LA REINE-GARÇON – REVIEW OF 2025 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

The Canadian Opera Company and Opéra de Montréal have very commendably commissioned an opera composed by Julien Bilodeau to a libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard. Both are Quebecois and the opera premiered in Montreal last year.

Opera companies commission work and that creates some excitement with the hope that a new opera will join the standard repertoire. Unfortunately, many of them are never seen again and a few may be produced again but nothing comes close to gaining a regular spot like the operas of Verdi and Puccini. One can only hope that La Reine-garçon will be seen many times in the future. 

La Reine-garçon has a delicious score that is melodic, finely-textured, diverse and simply gorgeous. The COC Orchestra under Johannes Debus gives a splendid accounting of the music.

The singing is first rate starting with Canadian soprano Kirsten MacKinnon as Christine. She has mastered the manly gait as we assume it was how the boy-queen walked and she sings with uncommon splendor. We feel her uncertainties about love and passion but we also see her succumb to lesbian attraction. MacKinnon handles Christine’s high notes with ease and the beauty of her voice is unfailing.

Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly is wise and solid as Count Karl Gustav as is bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Axel Oxenstierna. Tenor Isaiah Bell sings the clownish, narcissistic Johan Oxenstierna. Perhaps one too many Click, Clacks but a fine performance. Canadian Owen McCausland is the wise Descartes who delivers his wisdom in a beautiful tenor voice and gives an anatomy lesson on the brain.

Christine is pursued and propositioned by men but the only sexual contact (a passionate kiss) is with Countess Ebba Sparre (Queen Hezumuryango). And what are all those stags on stage? Do they represent Christine’s sexual dreams?

Kirsten MacKinnon as Christine in COC production.

Photo: Michael Cooper

There is an offstage singer listed in the program as Chant Kulning (Anne-Marie Beaudette) who emits a falsetto scream in the opening scene and afterwards. I could not figure what it was and guessed it might be a wolf’s cry because we were out in the snow. She returned for further screams and whatever she was supposed to be escaped me except that it was annoying.

La Reine-garçon or the boy-queen refers to Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) and had she lived in the twenty-first century she would have qualified for one or more letters of LGBTQ+. Her father raised her as if she were a boy and her gait and mannerisms were male. But he died when she was age seven and she did not gain the throne until her teens. At age 24 she abdicated, converted to Catholicism and moved to Rome where she lived until 1689.

Her life has fired up the Western imagination and she has been portrayed in films, plays and fiction. Her sexual proclivities may have gone in several directions but the interest in her lies more in her artistic interests including her patronage of musicians, artists and opera.

If she ditched the throne in exercise of her free will as advised by Descartes, well and good. But if she converted to Catholicism, does it not mean she accepted the control of the church as in what to wear, eat and think? I suppose you can do that in exercise of free will.

There are things to quibble about with the libretto but the fact remains that this is an approachable and enjoyable opera at first hearing. The rich and varied sets by Anick La Bissonniere, the brilliant lighting design by Eric Champoux and the rich projections by Alexandre Desjardin add to a marvelous production.

And top marks to director Angela Konrad for putting the whole thing together from a theatrical point of view.    
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La Reine-garçon by Julien Bilodeau (music) and Michel Marc Bouchard (libretto) continues until February 15,  2025 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. West Toronto, Ont. www.coc.ca

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

FIDELIO - REVIEW OF 2025 LIVE FROM THE MET PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Metropolitan Opera delivered a delectable production of Beethoven’s Fidelio from New York directly to a movie theatre near you and around the world. After seeing dozens of operas for more than a decade I am still pleasantly surprised every time to see a production on a big screen with marvelous acoustics and comfort. There are many advantages to seeing a transmission live from New York, but I will say more about it below.

The current production is a revival of a staging by Jurgen Flimm that was first seen in 2000. At times there is pressure to shelve the old for something new, but when it is good and fills the house, why bother?

The production has a first-rate cast starting with the lead role of Leonore who of course pretends to be Fidelio and disguised as a man works in a jail where her husband is held as a political prisoner. A very pregnant soprano Lise Davidsen brings a superb voice and acting ability to the role. She must hide her sex and her feelings, first, to avoid the love and marriage prospects to Marzelline, the warden Rocco’s daughter. (Don’t worry about the title) and when she sees her husband Florestan at the point of death in the hideous dungeon. Davidsen has the vocal range and beauty to do a superb job in the role.

Bass Rene Pape sang the role of Rocco in the 2000 production and many times since. In the first act it is a comic role with a twist where, as a father he wants to see his daughter marry Fidelio, the nice new worker, and he gives advice about the need for money. Rocco must stand his aground when he is told to kill Florestan, and his role becomes more serious. Pape has a fine bass voice and handles the role with aplomb.

We love his daughter Marzelline who is lively, pretty and in love. Soprano Ying Fang in the role must rebuff Jaquino, who is persistent to the point of becoming annoying in his marriage proposals. She wants to marry Fidelio, and we know where that is going. Fang has a sweet and agile voice that matches her physical quickness to give us a splendid Marzelline. 

Scene from “Fidelio” at the Met. Photo: Karen Almond, Met Opera

We feel sorry for the persistent and rebuffed Jaquino, but Flimm does provide hope for him. Tenor Magnus Dietrich handles the role of the rejected lover well.

We have the baddy Don Pizzaro who is crooked and vengeful and wants to liquidate Florestan. Tomasz Konieczny in a fine suit (it’s a modern dress production) looks like a bank manager but is quickly revealed as corrupt, remorseless and evil Pizarro who will stop at nothing to eliminate his enemy. Cringe.

The imprisoned Florestan (tenor David Butt Philip) for whom Leonore risks everything is the focal point of the opera, but he appears only in the second act (and changes the tenor of the opera completely) and he does have some tough arias to handle. As soon as he comes-to from near death Philip as Florestan, following a tense musical introduction, delivers “Gott! Welch’Dunkel Hier”. The aria demands range, stamina, power and expressiveness that approach heldentenor ability. Philip is not in that company, but he does sing the aria superbly.

The men of the Met Opera Chorus do their usual superb work as the prisoners. In the final scene the women join them when the prisoners are freed and are presumably joined by their families, including their children.

Susann Malkki conducted the Met Opera Orchestra with beautiful clarity. Robert Israel designed the set which shows two-stories of jail cells on the right with Rocco’s living area in the middle and entrances and exits for all on the left side.

The hosts of Live from the Met in HD for the movie theater audiences always remind us that seeing opera on a large screen is nothing compared to going to Lincoln Center or an opera house near you. There is truth in that but there are some advantages to seeing it on the large screen. The camera zeroes in on the orchestra during the overture and you get an excellent view of its orchestration as they focus on the instruments.

In the beginning Marzelline makes it clear that she does not want to marry Jaquino but in the last scene, during the celebration of the freeing of the prisoners, the camera, Live in HD Director Gary Halvorson shows us Jaquino and Marzelline being reconciled. We may not notice that and many other details in the opera house, least of all in the huge Lincoln Centre. In other words, there is much to be said for watching Live from the Met in a movie theatre.

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Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven was shown Live in HD from the Met at select Cineplex theatres across Canada on March 15, 2025. For more information go to: www.cineplex.com/events

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press

DAVID AND JONATHAN - REVIEW OF 2025 OPERA ATELIER PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

The cover of the program of Opera Atelier’s production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s  David and Jonathan shows a shot of Michelangelo’s statue of David,  surely the ultimate definition of male beauty and virility. David is best known as the slayer of the brute Goliath and as one of the early kings of Israel. The opera has almost nothing to do with the fight with the Philistine  Goliath but that seems to be the reason for the unknown David gaining a position in the royal household and developing a strong friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan.

Marshal Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, the artistic directors of Opera Atelier have done a brilliant job of recreating the opera and providing us with a stunning production. They have included the Artists of the Atelier Ballet and the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir (and of course the Tafelmusik orchestra) to enrich the production. Ms Lajeunesse Zingg’s judicious and splendid choreography introduces almost a ballet performance and the Chamber Choir adds a gorgeous vocal pleasure.

The biblical story from the book of Samuel involves the complex psychological story of King Saul (baritone David Witczak) who takes the unknown David (tenor Colin Ainsworth) into his household for the good reason that he killed Goliath. David develops a deep and everlasting friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan (soprano Mireille Asselin).

Baritone David Witczak as Saul and tenor Colin Ainsworth as David in 

Charpentier's David and Jonathan. Photo by Bruce Zinger

Saul becomes jealous of David’s popularity and in the Prologue to the opera consults the witch Pythonisse (mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel) about his future. She conjures up the ghost of Saul’s predecessor Samuel (bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus) who prophesies that Saul will lose everything.

The Pynkoski-Zingg team waste no time in setting a brisk pace with Saul running frantically around a lively witch and her demons commanding the stage for the duration of her presence.

David goes back to the Philistine ranks. Joabel (tenor Antonin Rondepierre), the leader of their army wants war while Saul and King Achis (baritone Christpher Dunham) of the  Philistines negotiate peace. Joabel finds a way to inflame Saul’s anger, mistrust and jealousy against David and an inevitable explosion occurs. The opera has an astonishing web of emotional entanglements that add to its fascination. Saul loves his son and David but then he hates the latter and is upset with the former. There is emotional stress and psychological uncertainty among the characters.

Artists of Atelier Ballet in production of Charpentier's 

David and Jonathan. Photo by Bruce Zinger

The emotional and political intrigues come to a head when the Israelites and the Philistines go to all-out war. David and Jonathan, the best and most faithful friends in the world, part. Jonathan and Saul are seriously wounded. Jonathan dies in the arms of his friend while Saul falls on his sword. Amid the horror and the slaughter, there is a glimpse of good news. David is proclaimed King of Israel. The Pynkoski-Zingg fertile imagination, their sense of theatre and their inventiveness create a stunning opera. Some directors feel that deep friendship between two men must have a homoerotic element to it. Pynkoski, to his credit, does not fall for that trap.

The production is a continuous visual and vocal delight. There are gorgeous ballet sequences at regular intervals and the Chamber Choir, I repeat,  is an aural splendor. The costumes by Michael Gianfranco are a colorful pleasure to behold. The set by Gerard Gauci in the reconfigured stage of Koerner Hall is an added bonus.

Ainsworth and Asselin are Opera Atelier stars whereas Witczak and Dunham are with the company for the first time. Hegedus, Lebel and Rondepierre have sung various roles with Opera Atelier. Kudos to exceptional performances.

David Fallis conducted the Tafelmusik orchestra impeccably and they and the cast provided a superb evening at the opera.      
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David and Jonathan by Marc-Antoine Charpentier opened on April 9 and will continue until April 13, 2025, at Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performing Arts, 273 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ont.   

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Greek Press