EUGENE ONEGIN – REVIEW OF 2026 LIVE IN HD FROM THE MET PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The bad news is that New York’s Metropolitan Opera has a deficit of $30 million for the 2025 -2026 season that nears its end. The good news is that we are still able to see some Live from the Met in HD transmissions. The latest one was Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in a revival of Deborah Warner’s 2013 production. It represented the 165^th performance of the opera at the Met.

The production boasts a first-rate cast with soprano Asmik Grigorian as Tatiana and baritone Iurii Samoilov as Onegin. Tatiana is the young, impressionable girl living on the family estate, mostly reading books. She goes for a walk with the dashing Onegin and falls passionately in love with him. We do not see the walk. Tatana wants to tell Onegin that she loves him so she spends a night composing a letter to him. Alas, Onegin rebuffs her, ever so politely.

She grows up, marries a decent aristocrat and in the end sends Onegin packing when he tries to get her to leave her husband. She may love him but she will not betray her husband,

That is the role that Grigorian must fulfil. The letter scene is the heart of the opera and         she delivers the fears, doubts, love and passion demanded. She sings beautifully and communicates all those emotions to the audience.

Asmik Grigorian, Maria Barakova, Iurii Samoilov, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac. 
Photo: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera

Samoilov has all the traits of a jerk but he comes out better than that perhaps because he appears to have matured. He dumped the innocent Tatiana and killed his friend in a duel after acting abominably towards him but we see him repentant.  There he is. Samoilov has a marvelous voice and he gives us a vocally splendid and theatrically credible Onegin.

Tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac sings the sympathetic role of the tragic poet Lenski, Onegin’s friend and dueling victim as well as Olga’s betrothed. He is decent but jealous and challenges Onegin to a duel. He sings the beautiful farewell aria with surpassing passion and beauty.

Tatiana’s sister Olga is sung by mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova. She is not a diehard romantic like her sibling and flirts with Onegin causing the duel. A fine performance. The lesser roles of Filippyevna (Larissa Diadkova), Prince Gremin (bass-baritone Alexander Tsymbalyuk) are sung splendidly.

Unfortunately, I cannot give the same praise to the set designed by Tom Pye and some of the blame must go to producer Deborah Warner unless she had no input in it. The opera is set on a large and wealthy estate. The opening scene takes place in an outside structure of the estate. It has dirty windows and I have no idea what Tatiana and Olga are doing there or what the building is supposed to be. The peasants enter through there so it can’t be part of the house but I did not like the drab look.

The second and all-important letter scene is set in Tatiana’s’ bedroom. There is no bed and she is writing the letter on the floor. I have no idea why. The ballroom in the house on the estate is not much better.

On to the palace of Prince Gremin, Tatiana’s husband. We have Greco-Roman columns (they always look impressive) but hardly beautiful, there is no ceiling and it looks like we are out in the open with a blue sky on top.

Maestro Timur Zangiev conducted Met Orchestra and Chorus in Tchaikovsky’s lush and beloved score.

Eugene Onegin by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (libretto by the composer and K. S. Shilovsky after Pushkin) was shown Live in HD on May 2, 2026, at the Cineplex Theatre, Shops at Don Mills, Toronto and other theatres across Canada. Encore showing on May 16, 2026. For more information go to: www.cineplex.com/events

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

BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE AND ERWARTUNG – REVIEW OF 2026 REVIVAL OF LEPAGE PRODUCTIONS

Reviewed by James Karas

The Canadian Opera Company in 1993 produced two infrequently staged operas, namely Bela Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Arnold Schoenberg’s ERWARTUNG. The director of both works was the inimitable Robert Lepage. The productions were reprised in 2015 and eleven years later they are back at the Four Seasons Centre with Francois Racine as the revival director.

Both one-acters are twentieth century operas and are a long way from Verdi and Puccini. Duke Bluebeard brings his new wife Judith to his dark and formidable castle. Before the curtain rises, they walk across the stage; he is dressed in a blue uniform and she is walking behind him in a trailing bridal gown. Then Set and Costume designer Michael Levine shows the newlywed couple in the long walls of the dark castle and the Duke asks her if she wants to go back to her family and her betrothed.

They address each other affectionately and she insists that she wants to stay because she loves him. She will change the cold castle into something warm, she says. She notices seven doors that are locked and wants to open them all.

American bass-baritone Christian van Horn is an upright and sonorous Bluebeard who is clearly hiding something but he expresses his love for Judith and tries to dissuade her from opening the seven doors that are represented by projected lights that resemble keyholes.

Karen Cargill and Christian van Horn in Bluebeard's Castle. 

Photo: Michael Cooper

Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill as Judith is a woman in love who has given up everything to be with Bluebeard. She will not be dissuaded from opening the mysterious doors and she stays in the castle despite the dreary milieu and the frightful sights that she encounters upon opening the seven doors. 

We watch the revelations as they appear when the doors are opened. The Torture Chamber, the Armory, the Treasury, The Secret Garden, The Kingdom, the Lake of Tears and finally The Silent Wives. Different colors of lights flash through the doors, the contents are covered in blood and tensions are rising  about Bluebeard’s true character. We fear that Judith’s demand to see what is behind every door without understanding the dangers that are perhaps all too obvious could end in tragedy. The music varies from dissonant and discordant to martial, to shimmering, to expansive, to funereal and finally to hushed horror as Judith joins the procession of Bluebeard’s three former wives as they all march towards eternity.

Cargill gives a superb performance, revealing Judith’s strength in insisting on finding the truth and her failure to realize the abyss that she is walking into. She expresses both strength and naivete and we follow her thoughts and development while listening to  her vocal prowess and beauty.

Lepage controls the conduct of the characters and maintains the macabre atmosphere and fearful situation with Hitchcockian finesse. A brilliant production.

ERWARTUNG (it means expectation) is described as a one-act expressionist monodrama for a solo soprano and a large orchestra. The soprano, called simply The Woman, in this production is Anna Gabler and her partner is the COC Orchestra conducted by Johannes Debus.

For half an hour, we follow the Woman through a gamut of  emotions, states of mind and crises. There is darkness and a long wall. She is in a forest looking for her lover. We see a man in a white coat, there is cot or is it a hospital bed on the stage? Is she hallucinating? She is looking for her lover and finds a body. Is it her dead lover? Her love turns to hatred and jealousy – did her lover have a mistress? She experiences exaltation, fear, horror and anguish. We are not sure of her mental state nor of what she is seeing.

Anna Gabler in ERWARTUNG. 

Photo: Michael Cooper

Schoenberg’s music is atonal, complex and I have heard nothing like it before. It is the second time  that I am seeing this opera and the denseness of the music and the plot, the quick changes in the conduct of the Woman, from possible hallucination to outright madness to whatever one can imagine is out of this world.

I can only express admiration for the performance of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra under the baton of Johannes Debus and Lepage’s take on the monodrama.     

Bluebeard’s Castle and ERWARTUNG may not be your regular operatic fare but if you see them, you will not soon forget them. You might find yourself having a great night at the opera.      _________________________

Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartok and ERWARTUNG by Arnold Schoenberg opened on April 25 and will be performed seven times until May 16, 2026, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario.  www.coc.ca

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

PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE – REVIEW OF 2026 OPERA ATELIER PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas 

I consider Opera Atelier a beacon of civilization on Toronto’s horizon. It has produced baroque operas since 1985 and it has taken its productions around the world. Versailles, Seoul, Glimmerglass, Houston, Potsdam, Tours, Japan are some of the places where they have been invited.  

This  year it is producing Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande, a twentieth century opera that they had to reengineer to fit the venue, style and demands of the work. You will see a twentieth century opera that maintains a connection with the Baroque era.

How? you may well ask. Opera Atelier provides the text of a lecture by Dr. Christopher Bagan that is thoroughly informative. Dr. Began takes a twentieth-century opera and looks at it “through the eyes of the Couperin, Charpentier, and Rameau” all good French composers of the Baroque era. He wants to make the opera suitable for Koerner Hall’s specific acoustics and aesthetics. And to make sure that happens he “seamlessly interweaves short instrumental works by Charpentier and Rameau directly into the Debussy score.” In other words, Opera Atelier retains its connection with Baroque opera with a twentieth century item on the menu. That may be classified as having your cake and eating it too.

The venue for this production is the elegant Koerner Hall which is suitable for smaller works and a smaller orchestra. An orchestra of about sixty is too big for the hall but fourteen players fit simply fine. The opera calls for scenes by a spring in a park, scenes in a palace as well as a visit to the palace vault. Director Marshall Pynkoski and Set Designer Gerard Gauci leave much to the imagination with a minimalist, brilliant production. Gauci produces beautiful sketches that are projected on the stage.

That is not all. With Jeanette Lajeunesse Zingg on the Artistic team and the Artists of the Atelier Ballet, we are treated to gorgeous ballet sequences. The twelve members of the troupe, the women dressed gorgeously, perform magnificently. The dancer playing Eros is spectacular but is not specifically credited in the program. Kudos to the dancers and Costume Designer Michael Gianfrancesco.

Meghan Lindsay and Antonin Rondepierre. Photo: Bruce Zinger

Soprano Meghan Lindsay, a veteran of Opera Atelier productions, gives a stunning performance as the mysterious Melisande. Hers is the toughest role in the opera and she sings with beautiful intonations and vocal flourishes. Tenor Antonin Rondepierre, a rising star in early music, sang with poise, control and vocal beauty. There is a scene where Mélisande sings from a tower window with Pelleas outside reminiscent of the  balcony scene in Romeo and Juliette. The two also spend part of a night together. These are scenes of surpassing beauty and sensuality.

Soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee as Genevieve displayed her lush voice and stage presence again, albeit in a relatively small role. We want more.

Bass-baritone Douglas Williams sang the heavy Golaud who loses Melisande to his brother Pelleas. He is presented as unlikeable but that is no reflection on Williams’ singing and stage presence. It was fine.

Bass-baritone Philippe Sly made his debut with Opera Atelier as King Arkel, the old and tolerant ruler facing tough decisions and baritone Parker Clements made his debut with Opera Atelier as the doctor.     

Claude Debussy tells us that his only opera is “A Lyric Drama in five acts and twelve scenes” and from its premiere in 1902, it has been a challenging work to stage and appreciate. Its complex symbolism, impressionistic music and lack of any memorable melodies were not a good recipe for a runaway hit. Opera Atelier, with the help of Dr. Began, has found the formula for a successful production.

Opera Atelier Founding Co-artistic Directors Marshall Pinkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse  Zingg have been enriching Toronto with their productions for forty one years. May I repeat that Toronto would be a culturally poorer city without them.
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Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy was performed from April 15 to 19, 2026 at Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto. https://www.operaatelier.com/

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto.

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE – REVIEW OF 2026 LIVE FROM THE MET PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

New York’s Met Opera has a new production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and it transmitted it to hoi polloi in local theatres around the world. It is an extraordinary production and a rich  collection of superlatives will accompany my review.

Wagner had doubts about Tristan und Isolde being produced and opined that “supremely talented performers are the only ones equal to the task”. The first company that agreed to stage it, dropped after rehearsals began because the singers and the orchestra agreed that it was much too difficult to perform. The second company that took it up, saw its leading tenor become terrified of his role and back out. The opera was judged unsingable after dozens of rehearsals and dropped; there were other disasters but you can look them up yourself.

The new Met production by Yuval Sharon shows his brilliant imagination that together with the work of Set Designer Es Devlin, and superior creative team delivers a Tristan und Isolde that will blow your mind.

Lisa Davidsen as Isolde and Michael Spyres as Tristan in "Tristan und Isolde." 
Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

The plot is straightforward but what Wagner did with it is anything but straight or simple.  The hero Tristan (Michael Spyres) is taking the beautiful Irish Princess Isolde (Lise Davidsen) to Cornwall to marry his uncle King Marke (Ryan Speedo Green). Tristan was injured when he killed Morold, Isolde’s betrothed. She used her magical powers to heal Tristan’s wound without knowing his identity and because he looked in her eyes and she fell in love with him. There is a bit more to it than that but listen to the orchestra and it will all make sense.

Without going into detail, the love between the two develops in depth and passion that can only be experienced and expressed by Wagnerian heroes and mere mortals like us can only imagine. The use of a love potion helps.         

Wagner’s prescription that only supremely talented singers can perform his opera is met by dramatic soprano Lise Davidsen as Isolde, tenor Michael Spyres as Tristan with mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as King Marke.     

Michael Spyres as Tristan in Act III of "Tristan und Isolde." 
Photo: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera

The demands on the major singers are enormous. What most composers can do in five or ten minutes, Wagner holds the feet of the singers to the fire twice or three times longer. Davidsen has vocal prowess, control, tonal beauty and range that can only be summarized as extraordinary. She displays her masterful singing in the first act with Brangäne, her love scene with Tristan and of course the signature Liebestod. The number of singers that can ma0tch her can be counted on one hand and you may have a finger or two left untouched.

The demands on tenor Spyres as Tristan are not as onerous as those on Isolde but his performance is stunning both vocally and morally as the troubled faithful servant of the king. He is bringing Isolde to marry King Marke and his passionate love for Isolde forces him to betray his sovereign. He is a knight and such conduct reaches the depth  of treachery. Spyres makes us feel the pain of his treachery and enjoy his first-rate vocal performance.

Gubanova Brangane as the mixer of potions and Isolde’s companion has performed the role of Brangäne numerous times and she reprised it with ability and vocal mastery. The same kudos belong to bass baritone Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal and bass-baritone Green as King Marke. The King displays humanity and generosity in the face of a painful offence and fundamental betrayal.

Lisa Davidsen as Isolde, Ekaterina Gubanova (back to camera) as Brangäne, 
Ryan Speedo Green as King Marke, Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal, and 
Michael Spyres as Tristan. Photo: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera

The bravura singing is matched and enhanced by the production values provided by Sharon and the rest of the creative team. I can only mention a few extraordinary touches. Some of the opera is performed on two screens. We see the characters on the upper screen and at times on the lower screen as well. Some of the action is seen through an eyeball that opens into a tunnel and zeroes in on the performers. There are some amazing scenes with gorgeous colours as well as more naturalistic ones with King Marke. Jason H. Thompson designed intricate projections, Ruth Hogben has designed amazing videos that are often dazzling and unexpected.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the powerful Metropolitan Opera Orchestra fortissimo and thrillingly.
Do not worry about the fate of the lovers, They defeat death with death. All was caused by the love potion. In death there is reconciliation, redemption and apotheosis through the power of love and Wagner’s music.
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Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner was transmitted Live in HD from the Metropolitan Opera on March 21 and a reprise on April 13, 2026, at the Cineplex VIP Cinema, Shops at Don Mills, Toronto and other theatres across Canada. For more information: www.cineplex.com/events        

James Karas is the Culture Editor of the Greek Press, Toronto

RIGOLETTO – REVIEW OF 2026 ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, COVENT GARDEN, PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden has revived the 2021 production by Oliver Mears of Verdi’s Rigoletto, a favourite vehicle for opera houses around the world. As a result, both the opera and the jester have been seen in some unlikely places. Even a moderate operaphile could have sat through productions set in a Las Vegas Casino, a high-rise apartment building in New York and in a circus, to mention a few that come to mind.

The current revival is replacing the 2001 staging by David McVicar which was in a class of its own. When I reviewed that production, I wrote that the opening scene resembled an orgy. We saw a disheveled woman running across the stage with breasts exposed, clutching her clothes. We know that she had just been raped. The courtiers of the Duke of Mantua, sexual predators, chase women, grab them sexually and simulate coitus and act like predatory animals that is frightful and abhorrent. There was also a naked man. 

Director Mears takes a far more civilized approach to the operatic chestnut and the result is a highly enjoyable and refined production. The set by Simon Lima Holdsworth emphasizes dark tones, and the presence of lust and evil in the Court of Mantua is unmistakable. We see a large copy of Titian's Venus of Urbino, showing a naked woman lying languidly on a bed and the suggested violent Rape of Europa. In the latter, Zeus disguised as a bull abducts and then rapes a young woman.

In this production, we see Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda in a well-lit bedroom wearing night clothes before she is abducted and violated. Her presence in her bedroom is the only pleasant scene in the opera before the despicable courtiers abduct her. The beautiful duet with her father takes place in the darker tones of the stage.

George Petean as Rigoletto and Aida Garifullina as Gilda in 

Oliver Mears' Rigoletto, The Royal Opera ©2026 Marc Brenner

Mears has a lot of help from the superb cast in this marvelous production. Baritone George Petean as Rigoletto goes through a gamut of emotions. He ridicules the courtiers mercilessly and is an unsympathetic character trying to produce laughter for the amoral  and despicable duke. We see him and hear his sonorous voice in his scene with his beloved Gilda. And finally, we see the vengeful Rigoletto who pays Sparafucile to assassinate the Duke. Rigoletto is physically and psychologically deformed and his love of his daughter is his redeeming feature.

He is cursed by Count Monterone (baritone Blaise Malaba) and it arouses terror in him that runs thematically and musically throughout the opera. He decides to have the Duke killed and gets the services of  Sparafucile (bass William Thomas) who is professional, efficient and devoid of emotion in his job. He is frightful. We see all these situations and emotions in Rigoletto’s life in Petean’s splendid performance.

The lovely and innocent Gilda is sung by soprano Aida Garifullina. We first see Gilda through the curtains in her bedroom. She is in or around her bed in a beautiful room without singing a note. The scene is an addition by Mears. She is innocent and naïve with a loving father. She goes to church where she has seen a handsome young man who tells her he is a poor student. She sings “Caro nome” the beautiful aria inspired by his name. It is an expression of love, goodness and purity that Garifullina delivers with passion and poignancy that she holds onto throughout the performance.

The poor student that Gilda has fallen in love with is the lecherous and narcissistic Duke of Mantua. Tenor Ivan Ayon Rivas has the vocal and physical equipment for the role from his lascivious conduct at court to his description of women in “La dona e mobile” when visiting  a brothel at the end of the opera. Rivas sings with poise, assurance and gusto.  Women are toys to be played with and tossed out.

Veteran conductor Mark Elder led the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in a superb  performance of the score in a richly thought out and outstanding production of Verdi’s classic.

This is a solid and outstanding production that does not need outlandish effects like a casino or an apartment building, even an orgy.
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Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi with libretto by Francesco Maria Piave continues with some cast changes until April 23, 2026, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. www.roh.org.uk

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

CINDERELLA – TRANSMISSION OF 2022 MET PRODUCTION IN 2026

 Reviewed by James Karas

On January 1, 2022, New York’s Metropolitan Opera did something unusual. It transmitted Jules Massenet’s opera Cendrillon, to movie theatres around the world as part of its Live in HD from the Met series. The performance was sung in English and the shortened version being transmitted was intended to entertain children as well as adults. The opera was given its English name, Cinderella and was shown only once. Four years later that performance was transmitted again on February 21, 2026

The full opera directed by Laurent Pelly, opened at the Met in April 2018. But this transmission of a shortened version running 1 hour and 47 minutes presumably to account for introductory and closing remarks was done without intermission.  The 2018 production lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes.

The shortened version eliminated some characters and scenes but told the Cinderella story effectively. Do not mix Massenet’s Cinderella or Cendrillon with Rossini’s La Cenerentola. They are very different. 

This performance starred the lovely mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as the abused Cinderella who dreams of going to the fancy ball in the palace. Leonard is vocally and physically captivating, exuding innocence and gorgeous sounds. In the meantime, her hideous step-sisters with the help of their mother (distinguished mezzo Stephanie Blythe) prepare to go to the ball and snag Prince Charming (mezzo soprano Emily D’Angelo) as a husband. The sisters and their mother dress in puffed up clothes, sport awful hairdos, play for laughs and are splendid at it.  

We meet Cinderella’s father Pandolfe, (bass baritone Laurent Naouri) a henpecked man under the thumb and abuse of his second wife, Madame de la Haltière. He had Cinderella with his first wife. Naouri is vocally fine and presents a pathetic but decent man. 

The catalyst of the story is the Fairy Godmother sung by Jessica Pratt who appears spry in a fancy gown with vocal flourishes and awakens the dreaming Cinderella. She promises her a beautiful gown, glass slippers and a horse-drawn carriage to take Cinderella to the ball.  In the beginning, Prince Charming looks like an emotionally troubled teenager but when he looks at Cinderella and she looks at him and we hear their gorgeous duet, well, we can recognize love when we see it. 

                                Isabel Leonard in the title role of Massenet's "Cinderella." 
                                            Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

But Cinderella has a midnight curfew and she dashes out in the nick of time, leaving one   of her glass slippers behind. And you know the rest.

Choreographer Laura Scozzi provides some comic and beautiful ballet sequences performed by the Met Opera Ballet. Emmanuel Villaume conducted the entire production.

The costumes by Laurent Pelly are fairytale suitable. The wicked stepsisters and stepmother, as I said, are dressed and act to evoke laughter. In their costumes puffed at the middle they look like they may fly off. The Fairy Godmother’s gown is beautiful and otherworldly. Cinderella looks stunning in the gown the Fairy Godmother provides and she is gorgeous and on our side. The actors that draw the carriage to the ball wear horses’ heads and are very friendly.

The set by Barbara de Limburg consists of a series of moveable panels on three sides of the stage with French writing on them. The panels have a number of doors that facilitate entry and exit of characters. Is the French writing on the panels to remind us that this Cinderella is really Cendrillon?

The full-length production of the opera was directed by Laurent Pelly and there was no indication in the program as to who shortened it and made it more suitable for children. Credit is given to Kelley Rourke for the English translation. One cannot fault the Met for the initial transmission in 2022 or for the reprise in 2026. Trying to attract children to the opera is a laudable effort.
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Cinderella being a shortened version of Cendrillon by Jules Massenet was initially performed and transmitted from New York’s Metropolitan Opera House on January 1, 2022, and again on February 21, 2026, at select Cineplex theatres across Canada. For more information go to: www.cineplex.com/events

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

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE – REVIEW OF 2026 COC PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas           

The Barber of Seville, the Canadian Opera Company’s companion to Rigoletto for its winter season, is an irrepressible opera that combines unforgettable music and melodies with a wonderful and funny love story. You can’t go wrong with seeing it for the first or umpteenth time.

The current production is a revival of the 2015 staging by Joan Font which was last seen here in 2020. The production has its moments and some of its disappointments but it rises to thoroughly enjoyable level in the second half.

There were some issues with the singing at the beginning where tenor Dave Monaco as Count Almaviva and baritone Luke Sutliff as Figaro had difficulty reaching the demands of their roles. Their vocal cords settled down during the second half. Bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni did fine work as the singing teacher Basilio especially in his delivery of his famous aria “La Calumnia.”

Baritone Renato Girolami sang an excellent Dr. Bartolo and managed to be sonorous and humorous throughout the performance. Mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny made a fetching and marvelous Rosina both vocally and theatrically. We fall in love with her right from the start when she sings “Una voce poco fa” (a voice echoed in her heart) and then tells us  that she is docile and simply announces that she is gentle, respectful, obedient, sweet and loving if she gets her way. She turns into a viper if she does not and swears that she will get her lover Lindoro. Period. Johnny sings sweetly, convincingly, beautifully and displays the verve and determination that we want to see in Rosina. A superb performance. 

Deepa Johnny and Renato Girolami. Photo: Michael Cooper

Rossini gives a somewhat unrelated aria, “Il vecchiotto cerca miglie” (The old man seeks a wife) to the maid Berta (Ariana Maubach) who sings it gorgeously and deserves kudos.

Director Joan Font and Set and Costume Designer Joan Guillen want to give their conception of the opera. Fair enough. But you must give us something original and convincing that adds something to our appreciation of the work. The Barber can be done on two sets. First the town square with the exterior of Bartolo’s house and a window where see Rosina. The second scene is the interior of Bartolo’s house with the details and variations that the director and designer can provide.

In this production Dr. Bartolo lives in a glass house and we see the interior window where Rosina stands and the staircase  for exiting the house. The interior  has a stark look about it with a very large piano and a few chairs. There is a large rectangle at the rear that is black or we see a flowering tree of various colors displayed on it. Only half the stage is lit at times and that adds nothing to the production. At times the stage looks like a storage facility.

Scene from The Barber of Seville: Photo: Michael Cooper

In the opening scene Count Almaviva stands on a huge guitar to serenade Rosina and Figaro sings much of “Largo al Factotum” as if his feet were nailed to the stage boards. Let’s just say that the set adds nothing to the production.

There is a woman sitting stage right throughout the performance and I could not figure out what she was doing there.

The costumes were fine representing we assume Seville attire in the 19^th century or whenever.

Font casts eleven actors in the production and they appear now and then in addition to the chorus. I could not figure out what they were doing except to add crowds whether they are necessary or not.     

Font’s and Guillen’s conception and execution added very little to the opera but they did not repress the music, the singing and the humour of Rossini’s genius. Conductor Daniela Candillari made sure of that with her handling of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Chorus that performed superbly.    
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The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini with libretto by Cesare Sterbini in a revival of a COC coproduction with Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux and Opera Australia opened on February 5 and will be performed eight times until February 21, 2026, on various dates at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. For details see www.coc.ca

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

RIGOLETTO – REVIEW OF 2026 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

The Canadian Opera Company has scheduled two operatic gems for its winter season, Rigoletto and The Barber of Seville, and no one can argue with these inveterate crowd pleasers. One may argue that the company should be more adventurous but no one can get tired of its two choices, so be it.

This revival of Christopher Alden’s 2011 production is carried by an excellent cast but it may be best described as quirky or unorthodox or, at times, a bit confusing for someone seeing the opera for the first time.

Before I discuss those attributes, I want to praise the singers and state unequivocally, that they make the production enjoyable and worthwhile seeing even if you have seen the opera umpteen times.

Quinn Kelsey as the court jester Rigoletto. whether he is expressing love for his daughter Gilda or mocking and then begging the courtiers, gives a marvellous and emotionally splendid performance. When he sings with Gilda, he displays a deeply felt affection for her. When he mocks the courtiers, he is disgusting and in his last outburst when he realizes that Sparafucile has killed Gilda instead of the Duke, he delivers an emotional knockout.

Soprano Sarah Dufresne has a lush and gorgeous voice and her Gilda is vocally outstanding and emotionally moving. Yes, you do have to forget or ignore the fact that she is naive. She decides to get killed to save the life of the repulsive Duke because she loves him. Sure. Put all that aside and listen to her singing. Dufresne will be replaced by Andriana Chuchman on February 10, 12 and 14.

 Simona Genga (back), Sarah Dufresne and Ben Bliss in Rigoletto. 

Photo: Michael Cooper

Tenor Ben Bliss sings the amoral, selfish and swaggering Duke. He starts with “Questa o quella” and ends up with the unforgettable  “La dona e mobile” which has a gorgeous melody and offensive lyrics but, once again, just listen to it and ignore the details until after you leave the theatre.   

A few comments about Alden’s idiosyncrasies.

In the opening scene we find Rigoletto seated in a leather chair in a corner of the stage. Alden is a fan of seated characters and rarely allows them to face or sing to each other. We are in what looks like in a Gentlemen’s Club. The members are dressed formally a la 19^th century private club members that may represent such a place in London. Rigoletto, the odious court jester has a hump but otherwise is dressed like the other club members. He goads and insults the Courtiers and one of them Monterone (Gregory Dahl) curses him. The Duke and the courtiers make up a social group that have the morals of alley cats.

As we know, the courtiers abduct Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda from her house. While she sings some beautiful arias and duets with her father in a place that does not look like a residence, we see courtiers milling around. The Duke sneaks in (he bribes Gilda’s maid Giovanni sung by Simona Genga) and we are treated to romantic, really romantic, duet by the Duke and Gilda. What starts as a lecherous cad and ends as a rapist and disgusting person (“La dona e mobile”) becomes a romantic hero for a few minutes. But as soon as he leaves and the courtiers who were milling around disperse, they return with faces covered and abduct Gilda. What were they doing there before?

They take Gilda to the palace and a distraught Rigoletto begs the courtiers to tell him where his daughter is. He sings to us and not to the courtiers who have huddled around Gilda who is lying on a couch and presumably being raped. She should be found in a bedroom but Alden has her on a couch. Is the Duke raping her or the courtiers? We know it should be the Duke thinking she is Rigoletto’s mistress (really?) The scene is confusing. Rigoletto should be begging the courtiers directly but they have their backs to him and he addresses us. Well, take it as it comes.

The final scene takes place in Sparafucile's dingy tavern or den of murder and iniquity. Sparafucile is a hit man for hire and his sister Maddalena (Zoie Reams) is a lowlife for hire. In Alden’s production and Set and Costume Designer Michael Levine, it looks like a swanky hall where the members of the Gentlemen’s Club are having a general meeting. We hear the wonderful quartet and the goings on but what are they doing there? It is an awful night of thunder and lightning and murder, what are the well-dressed men doing there. 

Johannes Debus conducts the Canadian Opera Orchestra and Chorus in a splendid performance.

I find Alden’s quirks mystifying but they are not enough to spoil Verdi’s work and especially the superb cast that gives you a terrific night at the opera
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Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi cis being performed seven times until February 14, 2026 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Tel:  416-363-6671. www.coc.ca

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

I PURITANI – REVIEW OF 2026 LIVE FROM THE MET IN HD TRANSMISSION

 Reviewed by James Karas

Vincenzo Bellini’s  I Puritani is one of the finest bel canto operas, warts and all, and the Metropolitan Opera transmitted it to theatres around the world on January 10, 2026. Musically and vocally, it is an outstanding production but the “warts” of the libretto are still there. This was the 67^th Metropolitan Opera performance of the work which gives you a good indication of its popularity. 

The last Met production was in 1976 and it was revived several times. The current staging is by Charles Edwards who brings his own ideas. He tinkers with the plot that involves the beautiful Elvira (Lisette Oropesa) who is in love with Lord Arturo during the English Civil War of the 1640’s. She is a Puritan (The Roundheads) and he is a Royalist (The Cavaliers). During the overture, Edwards shows Elvira painting Arturo’s portrait and falling in love with him. It is 1641 and the Civil War has not started yet but it is brewing. Edwards gives us a timeline on the screen to make sense of the libretto.

In the meantime, Puritan Riccardo (Ricardo José Rivera) has fallen in love with Elvira and her father wants her to marry him. Luckily her uncle Giorgio (Christian Van Horn) has convinced him to let her marry Arturo.

Lisette Oropesa as Elvira and Lawrence Brownlee as Arturo 

in Bellini's "I Puritani." Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera

In the meantime, or eight years later, we meet Enrichetta (Eve Gigliotti) flitting on and off the stage. Arturo arrives at the camp of the enemies, for his wedding to Elvira and recognizes Enrichetta as the wife of the beheaded King Charles I. She is a prisoner of the Roundheads and he decides to save her from certain death by disguising her as Elvira and leaving the latter at the altar. 

If you sense noticeable creaking, it is not the floorboards; it is the plot. In any event Elvira goes mad, the Roundheads win, Arturo returns, Elvira regains her sanity and they all live happily evert after. You do not see I Puritani for the plot details but for the gorgeous music, astounding bel canto singing, superb sets and lighting that more than make up for the unsatisfactory libretto by Carlo Pepoli, based on the play Têtes Rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine.

You see the opera to hear the extraordinary voice of soprano Lisette Oropesa. Bellini provides melodies that demand flourishes, long lines , intricate singing that few sopranos can manage. Oropesa masters him. She is stunning throughout and especially in the Mad Scene with a full-range display of emotional depth and vocal splendor.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee has a light, flexible and terrific tenor voice that can reach the stratosphere but sings with unmatched beauty in his arias and ensemble pieces. His Arturo is heroic, decent, in love and always vocally marvelous as he holds the long phrases, soars where necessary and is simply an aural delight.

Baritone Artur Ruciński was indisposed and baritone Ricardo José Rivera replaced him on a few hours’ notice in the role of the spurned lover Riccardo. He did excellent work and earned the respect, enthusiasm and enthusiastic applause of the audience. Well deserved.

Bass baritone Christian van Horn sang the role of Elivira’s uncle Giorgio. Van Horn exudes authority and compassion and can convince Elvira’s father to let her marry for love. Van Horn is a fine actor and a superb singer, able to handle his solo and ensemble singing with rare sonority and beauty.

Edwards makes Elvira a painter and there are numerous portraits on stage. The one that drew my attention was a huge portrait of King Charles I that Enrichetta dances with and twirls around her head and kisses affectionately. The latter made no sense but making Elvira an artist is a nice touch.

Edwards also designed the sets, featuring paneled risers that could be a legislature or a meeting hall. Tim Mitchell’s lighting design changes scenes and atmosphere brilliantly. Gabrielle Dalton’s costumes feature the classic black dresses, white collars and white hats for the women and similar black and white costumes for the men. There are exceptions for Arturo, Elvira and Enrichetta and, I assume, brilliant red for the victorious Oliver Cromwell who makes a short appearance.

Marco Armiliato conducted the Met Orchestra and Chorus in a superb performance. Bellini composed numerous pieces for the chorus that all added to a memorable production of an opera

Edwards and Armiliato, with the brilliant cast, brought out the best of I Puritani and watching it on a big theatre screen was highly enjoyable.

If you hear any creaking after seeing this production, you should check your floorboards.
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I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini was transmitted Live in HD from the Metropolitan Opera on January 10, 2026, at the Cineplex VIP Shops at Don Mills, 12 Marie Labatte Road, Toronto Ontario and other theatres across Canada. Encores will be shown on February 28, 2026. For more information: www.cineplex.com/events

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

THE MAGIC FLUTE - REVIEW OF 2006 MET PRODUCTION STREAMED IN 2025

 Reviewed by James Karas

On December 30. 2006 The Metropolitan Opera filmed  Julie Taymor’s production of The Magic Flute for PBS. That recording was transmitted worldwide Live in HD From the Met. But on December 20, 2025. we were supposed to get the current revival of Julie Taymor’s shortened version of the opera with Paul Aplebu, Michael Samuel and Alexander Kppeczi conducted by Steven White. The Met’s program said so. 

But the one-page program that we got at Cineplex stated that we were about to see The Magic Flute that was transmitted Live on December 20, 2006. Something went wrong but I don’t know what. The broadcast on CBC radio was of the current performance with the cast noted above.

Julie Taynor has her own take of the opera with a version thar lasts only 1 hour and 50 minutes, sung in English and geared toward entertaining children as well as adults.  A highly laudable ambition.

She uses various methods of entertaining children and I don’t know if all were successful. She takes a dark view of the opera and much of the performance is done on a black background. The Three Ladies, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Kate Lindsey and Tamara Mumford are dressed in black, with white puppet heads that are worn on their heads or held in their hands.

The Queen of the Night (Erika Miklosa) has a seriously painted face (like most of the cast) and she has huge banners waved behind her. She is a remarkable figure as is Miklosa a remarkable singer. Tenor Matthew Polenzani as Tamino and soprano Ying Huand are handsome and beautiful and we see their faces clearly. The hero and heroine sing brightly and gorgeously and we root for them. 

 A scene from Mozart's "The Magic Flute." Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera 

of the 2025 production and not the one under review.

Rene Pape is outfitted like a pagoda or some grand structure but he sings a marvelous Sarastro. Monostatos wears lots of colourful makeup, sports a big, hooked nose and is appropriately nasty but Greg Fedderly is very effective as the would-be sexual predator against our Pamina. Nathan Gunn as Papageno, is fleet of foot and superb of voice as the cowardly bird catcher. The stage is full of papier mache birds, flying bears and thunder and lightning to keep everything moving and everyone entertained and we hope that includes the youngsters.

The production is sung in English which does not mean that everything was comprehensible but I think it was appropriate. Youngsters do not need subtitles in their first or one of their first exposures to opera.

Taymor, in addition to directing, also designed the costumes and, with Michael Curry, she designed the puppets. In other words, this is a Julie Taymor production through and through.

The late James Levine conducted the Met Orchestra in the broadcast of the 2006 production which launched the rightly heralded Live in HD transmissions. It was interesting to see it in the 40th year of opera in a local movie theatre but seeing the current revival live would have been even more interesting.
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The 2006 recording of The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder was transmitted from the Metropolitan Opera on December 20, 2025, at the Cineplex VIP, Shops at Don Mills, 12 Marie Labatte Road, Toronto Ontario M3C 0H9 and other theatres. For more information including encores see: www.cineplex.com/events

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Geek Press, Toronto.