Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, Mar 4, 2013… Since 1974, VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert has showcased the human voice and spotlighted its raw emotional power. From simple beginnings, the company has evolved and now presents a variety of works with orchestra, chorus, piano, surtitles and atmospheric lighting effects.
The 2012-2013 Season comes to a close on Sunday March 24, 2013 at 2:30 pm with a single performance of Jules Massenet’s THAÏS. The company has long been a champion of French Romantic operas and THAÏS is one of the greatest of these. The incandescent Laura Whalen takes on the role of the doomed courtesan and debuting baritone James Westman is Athanael, the ascetic monk who succumbs to her beauty in this sensually probing score. They will be joined by debuting tenor Adam Fisher as Nicias and OIC favourite, Bass Alain Coulombe as Palemon. Also in the cast are Leigh-Anne Allen, Lise Maher, Dina Shikhman and Christina Campsall, all under the leadership of Music Director and Pianist Raisa Nakhmanovich supported by the VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert Chorus under Robert Cooper, C.M.
One of the highlights of Massenet’s work is the interlude between scene i and ii of Act II, a hauntingly beautiful melody known to millions as ‘The Meditation from Thais.’ General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin has invited violinist Carolina Hereda to be part of the production and she will be featured onstage playing Massenet’s peerless melodic creation.
The work premiered at the Opéra in Paris on March 16, 1894 and its wild success only added to Massenet’s great celebrity. One of the most interesting aspects of the work is that the libretto is in prose, something of a revolution in the French opera tradition. The work is set in ancient Egypt during the early Christian era, a historic period that greatly appealed to Massenet. With this work, the interlocking claims of religion and love were even more established as Massenet’s special dramatic domain. The composer and critic Vincent d’Indy famously commented on Massenet’s ‘discreet and semi-religious eroticism,’ characteristics already in evidence in HERODIADE and MANON.
TO LEARN MORE: Don’t miss the pre-concert chat – THE BACKGROUNDER – with host Iain Scott 45 minutes before the show… entertaining and informative comments about the opera, the composer and the musical culture of the times.
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.
Photo: Laura Whalen. ©2012 Susan Beniot of Diffusion Photographics.
2013-03-04
Toronto: Massenet’s “Thaïs” is the season finale for VOICEBOX on March 24