Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, 26 October 2011… For 2011- 2012, Opera in Concert celebrates the Romantic era in music with rarely heard operas by Meyerbeer, Verdi and Schubert. LES HUGUENOTS, OBERTO and DIE FREUNDE VON SALAMANKA - legendary works all - embrace the romantic preoccupations of grand opera in France, musical melodrama on national themes in Italy and the singspiel of Germany.
The season opens on Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 2:30 pm with Meyerbeer’s masterpiece, LES HUGUENOTS. The work is French Grand Opera at its most impressive and deals with one of romanticism’s favorite themes, religious repression on a monumental scale. Meyerbeer’s skill with the grandeur of crowd scenes is balanced by his treatment of solo arias and smaller vocal ensembles. The German born master was highly regarded for his experiments with orchestral colour and was one of the first to incorporate the new instrument invented by his friend Adolphe Sax. His influence was felt for many years, especially his concern that opera be a whole art form, an equal combination of words, music, movement and visual elements.
OIC’s stellar cast includes sopranos Raphaelle Paquette and Leslie Ann Bradley, mezzo-soprano Isamina Pataca, tenor Edgar Ernesto Ramirez, bass Alain Coulombe and baritone Johnathon Kirby with Michael Rose as pianist and music director. Robert Cooper, C.M. will put the esteemed Opera in Concert Chorus through their paces in Meyerbeer’s great choral scenes. “For this remarkable work we welcome to our stage for the first time Ms. Paquette, Ms. Bradley, Ms Pataca and Mr. Kirby” noted Silva-Marin, “joining returning artists Ramirez and Coulombe. This should be a very exciting afternoon…many opera buffs have wondered for years what a real French Grand Opera would be like in live performance and now we’ll know!”
Don’t miss the pre-concert chat – THE BACKGROUNDER – with host Iain Scott 45 minutes before each show, a chance to learn about the opera, the composer and the musical culture of the times.
The season continues with Giuseppe Verdi‘s first opera, OBERTO (premier: La Scala – 1839), on Sunday, March 3, 2012 and concludes with Schubert’s DIE FREUNDE VON SALAMANKA on April 1, 2012 with Kevin Mallon conducting the cast and Toronto Chamber Orchestra.
Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre’s Jane Mallett Theatre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone – 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 – or online at www.stlc.com. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre at 2:30pm.
2011-10-26
Toronto: Meyerbeer’s “Les Huguenots” opens Opera in Concert’s 2011/12 season November 27