Canadian Opera Company Announcement

Against a snowy backdrop at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in The Four Seasons Centre, the COC dropped a bit of a surprise announcement into their 2009-2010 Season unveiling when General Director Alexander Neef introduced the company's new Musical Director, Conductor Johannes Debus.

Apparently Debus's time at the helm of the COC Orchestra during War And Peace was a great experience for all involved, to the point where Neef decided to cut short the process of Musical Director selection, expected to take up to two years, and offered the position to Debus immediately.

"Finding a music director has been my priority from the moment I was appointed General Director. It’s a crucial position for a company with an orchestra and chorus of such a high calibre and one that has been without a musical leader for over a year," said Alexander Neef. "Watching Johannes throughout War and Peace, I realised that we not only had a remarkable talent here, but one who has truly exceptional chemistry with the performers. I decided to act quickly instead of putting the company through a long wait without a musical leader. Johannes’s background and training is without parallel, and he has a very rare rapport with the musicians and the whole company. We have caught him on the verge of a great career and we are lucky that he was able to make himself available as soon as next season."

It's a bold move that ensures that Debus, who would have been near the top of the selection committee’s picks anyway, is not committed to other projects that might have hindered his availability for the top slot.

And it seemed a popular decision with the crowd of subscribers at the press conference who applauded the announcement heartily (there were even a couple Bravos thrown in) in a warm welcome to the company.

And Mr. Debus seemed equally pleased to be in Toronto, at the helm of an excellent orchestra, playing in one of the most highly regarded halls in the world.

"I cannot tell you how delighted and honoured I am to be appointed as the Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company," said Mr. Debus. "The two months last fall in Toronto and my experiences with everyone at the COC have been so positive that I felt at home immediately. War and Peace was such a wonderful production and the orchestra and chorus so fine that I am sure the next few years will exceed even my highest expectations. I can’t wait to get started!"

As for the coming season next year, there are some really exciting developments not the least of which is the inclusion of Puccinni's Madama Butterfly, a production potentially so popular the COC has double cast it in order to do twice the number of performances, and the return of Robert Lepage to the COC stage.

The 60th anniversary season opens with a revival of Giacomo Puccini’s treasured masterpiece Madama Butterfly.

A favourite amongst audiences, Madama Butterfly is the story of Cio-Cio-San (Butterfly), a young geisha who marries an American naval officer only to be deserted when he takes an American wife. Her hope for his eventual return and her longing for a lifetime together, make the opera’s tragic ending even more heartbreaking.

The cast is led by Romanian soprano Adina Nitescu and former COC Ensemble Studio soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah as the innocent Cio-Cio-San.

Madama Butterfly runs for 15 performances on September 26, 29, 30, October 8, 10, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, and November 3, 2009 and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES


The fall season continues with a world premiere of visionary Canadian director Robert Lepage’s new creation of Stravinsky’s works – The Nightingale and Other Short Fables.

Mr. Lepage returns to the COC for the first time since the 1993 award-winning production of Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung, considered to be "one of the COC’s finest achievements" (Opera).

The Nightingale and Other Short Fables includes The Nightingale, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale, as well as the folk-based melodies of his darkly comic barnyard fable The Fox, and the jazz-tinged orchestral piece, Ragtime.

This co-production with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Opéra national de Lyon, in collaboration with Robert Lepage’s production company Ex Machina, draws on storytelling traditions from both ancient and contemporary culture, incorporating the charm and mystery of southeast-Asian puppetry.
Making her COC debut as the devoted Nightingale is Russian sensation, soprano Olga Peretyatko.
Ms Peretyatko began her singing career with the Hamburg State Opera, and in 2007 was awarded the second prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. The Fisherman, is sung by German tenor Lothar Odinius, and the Emperor is sung by bass Ilya Bannik.

The Nightingale and Other Short Fables runs October 17, 20, 22, 24, 30, and November 1, 4, 5, 2009 and is sung in Russian with English SURTITLES


Opening the winter run is a COC revival of one of the world’s most popular operas, Georges Bizet’s Carmen.

A tantalizing masterpiece of lyric theatre, Carmen is a tragic love story about the alluring gypsy’s seduction of a young soldier.

Carmen is a co-production with Opéra de Montréal and San Diego Opera, and runs January 27, 30, February 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, and 27, 2010 and is sung in French with English SURTITLES


One of Giuseppe Verdi’s penultimate operas, and considered by many to be his greatest tragedy, Otello continues the winter season.

Based on the Shakespearean tragedy, Othello, a former slave has risen to the rank of general and has found love with his devoted wife, Desdemona. Iago, Otello’s lieutenant, plays on Otello’s main weakness, jealousy, and manipulates him causing Otello to lose everything.

Otello runs February 3, 6, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 28, 2010 and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES


A revival of Richard Wagner’s haunting music drama, The Flying Dutchman opens the COC’s spring season.

The story of a ship captain condemned by Satan to sail for eternity until he finds salvation in the unconditional love of a woman, is set to some of Wagner’s most gloriously romantic music.

The Flying Dutchman runs April 24, 28, May 2, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20, 2010 and is sung in German with English SURTITLES


Continuing the spring season is a COC premiere and Canada’s first fully-staged production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda.

Based on Schiller’s play, Donizetti draws from the historical conflicts between Mary, Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

Maria Stuarda, a Dallas Opera production, runs May 1, 4, 10, 13, 22, 26, 28, and 30, 2010 and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES


The 2009/10 season closes with a new production of Mozart’s early masterpiece Idomeneo.

Idomeneo, King of Crete, returns home following victory in the Trojan War, when a sudden and violent storm overpowers his ship. He is saved by Neptune, God of the Sea, and in exchange for his life, rashly promises to sacrifice the first mortal he meets, but, when safe on shore he is horrified to encounter his only, and much-loved son Idamante.

Idomeneo is a co-production with Opéra national du Rhin, and runs May 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, 27, and 29, 2010 and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES

Photo copyright Torontowide.com. All rights reserved.

Toronto Dance Theatre @ The Fleck

Choreographer Christopher House is back with his new production, Dis/(sol/ver) - what is with dance companies and playing with the cap locks/keyboard symbols? - running at the Fleck Dance Theatre, formerly Premiere Dance Theatre, from Nov. 18 until Sat. Nov. 22

It's a georgeous production to look at with warm overhead lighting and earth tone textured banners hanging floor to ceiling in the background.
As far as the dance itself, I had a chance to see in it's entirety last night.
Really interesting performance as couples come together repeatedly during the piece only to have one partner disolve in the arms of the other by melting slowly to the floor.
Over and over the elusive embrace fails while dancers come together to link up in a weaving line that spins off more disolving couples.
It's really quite beautiful, reflected in the intensity with which the audience was watching. Absolute silence.
It's as if you are seeing people's romantic history replayed in fast motion. False starts, tentative or awkward moments, relationships that last for a brief time and then disolve, as the dancers cross the stage in random patterns intersecting, coupling, moving on.

I'm not nearly qualified to critique, other than to say that as an average enthusiast I found it very interesting.

Of course, at the photo shoot, I was watching it through a viewfinder, where your major pre-occupation is making compositional sense within a defined rectangular area while maintaining a focusing point on the subject. But even with all the distractions, it looked good.

And shooting dance is always entertaining.

For this one they did two run-throughs of a two minute segment of the show.
Hoping for greatness here is like expecting a front page sports shot from just two sequences of downs at an Argos football game.

Same amount of chaos, same 'where the heck is this going next' seat of the pants thrill ride.

Of course dance company's are as media savvy as any other arts organization, it's just the high cost of having the theatre for rehearsal means they have to be brief with the photo ops, as they have other business to get through in preparation for opening night.

I did the shoot two ways.

First time through - where I'm half shooting it, half watching to see what the overall form of the piece is going to be - I was right up at the lip of the stage, at floor level, an angle I really like for group shots, especially if they come really close to the camera.

The second run-through I was back more and standing. I was going to switch to the 50-200mm and follow just one dancer through the piece, but decided to play it safe and stick with the 12-60mm.

Toronto Dance Theatre is one of the best dance companies in the city, Dis/(sol/ver) is a new, unseen work, and the cost of admission is as low as $20 per ticket.

As a date night contender it's a production that will stimulate your senses, spur discussion afterwards, and within the newly renovated Fleck Dance theatre you'll be treated to a classy evening all round.

All photos shot with the Olympus E3 @ 1600 ISO and copyright Torontowide.com

Fashion Cares 2008

After last year's 'Disaster in the Distillery' - an event characterized by women shivering in their best gowns in the cold May weather, snapped stilhettos, and a limp, uninspired stage show - the brain trust at Fashion Cares went on a bit of a hiatus, shifting the event to The Fall, and doing a re-think on the changes that had been made.

For this year's Fashion Cares the event was back in the comfortable confines of the Convention Centre and once again the show's emphasis was fashion mixed with outstanding musical guests. Phillip Ing is back as the creative director of the show that has become one of the stellar stand-outs in the fashion season.

This year the musical guests were Caty 'I kissed a girl' Perry, Canadian singer Kreesha Turner, and Dame Shirley Bassey with a 31 piece orchestra.

Photos from the red carpet at the beginning of the night.

Kreesha Turner was moving in and out of a dramatic pool of spill light all during one of her TV interviews. I never did catch her exactly right, but the lighting is still more expressive and three dimensional than the usual flat flash-on-camera red carpet effect.

Olympus E3, 50-200mm 2.8 lens, fill light from the FL50 flash minus one stop.

A funny moment.

We're shooting Caty Perry on the red carpet, and I'm beside well known cross-dressing columnist Enza Supermodel, who as usual has the full hair and makeup going.
Enza gets her to come over and starts whispering in Caty's ear, who's grinning going along with him. I don't know what Enza said next but all of a sudden she jumps back and blurts out "Oh my God! You're a man!"
And Enza without skipping a beat says "I'm not a man ... I'm a supermodel!"
Everyone cracked right up.

I think that was wee Caty's first intimation that this wasn't going to be her average gig :)

Here, Doug catches the moment of her realisation.

A highlight of the evening was the performance of Dame Shirley Bassie, seen here arriving for the show. She looks great, and sounded great never missing a note while filling the hall with classic 60's songs driven by her powerful voice.

Although it got off to a slow start, the show was up to previous standards mixing a Cirque du Soleil sensibility with outstanding contributions from local designers.

Photos from the show, beginning with the Haloween-themed opening, and including dancers from the National Ballet.

Proceeds from the evening go to fund AIDS research.

Photos copyright Torontowide.com. All rights reserved