Tag Archives: Maria Callas

SOLO Traviata in Burlington

Last night was the boldest step forward yet for Southern Ontario Lyric Opera (SOLO), performing a fully staged La Traviata before a rapturous sold-out audience at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC). I’ve been observing the artistic version of the … Continue reading

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Philadelphia pairs from Jonathan Demme

We watched Philadelphia (1993) last night for the first time in awhile. I’m just writing this to call attention to a pattern I think I’ve observed in the work of director Jonathan Demme. I haven’t seen all of his films, … Continue reading

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Maria by Callas at TIFF

Tonight I saw Tom Volf’s 2017 documentary Maria by Callas at TIFF. With the exception of a brief interview with her singing teacher Elvira de Hidalgo, the film is entirely an account of Maria Callas in her own words, that … Continue reading

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Faster, Higher, Stronger

Is it a competition?  To some extent. Both Richard Wagner & Claude Debussy used the metaphor of the circus acrobat to describe the virtuoso dynamic with an appreciative audience.  Whether we’re speaking of singers or instrumentalists, there is an implicit … Continue reading

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10 Questions for Simone Osborne

Simone Osborne  will be taking the lead role of Gilda in the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto in September 2011.  I ask her ten questions: five about her and five about her upcoming role. 1) Which … Continue reading

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