Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TORONTO – The Opera Division at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music announces its first mainstage opera production of the season. From December 1-4, 2011, the Opera Division will present four performances of two of Francis Poulenc’s one-act operas – La Voix Humaine and Les Mamelles de Tirésias. This production is conducted by Sandra Horst and directed by Michael Patrick Albano and Erik Thor. The operas will be sung in French with English Surtitles™.
PERFORMANCES
Thursday, December 1 – 7:30 pm
Friday, December 2 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 3 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 4 – 2:30 pm
MacMillan Theatre, Edward Johnson Building, 80 Queen’s Park.
Tickets: $30 ($20 seniors/students) | FlexiMIX: $24
NEW! Tickets can be purchased in person or by phone through the Weston Family Box Office at the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor St. West. Phone: 416.408.0208
A pre-performance opera chat will be given 30 minutes prior to each performance in room 130.
The opera production is made possible through a generous gift from David G. Broadhurst. Additional funding is provided by donors to the Opera Production Fund and by members of Continuo, the Opera Division’s annual giving program.
THE OPERAS
From the melodic pen of Francis Poulenc come two one-act works of stunning theatrical contrast. La Voix Humaine [The Human Voice] is a one-act opera for one character based on Jean Cocteau’s 1932 play. The opera portrays the heart wrenching grief of a woman’s final farewell to her lover. Les Mamelles de Tirésias [The Breasts of Tiresias] is a surrealist opera bouffe based on the play of the same title by Guillaume Apollinaire. The opera brilliantly satirizes feminism, fertility drugs and “family values”. It was premiered at the Opera-Comique in Paris in 1947.
CREATIVE TEAM
Michael Patrick Albano is the resident stage director of the Opera program at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, where he has staged over thirty operas including the Canadian premières of Debussy’s L’Enfant Prodigue, Paisiello’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Britten’s Paul Bunyan and the Toronto premiere of Offenbach’s Barbe-Bleu.
Sandra Horst is Director of Musical Studies for the Opera Division. She also holds the position of Chorus Master at the Canadian Opera Company. Ms. Horst holds an Honours Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Master of Music in Accompaniment from New England Conservatory, Boston, and was an Accompaniment major in the Professional Studies program at The Juilliard School, New York.
Fred Perruzza is the Director of Operations for the MacMillan Theatre at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. He made his debut as a set designer in 1995 with the production of Iolanthe. He has since designed many critically acclaimed productions for the Opera Division, including The Marriage of Figaro, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Cosi fan tutte, L’elisir d’amore, Il Matrimonio Segretto, L’Heure Espagnol, and Ariodante, among many others.
The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto is a top destination for the professional and scholarly study of music in North America. As part of one of the leading research universities in the world, the Faculty of Music is home to a diverse and dynamic community of scholars, performers, composers and educators. Our students and graduates have garnered such awards as Prix Italia, the Peabody, Juno and National Jazz Awards, and occupy prominent positions with such ensembles as the Toronto Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic. The Faculty of Music presents an annual concert season featuring students, faculty and guests in over 100 public concerts, lectures and master classes. For a complete list of the Faculty of Music's 2011-12 season, visit our website at www.music.utoronto.ca/events, or download our season brochure here.
2011-11-14
Toronto: U. of T. Opera Division to present a Poulenc double bill December 1-4