LA BOHÈME - REVIEW OF CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Canadian Opera Company has brought back John Caird’s 2013 production of La Bohème for its spring season, together with Verdi’s Otello. It is a sound decision that was greeted enthusiastically by the audience.

The revival is served superbly by the cast. Brazilian tenor Atalla Ayan has a supple voice that can express emotion and soar to the high notes with ease. The night I saw the opera (April 26), we were advised that he was singing Rodolfo under the effects of a cold. There was no evidence of any adverse consequences and his performance was topnotch. After the tomfoolery of the poor artists in the attic and the arrival of Mimi, Ayan delivers a superb “Che gelida manina” combining youthful bravado with a wonderful melody and we were hooked. 

A scene from the Canadian Opera Company’s production of 

La Bohème, 2019, photo: Michael Cooper

American soprano Angel Blue seemed initially not to have a big enough voice for the Four Seasons Centre but that impression was quickly dispelled. She starts haltingly with “Si, Mi chiamano Mimi” and pours forth her life leading to the inevitable – love. The one, two, three punch comes with the love duet between Rodolfo and Mimi, “O soave fanciulla,” and we got our money’s worth. The rest is a bonus.

Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman manages to sound sultry as Musetta, the teaser and abuser of men who has a heart of gold. Her signature aria is her “Quando m’envo” better known as Musetta’s waltz and Chuchman brings the vocal kick and manipulative bravura worthy of the show-stopper aria.

Rodolfo’s three friends deserve special mention. American baritone Lucas Meachem as the painter Marcello was vocally the most distinguished of the trio. He showed exuberance in his acting and singing as a sympathetic friend and the hapless former lover of Musetta. American bass-baritone Brandon Cedel was good as the philosopher Colline and Canadian baritone Phillip Addis as the musician Schaunard sounded as if he were not having his best day. 

Lucas Meachem as Marcello, Angel Blue as Mimì (in background), and 

Atalla Ayan as Rodolfo. Photo: Michael Cooper

David Farley’s set featured a hefty number of large canvasses in the first act. The set was turned around quickly for the scene change from the attic to a street in the Latin Quarter for the second act. The background was not well-lit nor a particularly prepossessing street scene but otherwise it was quite good. The third act scene by a tavern near the city gates at dawn looked somber. It is supposed to be snowing but, we had to settle for a few snowflakes. Clearly we have more important things to do like listening to the heart-wrenching Marcello-Mimi duet and her farewell to Rodolfo. Marvelously done.

John Caird took a conservative, traditional approach to the opera and it works superbly in the revival directed by Katherine M Carter.

Paolo Carigniani conducted the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra in a performance that got a well-deserved standing ovation. 

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La Bohème  by Giacomo Puccini with libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica opened on April 17 and will be performed ten times on various dates until May 22, 2019 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Tel: 416-363-6671. www.coc.ca

IDOMENEO - REVIEW OF OPERA ATELIER PRODUCTION

James Karas

Torontonians have an unusual luxury this time of the year. They can see a play about the beginning of the Trojan War and an opera about events at the end of that great, mythical conflict. You remember the 1000 ships moored in the harbour of Aulis ready to rescue the gorgeous Helen, Queen of Sparta from the nefarious Trojans? Small problem: no wind to help them sail across the Aegean. Solution: sacrifice the daughter of King Agamemnon. So goes Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis as adapted by Sina Gilani as Wedding at Aulis for Soulpepper.

At the end of the war, Idomeneus, King of Crete, is returning from the war but the sea god Neptune causes a storm that threatens to swallow the king.  Solution: Idomeneus promises to sacrifice the first person he sees in Crete if his life is spared. Neptune agrees and the first person the king sees is his son. So, we start with human sacrifice of a daughter and end with the sacrifice of a son. A good plot for Mozart’s opera seria Idomeneo.   

 Measha Brueggergosman, Wallis Giunta, Meghan Lindsay and 

Colin Ainsworth. Photo Bruce Zinger

Opera Atelier holds the distinction of giving the first production of Idomeneo in North America on period instruments back in 2008. What was good then is even better now. Director Marshall Pynkoski with Set Designer Gerard Gauci and Costume Designer Marco Gianfrancesco set the opera in its 18^th century roots as a work of beauty, elegance and grace. Choreographer Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg and the Artists of Atelier Ballet add to these attributes so that the entire production, in addition to all its operatic and balletic qualities, becomes a visual delight. 

Mozart is an equal opportunity composer who provides virtual concert pieces for the main characters of the opera. The cast is exemplary starting with Opera Atelier stalwart, tenor Colin Ainsworth as the unfortunate Idomeneo. He is a haunted man who has made a terrible choice. Ainsworth has a finely tuned voice and his Idomeneo expresses vocal finesse and delivery of character as much as is permitted in opera seria.

His son Idamante, the intended sacrifice to Neptune, is sung by mezzo soprano Wallis Giunta. The role was written for a castrato but is frequently sung by a tenor. It can be done quite well by a mezzo soprano and Giunta with her lovely voice gives a marvelous performance as the prince who is loved by two women.

 

Wallis Giunta and Meghan Lindsay. Photo: Bruce Zinger

The lushly voiced and dramatic Measha Brueggergosman is back as the love-struck but ill-fated Electra. She is in love with Idamante, but he is in love with someone else. She goes from passion to being unhinged as she realizes that she is the loser of the love triangle.

Soprano Meghan Lindsay runs away with kudos for her performance as the Trojan princess Ilia. She is brought to Crete as a trophy and then falls in love with her owner. We hear her pain and her love in a vocally and theatrically superb performance.

Opera Atelier usually performs at the gorgeous Elgin Theatre but they have been squeezed out of there and sent to the Ed Mirvish Theatre up the street. It is not made for opera and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra was hemmed in around the stage looking a bit uncomfortable. That appearance was not reflected in their playing under the baton of David Fallis.

Idomeneo is based on a less than satisfactory libretto by a cleric named Giovanni Battista Varesco and its form of opera seria does not help it. But despite those shortcomings, Opera Atelier has managed one more time to give us a production that is a feast for the eyes, a banquet for the ears and ambrosia for the soul. A highly civilized evening at the opera. 

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Idomeneo by W. A. Mozart, presented by Opera Atelier, is being presented between April 4 to 13, 2019 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre 244 Victoria St. Toronto, Ontario. www.operaatelier.com