to lead a quintessential work from the repertoire: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (June 28 & 29, 2018). A cast of brilliant soloists and a large chorus join forces with the Orchestra and Peter Oundjian for this stirring testament to joy and brotherhood—a fitting finale for the dynamic and esteemed artistic leader.

Canada Mosaic continues

As Canada Mosaic—a Signature Project of Canada 150, funded by the Government of Canada—continues, 2017/18 is punctuated with numerous TSO Commissions and World Premières, beginning with Opening Night: Life of Pi, on September 19. Canadian composer Mychael Danna’s Academy Award–winning score for the film Life of Pi, based on the novel of the same title by Canadian author Yann Martel, makes its World Première on the TSO stage as a new orchestral suite. Peter Oundjian leads the Orchestra, and Canadian violin sensation James Ehnes also makes an appearance.

Other Canada Mosaic highlights include:

A Tribute to Glenn Gould (September 22 & 23), which stars Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, and features a new work—inspired by Gould—by Kelly-Marie Murphy;
Performances of Alexina Louie’s new Triple Concerto featuring concertmasters Andrew Wan of l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Yosuke Kawasaki of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Jonathan Crow of the TSO—co-commissioned by the three ensembles (September 27 & 28);
Adizokan, a potent mix of dance, video, electroacoustic, and orchestra by Canadian composer Eliot Britton, curated and stage directed by Sandra Laronde of Red Sky Performance, with Gary Kulesha on the podium (October 7);
With Glowing Hearts, an all-Canadian program curated by the legendary Victor Feldbrill, featuring Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico (October 21 & 22);
A Tribute to Maureen Forrester, an homage to the iconic Canadian singer spotlighting Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts in the World Première of Toronto-born Howard Shore’s new song cycle, commissioned by the TSO for the occasion (October 19 & 20);
Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation, a soul-searching work by Canadian composer Jeffrey Ryan and poet Suzanne Steele (November 9 & 11), which features a brilliant cast of soloists including soprano Measha Bruggergosman.
Many concerts in 2017 will also feature Sesquies (two-minute orchestral pieces) as part of Canada Mosaic.

A star-studded season

The glittering season brings many radiant musical stars to the TSO stage, including pianist Lang Lang (March 1, 2018), violinist James Ehnes (September 19, 2017 & May 26, 2018), pianist Jan Lisiecki (September 22 & 23), tenor Michael Schade (October 19 & 20), pianist Marc-André Hamelin (October 25 & 26) , pianist/leader Angela Hewitt (November 18 & 19), soprano Karina Gauvin (December 18–23), pianist Ingrid Fliter (January 31–February 2, 2018); violinist—and well-known actor—Blake Pouliot (April 14 & 15, 2018); pianists Yefim Bronfman (May 23 & 24, 2018) and Leon Fleisher (May 2 & 3, 2018); violinist Vadim Gluzman (June 8 & 9, 2018), and more.

Grand symphonic events

Outstanding events are sprinkled throughout the season, including Brahms’s German Requiem (September 27–30) with Canadian singers Erin Wall and Russell Braun; Oundjian Conducts Vaughan Williams, featuring Canadian pianist Louis Lortie (November 15 & 16); and Bernstein’s Candide—presented in a concert version to mark the centenary of the great American composer—conducted by Bramwell Tovey and starring Canadian singers Tracy Dahl and Judith Forst (April 26 & 28, 2018).

Festivals and films

The 2017/18 season brings back two festivals that were created by Peter Oundjian, and have now become audience favourites: the Mozart Festival (January 10–21, 2018)—marking the anticipated return of Montreal piano phenomenon Charles Richard-Hamelin—and the New Creations Festival (March 3–10, 2018), which includes the North American Première of Little Mass by Sir James MacMillan (March 7, 2018). The TSO remains in the limelight with the much sought-after Films with Live Orchestra presentations such as Home Alone (December 1 & 2), The Wizard of Oz with Live Orchestra (February 17 & 18, 2018), and Jaws in Concert (March 21–23, 2018).

Pops, education, and family events

TSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke leads a dazzling series of Pops concerts: Music of John Williams (October 3–5); On Broadway (April 10 & 11, 2018); and Love, Lust, and Rock & Roll—starring vocalist Storm Large (May 29 & 30, 2018). Rob Kapilow returns as host & conductor of the popular Exposed series. Families will enjoy the Young People’s Concerts, which include Wall-to-Wall Percussion, starring Canadian percussionist Vern Griffiths, led by RBC Resident Conductor Earl Lee (November 4); The Year of the Dog: A Chinese New Year Celebration (February 24, 2018), featuring pipa player Wen Zhao and conductor Carolyn Kuan; Classical Kids: Gershwin’s Magic Key, led by conductor Michelle Merrill (March 24, 2018); and The Animated Orchestra, led by conductor Dina Gilbert (April 21, 2018). Sparkling holiday concerts include Best of Tchaikovsky with Keri-Lynn Wilson (December 6 & 7); Messiah (December 18–23), and more family-friendly events such as The Snowman (December 10) and Canadian Brass Christmas (December 12 & 13).

Masterworks and guest conductors

2017/18 also brings blockbuster programs featuring celebrated guest conductors: Mahler Symphony 6 with Donald Runnicles (November 23–25), Mozart@262 Festival with conductor/co-curator Bernard Labadie (January 10, 13, 17 & 18), Holst The Planets with John Storgårds (January 25–27, 2018), Prokofiev Romeo & Juliet (February 14 & 15, 2018) and Sibelius Symphony 5 (April 5–8, 2018) with TSO Conductor Laureate Sir Andrew Davis, Brahms & Rachmaninoff with Stéphane Denève (March 28 & 29), Beethoven & Shostakovich with Osmo Vänskä (May 23 & 24, 2018), Schubert Symphony 9 with Juanjo Mena (October 25 & 26), Dvořák & Beethoven with Gustavo Gimeno (February 21 & 22, 2018), and Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Thomas Dausgaard (June 8 & 9, 2018).

Guest orchestras

2017/18 includes appearances by four guest orchestras, beginning with a highly anticipated performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta (October 28). The TSO also welcomes the National Arts Centre Orchestra with Alexander Shelley (March 24, 2018), Orchestre symphonique de Montréal with Kent Nagano (April 13, 2018), and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Bramwell Tovey (May 26, 2018).

TSO musicians step into the spotlight

Throughout the season, audiences also get to applaud soloists from within the ranks of the Orchestra: Concertmaster Jonathan Crow, Principal Viola Teng Li, Principal Cello Joseph Johnson, Principal Clarinet Joaquin Valdepeñas, Principal Trumpet Andrew McCandless, Principal Harp Heidi Van Hoesen Gorton, and Principal Oboe Sarah Jeffrey all step into the spotlight.

The TSO Chamber Soloists also bring back their popular series of pre-concert performances, curated by TSO Concertmaster Jonathan Crow.

The TSO’s 2017/18 season is orchestrated as an ongoing celebration of Peter Oundjian—an Ode to Joy.

TSO 2017/18 SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW!
Online: TSO.CA
Call: 416.598.3375
In person: TSO Patron Services Centre, 212 King Street West, 1st Floor, Toronto

All concerts at Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., unless otherwise noted.
All artists, programs, dates, prices, and chats are subject to change without notice.

Canada Mosaic is funded in part by the Government of Canada.

The TSO’s 2016/17 Season Presenting Sponsor is BMO Financial Group.
The 2016/17 season is dedicated to H. Thomas Beck in recognition of his vital and long-standing support of the TSO.

Twitter: @TorontoSymphony
Facebook: facebook.com/torontosymphonyorchestra
YouTube: youtube.com/torontosymphony
Instagram: instagram.com/torontosymphony

About the TSO: Founded in 1922, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra is one of Canada’s most important cultural institutions, recognized internationally. Music Director Peter Oundjian leads the TSO with a commitment to innovative programming and audience development through a broad range of performances that showcase the exceptional talents of the Orchestra along with a roster of distinguished guest artists and conductors. The TSO also serves the larger community with TSOUNDCHECK, the original under-35 ticket program; the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra; and music-education programs that reach tens of thousands of students each year.

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

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Brahm Goldhamer plays Schubert Sunday January 29th

Posted on January 26, 2017 by barczablog

Last year around this time Brahm Goldhamer played a recital of Schubert at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. At the end he promised that he would do it again.

Lo and behold, he is as good as his word.

Brahm will be playing Sunday January 29th at 7:30 in the Temerty Theatre of the Royal Conservatory of Music.

His programme includes:

Moments Musicaux
Fantasie in F minor for four hands with Todd Yaniw
Sonata in G major opus 78

Brahm - Maritime Opera - photo Karen Runge

Brahm Goldhamer (photo: Karen Runge)

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Canadian Panorama: World Premiere Recordings CD launch

Posted on January 22, 2017 by barczablog

I am such a lucky guy. I live in this country where we can march in protest without fear. Today and always I am so happy to be a Canadian. And while it’s rumor rather than fact at this point, we’re hearing that the new American President will be cutting support to the NEA, a mere $146 million dollars in a country of 318 million persons. In Canada we have the Canada Council, that offers over $180 million in a country roughly one tenth the size of the USA: and on the verge of hugely increasing rather than slashing funding.

Among my many blessings are the unsolicited packages I get in the mail, usually opportunities to review new creations for the blog. I’ve been listening to one such treasure, a CD called Canadian Panorama. I need to write about this now because the CD launch concert is two weeks from tonight.

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The Winds of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Royer, commissioned the seven Canadian composers on this CD, who will be heard in the concert, notably including Royer himself.

Here’s a list of the composers & the tracks on the CD:

Chris Meyer
- Fundy: A Poem of Wind and Waves (7:08)
Ronald Royer
- Rhapsody for Oboe, Horn and Wind Ensemble (5:26 & 5:17)
- Travels with Mozart: Variations on a Theme from The Magic Flute (6:46 & 8:50)
Alex Eddington
- Saturday Night at Fort Chambly (8:21)
John S Gray
- Allemande for Eleven Instruments (4:56)
Jim McGrath
- Serenade for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (5:23)
Alexander Rapoport
- Whirligig for Ten Instruments (6:22)
Howard Cable
- McIntyre Ranch Country (7:52)

I’ve been playing the CD in my car.

The piece that stands out for me is precisely the one Royer might have known would catch the ear, namely his set of variations on a theme from The Magic Flute, especially when I’ve just seen the COC’s new production of that opera earlier this week. The tune is the duet between Pamina & Papageno in E-flat, already a great key for winds and a melody of great simplicity. Royer calls his composition “Travels with Mozart”, taking us—and this tune—through some of the foreign cultural influences that the composer must have experienced as a perpetual traveler. It’s a fun piece that bears repeated listening.

It’s apt that a new composition from the prolific Howard Cable closes the CD, a great Canadian composer and arranger who passed away just this past year in his 90s.

It’s a tuneful recording, a natural way to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary. Some seem more blatantly Canadian than others, as in the compositions that have a connection to a specific Canadian place: Eddington’s (Quebec), Cable’s (Alberta) and Meyer’s (the Maritimes), but these are all Canadian composers, performed by Canadian musicians.

The CD launch is Saturday February 4th Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel, 2021 Lawrence Avenue East (at Warden), starting at 8 p.m.. After listening buy the CD.

launch_image

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Busy Labadie

Posted on January 21, 2017 by barczablog

As I mentioned in my review of Magic Flute from last night, Bernard Labadie is a busy guy. He’s been alternating between the COC’s Magic Flute (dress rehearsal Tuesday and opening night Thursday) and the Toronto Symphony’s Mozart @261 festival (concert Wednesday, concert tonight – Friday).

I had a look & a listen.

Sometimes I may be a bit reductive, a bit too scientific in how I want to approach a concert. But wow isn’t it remarkable to have the chance to make direct comparisons:

Mozart last night and tonight
The Canadian Opera Company orchestra (and their production of Magic Flute) and the Toronto Symphony
The Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall

…because in both cases they were led by Bernard Labadie.

In fairness, it’s apples to oranges, as an opera performance isn’t the same as a symphony concert, an opera house isn’t the same as a concert hall, even if the conductor is the same.

No question about it, Labadie challenges the artists with whom he works. And so there were times when the singers weren’t in time. The three spirits in the quartet (with Pamina) in the latter portion of the opera, came decidedly apart from their conductor, who was driving his orchestra quickly, seemingly insensitive to the fact he was leading a performance featuring three children: who were off by about a beat for a good eight bars or more of messed up music. The children weren’t the only ones being pushed out of their comfort zone. I like it when an artist challenges their collaborators, but it has to be said: there are trade-offs. Sometimes the horn fluffed, especially with the COC orchestra. At times the strings sounded astringent and lifeless, especially the COC orchestra. At times the tempi were simply so quick as to make the music seem rushed and almost unintelligible.

The thing about this comparison is to notice what one can really say with confidence.

The COC orchestra sound so much better because of their venue, the acoustics of the Four Seasons Centre. It was really clear in this comparison that the COC orchestra are not as good as the TSO but we can’t usually hear that due to the mediocre acoustics at the Roy Thomson Hall. When you put the TSO into Koerner Hall suddenly you hear everything, and that means excellence.

And yet I wonder. Okay, the TSO sounded better than the COC orchestra. But both orchestras (plus the soloists) had mishaps, fluffs. Is it the style? Or was Mr Labadie given too much to do this week? Once the TSO came to the last item on the program, wow did they hit their stride: perhaps because they had enough rehearsal, and because this was the one piece everyone loves?

But I wish they’d play something else. Playing Mozart led by Labadie, it’s weird to say that it was like watching Tafelmusik or another historically informed band. Last week I heard the TSO play Mozart led by Peter Oundjian conducting them in the old way, which is to say, without the strictures & rigor of the historically informed approach. But tonight –comparing what I heard tonight to what I heard last week—I simply think Oundjian let them play as they are wont to play, with vibrato and passion, whereas Labadie seemed to take them out of their comfort zone. And where they know Oundjian’s beat really well, they’re still getting to know Labadie. It wasn’t until Symphony #38 that closed the program that they seemed fully comfortable playing Mozart, meaning his version of Mozart, that’s super fast, super taut & exposed: and were fully responding to Labadie. Koerner Hall exposes every wrinkle and fingerprint, and I have to say that it makes me want to hear them play Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, or Schumann, which is to say, the great romantics using a chamber orchestra. This is an amazing orchestra but we can’t hear it in Roy Thomson Hall the way we can in Koerner Hall, so what a perverse thing, to then have them twisting themselves into knots in response to Labadie. In the Prague Symphony that closed the program we heard them really cut loose, the winds sparkling, the strings crisp and suddenly perfectly attuned to Labadie. I’m sure this was a great development opportunity, the challenge a new conductor posed with his different approach.

isabelle-faust-bernard-labadie-jag-gundu-1

Isabelle Faust, violin, and conductor Bernard Labadie (photo: Jag Gundu)

The program featured a pair of violin concerti, played by violinist Isabelle Faust on either side of the intermission. She opened with concerto #3. I was especially thrilled with the slow movement, both the sensuous accompaniment from the orchestra and the full tone from her violin. After intermission we heard concerto #1, including a wonderful cadenza to finish the concerto, a witty and extroverted eruption from the violin as Faust made us forget all our troubles, lost in the beauty of her sound.

Posted in Music and musicology | 4 Comments

Feminist Flute Opens

Posted on January 20, 2017 by barczablog

The Canadian Opera Company opened their revival of Diane Paulus’s interpretation of Mozart’s Magic Flute tonight directed for this incarnation by Ashlie Corcoran.

Forgive me for a simplistic headline, but if I had to find one word for Paulus’s reading, “feminist” works for me. As in its first visit in February 2011, we see

a framework story concerning the princess Pamina shifts the emphasis somewhat away from its usual misogynistic story ( that can seem like a war between the genders with a clear win for one side over the other), creating more balance
an ending featuring a lovely dance of reconciliation entirely in the spirit of the music we hear in that final number, and giving us a framing epilogue similar to what we get from Mozart & Da Ponte in Figaro and Don Giovanni (although Da Ponte’s nowhere to be found this time)
lines changed in the surtitles, so that we don’t have to read phrases that seem to be a direct attack on womanhood (I understand it was a collaborative effort between Gunta Dreifelds, who does the surtitles, and the rest of the team, perhaps Paulus and others as well)
And the racist elements in the character of Monostatos are deconstructed as well

When you look at this concept, its flamboyant design, plus the integrity of the music, it’s absolutely first rate and something you shouldn’t miss.

Bernard Labadie is having a busy week. How busy?

He’s splitting his time this week between the Toronto Symphony’s Mozart @ 261 festival at Koerner Hall, and the COC.

Tuesday (I think?): COC dress rehearsal,
Wednesday: first Mozart concert,
tonight (Thursday): opening night of Flute
then
second concert tomorrow (Friday) at Koerner Hall.

His life gets easier (!) as he only has to focus on the rest of his run with the COC, meaning another ELEVEN performances between now and February 24th.

And while we’re speaking of being busy, the tempi of his conducting seem to match, as his pace was electric, often the fastest versions I’ve ever heard. The chorus under Sandra Horst’s leadership offered wonderfully clean attacks and diction, perfectly in time. The orchestra seemed to be aiming for a historically informed sound, the strings playing with little or no vibrato.

And there was lots of electricity in the performances.

Ambur Braid as the Queen of the Night in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of The Magic Flute, 2017 (photo: Gary Beechey)

I have to mention first & foremost a role that’s really like a cameo, namely Ambur Braid as the Queen of the Night. I wasn’t sure if I could mention her misadventure in her first aria, until she admitted it in social media. Instead of a wardrobe malfunction this was outright rebellion, her colossal dress tripping her up. But Braid is such a complete theatre animal that she turned it into business, crawling on her knees at Tamino. I swear nobody in the theatre noticed, although it did seem like an unconventional approach to the aria. In the second aria, she put the damnedest pause at the end, in full partnership with Labadie (his idea or hers?), holding us in that agonized theatrical moment before she ended the aria. It’s such a tiny part, yet she’s the one everyone remembered, including that last dance with Sarastro.

Andrew Haji was wonderful, his voice and manner a delightful exponent of the role of Tamino. His romantic partner, Elena Tsallagova has a heavier voice than what we usually hear in the role of Pamina, but she brought a passionate urgency to the role. Joshua Hopkins was an energetic Papageno with his heart on his sleeve in quest for a million laughs (and he got them), and a lovely warm baritone that was a joy throughout.

It’s a thrill to see so many Canadians onstage, the company showing its commitment to the development of talent, from director Ashlie Corcoran (who was in the Ensemble Studio herself years ago), Michael Colvin’s charmingly grotesque Monostatos and so many others I could name.

I’m looking forward to checking out the alternate cast. I suggest you go see this celebration of Canadian singing. Both genders.

Posted in Opera, Reviews | 2 Comments

Questions for Birgit Schreyer Duarte: translator of Liv Stein

Posted on January 18, 2017 by barczablog

I was fortunate to encounter the work of Birgit Schreyer Duarte while she was still a student at the University of Toronto, over a decade ago. While one may sometimes see remarkable talents among a student population, she was at another level entirely, already a significent ambassador for German culture in her directing & translating. She directed Mein Kampf by George Tabori, translated Schimmelpfennig’s Auf der Greifswalder strasse, and more, all while simultaneously working on her PhD.

Birgit Schreyer Duarte: translator, director, dramaturg, cultural ambassador

Fast forward to her busy life as a dramaturg, director, and translator, often with Canadian Stage. You can see her portfolio, including pictures and more at her website. Last winter Canadian Stage presented Das Ding, directed by Ashlie Corcoran in Schreyer Duarte’s new translation, and this past summer she directed Hamlet for the Dream in High Park. Her latest translation is Liv Stein, opening on January 26th for Canadian Stage directed by their Artistic Director Matthew Jocelyn. I had the delightful opportunity to ask her questions in anticipation of Liv Stein.

1-Are you more like your father or your mother?

I have an identical twin sister, so being compared is something that has happened to us all our lives. The question of who resembles which parent more has been put to us many times as well. Funnily enough, visually, I resemble my mother a bit more than my father, while my sister has more of my father’s visual traits. Sounds unlikely, I know, but it’s true—there are some pictures where it’s totally obvious, but when people hear this they always think we make this up! But in terms of other influences, I am really a mix of both my parents I think. I get my musicality from my dad who’s a musician, for sure, and my affinity for the imagistic/visual arts from my mom, who taught us kids photography. Both are interested and talented in languages, both are well travelled, and extremely loyal people. A healthy portion of pragmatism, as well as empathy—that’s what I probably get from my mother. It’s my dad who is more comfortable approaching new people and speaking in public. He can be very detail-oriented in fulfilling tasks, but it’s my mother who’s extremely perceptive of her surroundings.

The twins: (l-r) Annette and Birgit

2-What is the best thing or worst thing about what you do?

It never gets boring, since I have the great fortune that I get to work in a number of capacities throughout the year—both at Canadian Stage where I work part-time and as a freelancer. In my happiest years, as 2016 was, I get a healthy balance of my three favourite occupations: I work continuously in season planning with Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn and Executive Producer Sherrie Johnson; I translate plays from German to English and see them staged (Ashlie Corcoran’s production of Das Ding (The Thing) by Philipp Löhle was seen at the Berkeley Street Theatre as part of Canadian Stage’s and Theatre Smash’s season, as well as at the Thousand Islands Playhouse); and I get to direct plays I love (an indie production of Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly and Hamlet Shakespeare in High Park). I truly believe practicing each of these professions make me better in the other two.

Rehearsing Hamlet in 2016

The “worst” thing about being a dramaturg, or, more specifically in my case, of working in season planning, is that one is virtually never done working. You could always read more, research more, go see more, make a greater effort to be the one to discover the next great voice in play-writing. I had to learn over time to set myself limits, when to close my laptop, to plan a weekend without reading yet another script, etc.

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

At this very moment I’m listening to Sia’s current album “This is Acting” (no idea where this falls in terms of a “cool factor” these days!). On other days, it could be anything from Handel arias, Monteverdi operas, danceable music like Rihanna and Lady Gaga, to my father’s Bavarian folk music recordings, Top 40 hits, or sacred choral music. The last album I actually bought was Canadian singer-songwriter Lisa LeBlanc’s, after I saw her live in concert.

I have been sucked into the Netflix binge watching craze only fairly recently, but if I am hooked, I am hooked hard-core: anything mainstream from 24, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, House of Cards, to The Good Wife—I reluctantly admire these shows’ ability to create this perfect bubble for the viewer where nothing else exists and the characters become more real than the people around you (Spoiler Alert: I took days to recover from the untimely death of the male protagonist in Good Wife!). I also find them somewhat educational, to be honest: their milieus are so specific that I always feel like I learned something about their particular period in time and their worlds. Otherwise, I love German artsy films, Atom Egoyan’s work and epic, sophisticated actor-driven mainstream movies (Tree of Life or Manchester by the Sea come to my mind immediately); but I was also crazy about the Bridget Jones movies and was genuinely excited to see the “grown-up” version of Bridget recently in “Bridget Jones’ Baby”! More and more, I’ve come to appreciate a good comedy—perhaps because the plays I get to watch or read are more often than not problematic or tragic and it’s very, very hard to find good comedies.

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

Beaming myself to any place I want and back. I still haven’t given up hope that humanity will master this skill during my lifetime! I would go back and forth between the places I love and where I have family and good friends much more often and with more ease…

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

I have a few! Hanging out with my sister: just talking non-stop, or shopping for shoes, or going to the opera, or reading novels side by side. Biking around the Bavarian countryside with my husband. Spending the day in a swimming pool-spa with my best friends in Germany. Philosophizing with my theatre friends in a Toronto coffee shop.

*******

More questions about translating Liv Stein

1-Please talk about Nino Haratischwili.

Nino is from Tiflis, Georgia, but now lives in Hamburg, and I haven’t yet met her in person.

However, the theatre world is a small village, as we know, and my good friend Maria Milisavljevic from Germany, the former Tarragon Theatre writer-in-residence of Abyss and Peace River Country, got to know her several years ago in a professional context in Germany, plus I am now Facebook friends with her, and we’ve communicated several times about Liv Stein (I just finished translating my interview with her that will be published in our Canadian Stage’s programme book for Liv Stein).

Novelist & playwright Nino Haratischwili

So it feels a bit like we do know each other. She’s in her early 30s and has written no less than 20 plays and several novels, the last of which is a 1000 page epic family history in Georgia, called Das Achte Leben (The Eighth Life). I just ordered it for myself. I am curious how her writing style comes out in her fiction. In her plays, I particularly enjoy her directness—the characters say out loud what they think, they are much more unmediated than many Canadian playwrights’ characters I know. In that way she reminds me of another favourite playwright of mine, Simon Stephens from the UK, although she is of course less of a veteran than he is, and he’s extremely economic as a writer, maybe more than anyone I know at this point. But I also love Nino’s pathos and the boldness in her images and themes; they are pretty operatic. She has a great love for Greek mythology and that’s clearly present in Liv Stein. She wrote Liv Stein at the age of 25 or 26, and most people’s first reaction to the piece is to think she must have been a mature woman to be able to write so insightfully about the extreme situations her characters find themselves in, and to create a couple in their mid-fifties as her protagonists. Her latest play, Schönheit (Beauty), just opened last month in Nuremberg, Germany. She has received a total of 11 prizes for her writing.

2-Tell us about the Canadian Stage Production of Liv Stein that you’ve translated for its premiere in English.

The script of Liv Stein came to Canadian Stage through a trusted fellow artist, actor Alon Nashman. He had seen the play in Tiflis at the Georgian Theatre Showcase, and was quite taken by its poetical force, so he sent it to Matthew in a preliminary English translation from the UK that he had acquired, as something he thought we might consider for Canadian Stage’s future programming. Matthew shared it with me, as I normally have more time to read through the piles of scripts that land on our virtual desks. We had never heard of Nino as a writer.

Liv Stein: Geraint Wyn Davies & Sheila Ingabire-Isaro

When I eventually got to it—this was probably about two and a half years ago—I was immediately intrigued: by its setting in the world of a musical virtuoso, its crime thriller-like feel, its heightened, larger-than-life characters, and by its core issues: the effects of obsession (artistic and otherwise), the question of whether our quest for “truth” should trump our need for happiness, the value of success in art vs. success in leading a fulfilled life.

The play stood out to me in so many ways, so I urged Matthew, and later the rest of our artistic team, to read it too. In our internal reading rounds it soon became a priority play that we hoped to find a spot for in the coming seasons. We all loved the strong, complex female protagonist who would make a fabulous role for a strong middle-aged actress.

Liv Stein: Caroline Gillis & Leslie Hope

However, we all found that some aspects of the English version didn’t sit well with our Canadian ears. Some phrases sounded belaboured or even a little dated to us, or simply too British, so that we suspected the translation risked making the already pathos-laden script even more artificial and precious. That’s when I realized I should read the German original next to see if the problems for our sensibilities as Canadian theatre-makers (and -goers) lay in the play or in the translation. I remember being even more enthusiastic about the play after reading it in German, the language Nino had first written it in. Her language was direct, witty, poignant, and atmospherically dense and full of surprises. We decided to give it a try and create our own English version of the text.

3-Please talk about the art of translation, and your experience as a translator and what’s involved.

The process of translating for the stage is really ongoing; the work will literally be “done” only at the moment of its premiere. I take about four weeks off and on to translate a full-length play in its first draft. Then the many discussions (with the director, the original writer, actors, designers) begin, and the many rewrites. That continues throughout the rehearsal process, at least in my experience. It gets more complicated when another writer is part of the project, a playwright who was commissioned to adapt the play further after the translation is done. Such was the case in my translation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists, which was staged in 2015 at Stratford by Miles Potter, for which Michael Healey was hired to write an updated Canadian adaptation. With Michael, the collaboration went very smoothly. We had a number of in-person and online conversations about the tone and style of the play, especially its dark humor, and the biographical and socio-political context of Dürrenmatt. I was invited to the rehearsals in Stratford. If this kind of collaboration isn’t working well and the adaptor has no interest in consulting with the person who has access to the original text, it can be frustrating and ultimately artistically unsatisfying. I’ve only had a couple of experiences like that. Most of the time the directors and writers, if there are any involved, are very happy to have the foreign-language speaker by their side in the process.

I started translating for the stage when I was still in University and realized quickly that there aren’t too many German-English translators in Toronto who are also trained in theatre-making. I enjoyed the process immensely and excitedly took on any translation job I could, and also started choosing German plays I wanted to direct that needed to be translated first. So I almost learned how to translate plays for the stage simultaneously with directing them. I did that with Roland Schimmelpfennig’s post-dramatic extravaganza Boulevard of the Brave (Auf der GreifswalderStraβe), Pascal Mercier’s novel The Piano Tuner (Der Klavierstimmer, which I adapted into a stage play), Felicia Zeller’s social worker drama Kaspar & the Sea of Houses (KasparHäuser Meer), and Marie luise Fleiβer’s seminal early 20th century drama Purgatory in Ingleton (Fegefeuer in Ingolstadt). In other cases, I proposed plays to directors and was commissioned to translate them for their productions, such as for Das Ding (The Thing), or I was approached by directors who had read a play in an older translation or another language and wanted a new English translation for their own productions, as was the case for Brecht’s Life of Galileo (Leben des Galileo) for Jacob Zimmer’s Small Wooden Shoe company or Lukas Bärfuss’s The Test (Die Probe) for Philip Riccio’s Company Theatre production. Occasionally, I also translate a play on my own time that I personally am drawn to, in the hopes it will get a staging someday…

Overall, every translation, whether of literature or for the stage, exists somewhere on the continuum between these two demands: literary quality vs. functionality. There’s an image I like that helps explain the dilemma of the translator’s task (something I heard at a translation conference once): that of the “unfaithful beauty”. Some translators compare their struggle of choosing between a faithful and an unfaithful translation to choosing between a faithful and an unfaithful lover, of which, unfortunately, the unfaithful one often turns out to be the more beautiful one… As a translator we frequently get caught between our desire for each of the two: the desire to create the most theatrically rich and evocative translation of the original text (the beautiful but unfaithful translation) and, at the same time, to retain as much as possible of the original text’s “vision” (i.e., going with the faithful, but maybe “duller” translation). On top of creating something “beautiful”, a translator’s task is to remain “invisible” to the target audience—after all, the translated play should never sound like a translation, but just like a foreign play in a language we understand. Also, as a translator of a play from a language that’s foreign within the receiving culture, one is almost automatically taking on the tasks of the dramaturg: that is, researching the cultural context of the source text, verifying facts and meanings of specific expressions and terms, searching for historical context that might explain vocabulary and determine your translation choices.

Liv Stein: Nicola Correia Damude, Caroline Gillis, Leslie Hope

I have found that there are two sets of challenges in translating plays for a foreign audience: first, conveying the stylistic/linguistic qualities of the original language, and second, communicating the cultural specificities of the world of the play. Another great image I have heard translators use is that of the iceberg: the visible tip of the iceberg is the textual translation of a play; what’s underneath the surface is the “cultural underbelly” that needs to be moved as well—moved into the target culture in this case. To get even more specific, I would define the different levels of translating for the stage as the following six categories: grammatical specificities; tone; puns, idioms, neologisms; sound and rhythm (which mostly comes down to the ratio between vowels, consonants and syllables); performative solutions; and social/cultural connotations.

You have to investigate: Are the characters speaking in an ironic tone, with dry humor, very colloquial, or very flowery? To what effect, dramaturgically? How do they differ amongst each other? How important is that for the storytelling? Since a lot of the syntax and rhythm is different in German and English a translator has to find different tools in the English language to recreate the original’s tone and emotional impact. Often, a sentence, even a whole speech, have to be re-organized and in part re-written in English to aim at the original’s effect, or to recreate the qualities the characters display in their original language.

Similarly, the world of a play is in part constructed by the specific cultural markers of the play’s origin: those might be places, names of public personalities, historical references, idioms, even certain foods, musical references or architectural details. In a German play, these may have meaning for a German audience but may be largely unknown to a Canadian audience. In such cases, it is up to both translator and director to decide which of these references are necessary for an understanding of the play. Those that are necessary should therefore either be replaced by equivalents found in Canadian culture, or explained by additional information inserted in the translation. If it is essential to keep the geographic and cultural world of the play intact, the translator retains the original’s “exoticisms” but runs the risk of having some audiences guessing about the meaning of certain details in the play—which could potentially make us lose the audience’s attention.

4- Please speak about your objectives with your translation of Liv Stein.

The world of Liv Stein is contemporary. To premiere it in Toronto, our overall goal was to make the play accessible in its language (as mentioned before, we wanted the hint of artificiality in the characters to be kept at a minimum) so that audiences are intrigued but willing to follow the slightly eccentric story and its larger-than-life personnel and take their issues seriously. We also decided to keep the geographical and cultural context vague; this was possible without changing any specific names or places or other markers of culture and place (which is rather rare, in my experience). In other words: The setting in the original is a large urban centre in Germany, we assumed it was Berlin, but only once the name of a concrete address is mentioned, in the very last scene. The conservatory is mentioned and concert venues but none of them needs to be in a specific city, nor even necessarily in Germany. What’s important in the play is that the characters move with ease within an old, Western culture, an upper middle class world where classical music is part of the fabric of their upbringing and education, and where boarding schools are the elite’s option of the school system. We didn’t employ any dialects or local coloring at all—it’s like we’re watching characters in an unspecified Western city speaking in a Canadian English. I do believe the European roots of this story are pretty obvious, partly because of the natural relationship with the classical music genre that the characters demonstrate. But we don’t point them out in any design or language details.

The process of finalizing the translation contained many steps: I first delivered my own first draft to Matthew several months ago, based on my own understanding of Nino’s original text, in terms of humor, style, rhythm, atmosphere. Then we sat down together over several sessions and discussed anything Matthew challenged me on, and tried to find out what it was that suited both our perceptions of a given scene or moment best. That way a large part of dramaturgical investigation gets done as well—the digging for meaning and motivation, the analysis of dramatic tension and structure, etc. We also had a few questions for Nino to make sure we understood some details correctly.
With this preliminary “final” draft we then started the rehearsal process. During the following weeks, many little changes and edits and refinements were made in collaboration with the cast, while on their feet. There are things that only become clear once you see the story played out live in front of you. You really have to let go of the claim that it’s “your” work, your words—the translation quite literally becomes the work of the cast once they speak the words.

5–Is there a teacher or an influence you’d care to name that you especially admire?

Yes, there are several. Curiously, as a translator I have worked and practiced mostly on my own and have no direct role models to refer to. But I was very lucky and had almost exclusively bright, dedicated professors during my formal education, both at Munich University,where I studied Dramaturgy, and at the University of Toronto. I think very fondly of these formative first years in Toronto as a PhD student in Drama; I was given a lot of freedom to follow my interests, both academically and practically. That’s where I also tried out directing and translating for the first time; I haven’t undergone formal training in either. Then I continued to learn from theatre-makers across the country and abroad: Electric Company’s Kim Collier, as well as Stockholm’s Riksteatern’s Josette Bushell-Mingo, both brilliant creators, were the two first female directors whose work encouraged me to think truly big and bold, who love imagistic theatre and don’t shy away from technical challenges. Josette is also a gifted dramaturg and a political force, at home in many cultures, innovative and fierce. Peter Hinton’s views on directing, especially on directing Shakespeare, have also strongly shaped my thinking about the craft. He’s someone I can listen to for hours on end and be inspired and learn from. And of course, Stratford Festival’s Antoni Cimolino and Canadian Stage’s Matthew Jocelyn, both of whom I have worked withover the past six or so years, are artists and leaders I highly respect as colleagues, and who I’ve regarded as mentors for years now.

Matthew Jocelyn

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Canadian Stage presents Liv Stein by Nino Haratischwili, from January 26 – February 12.

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