Since I am such a Handel fanatic, Opera Atelier’s new production of Acis and Galatea immediately drew my attention. How could it not? With some truly inspirational music, wonderful singers and players, and the company’s long-standing presence as a forerunner of Baroque opera in this city, all the ingredients were present to ensure a memorable evening. [...]
Posts under ‘vox populi’
Our first Vox courtesy of Diana Wiley…
The voices are beautiful and the music so beautiful that you don’t want the songs to end. The singer/actors look the part of divine lovers and act their roles so convincingly that you will be truly moved by their plight. Even the monster is portrayed with enough complexity (mostly through the gorgeous music that pours [...]
Short and Sweet…
Opera Atelier’s new production of The Marriage of Figaro is visually stunning (both Gerard Gauci’s set design and Martha Mann’s costumes are dazzling), funny, irreverent, contemporary and wonderfully choreographed and acted – a great night of music and laughter. Ian Kyer
Vox Populi Returns
I am delighted to welcome our guest blogger designer, Rosemarie Umetsu. Here are her thoughts on this astonishing production of Figaro. Opera Atelier’s Figaro established last night that one can never have too much of a good thing. The arguably ‘perfect’ opera buffa soars to heights that are a feast for the senses, soul and [...]
Is it just me or should we all be outraged…Jim M comments about Iphigenie
Is it just me or should we all be outraged that in this day and age a columnist can apparently get away with the super-charged, coded language of 1950’s-era homophobia that was used in the Toronto Star review of Iphigenie? “All well and good but Pynkoski also sees fit to decorate the stage with fit, [...]
Is there a by-law that prohibits standing ovations at the Elgin? Patron Richard Rix on Iphigenie
Is there a by-law that prohibits standing ovations at the Elgin? During this past week I saw both COC’s Madama Butterfly and Atelier’s Iphigénie. Butterfly was solid; Iphigénie was outstanding. But while Butterfly got the crowd on its feet, Iphigénie left the audience, though warmly appreciative, firmly rooted to its seats. I can only assume [...]
A post from Karin Michael
There was nothing to complain about, an over all beautiful production, good voices, lovely staging, cute dancers! Would Herr Gluck have liked the production? I was visualizing a performance 300 years ago but could not compare it with O.A’s rendition. Looking forward to Mozart. Congratulations Karin Michael
Happy to have you Susan!
I enjoyed the Sunday performance so much that I am seeing it again on Friday. It was superb. Bravi to Opera Atelier artists! Susan K.
Iphigénie en Tauride: Sublime Perfection from Opera Atelier by Brian Hay
This production was as close to being perfect as a production can be. The work itself (by Christoph Willibald Gluck) is obscure but seeing it presented proves that it shouldn’t be. The story (adapted by François Guillard) has all the elements of a classical Greek Tragedy. Much of the music Gluck wrote for it is [...]
There’s something appealing about large swaths of silk – by Kimberly Barber
There’s something appealing about large swaths of silk billowing across the stage–in this case it looked like rivers of deep red blood, setting up the scene nicely for the cascade of bloodshed to follow (whether on or off-stage). Such touches gave Gerard Gauci’s set design a flowing energy, which melted into the exquisite classical lines of the [...]