Tag Archives: Opera in Concert

TOT: A Waltz Dream

Insights sometimes sneak up on you. I was blind-sided by one today watching the Toronto Operetta Theatre Canadian premiere production of Oscar Straus’ A Waltz Dream at St Lawrence Centre. TOT play an important role offering local artists a place … Continue reading

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Florence: The Lady with The Lamp

Opera in Concert resumed live performance Sunday afternoon with their first of Three Extraordinary Women, namely Florence: the Lady with the Lamp, composed by Timothy Sullivan and with libretto by Anne Mcpherson, an interesting balance between the contemporary and the … Continue reading

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Voicebox Adriana Lecouvreur

What is the point posting a review when the run is over? My motto is borrowed from the Hippocratic Oath, namely “above all do no harm,” if that tells you anything. Some of the voices sounded better than others, some … Continue reading

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Two Voices juxtaposed by Opera in Concert

The one act play La Voix Humaine was written by Jean Cocteau in 1928. The one act opera La Voix Humaine based on that play was composed by Francis Poulenc in 1958. Each one is a monodrama, presented by a … Continue reading

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Fierabras in concert

Voicebox /Opera in Concert offered a highlight in a splendid week of music theatre in Toronto, reminding us of why they are such a crucial part of the mix in this city with their concert performance of Schubert’s Fierabras today.  Hook … Continue reading

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Salieri’s Falstaff: first time in Canada

To most people Antonio Salieri is unknown except as the older composer associated with Mozart in Amadeus, perhaps best captured in this little clip from Milos Forman’s 1983 film. Of course the way that story is told is a cruel … Continue reading

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Opera in Concert Hippolyte et Aricie

Today I took the road less traveled. At the same time as the Canadian Opera Company opened their new production of Un ballo in maschera, in the afternoon before the Superbowl, Opera in Concert took us in a less popular … Continue reading

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Gloriana

It’s such a privilege to see a rare work.  Whatever else I might say about the Voicebox/Opera in Concert presentation of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana on the occasion of the composer’s centennial, I’m thankful for this encounter with the score. This … Continue reading

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10 Questions for Guillermo Silva-Marin

The most influential man on the Toronto opera scene?  That would be Guillermo Silva-Marin.  His biographer and collaborator Henry Ingram put it this way: Singer, teacher, director, producer, impresario, musician…each of these words describes Guillermo Silva-Marin and sometimes he is … Continue reading

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Stuart Hamilton: Opening Windows

I don’t believe there’s anyone who was involved in more aspects of Canadian operatic performance than Stuart Hamilton.  I say “was” because many of those are in the past now, but even so, let’s make a list. Hamilton founded Opera … Continue reading

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