Stage Door News
Stage Door News
This year opera is part of Stratford Summer Music in the form of The Bicycle Opera Project and Carmen on Tap.
The Bicycle Opera Project brings Canadian contemporary opera to communities across Ontario by bicycle! These young musicians bring Canadian music to people who might otherwise have little opportunity to hear it, and work to close the distance between audiences and opera singers through performance in intimate spaces. The project focuses on operatic repertoire that deals with contemporary issues and is sung in English and French so that audiences can more readily relate to the material.
The troupe works to demythologize the idea of “the opera singer” (they get dirty too!) and operatic traditions (who says they can’t cycle?), and provide a car-‐free alternative to touring.
The 2014 summer project brings together established and emerging performing artists: Liza Balkan, stage director; Wesley Shen, music director; Adam Scime, composer-‐in-‐residence; Geoffrey Sirett, baritone; Chris Enns, tenor; Stephanie Tritchew, mezzo and Larissa Koniuk, Artistic Director, and soprano.
Their 2014 shows will consist of two collections of short operas and excerpts:
PROGRAM A (30 - 40 minutes)
Rosa by James Rolfe and Camyar Chai: back by popular demand, this work was featured on the 2013 program. This one-‐act opera, by one of Canada’s most prolific and acclaimed operatic composers, is about a couple who tries to salvage a broken marriage after the loss of their young daughter, Rosa.
A little rain must fall by Chris Thornborrow and David Yee was written for Tapestry Opera’s LibLab. It's a dark and twisted comedic work about Rain’s girlfriend, Simone, who may or may not be a serial killer. An instant hit at Tapestry’s Opera Briefs, Bicycle Opera was quick to snatch this piece up!
Bianchi: a bicycle opera is an original miniature opera by Tobin Stokes for the Bicycle Opera Project. Two characters race after a third, gearing up to pedal their way into her heart.
L’Homme et le ciel (excerpt) is a new chamber opera by Adam Scime, with a French libretto by Ian Koiter. This work is being work-‐shopped in Toronto by the Thin Edge New Music Collective and FAWN Opera before Bicycle Opera puts our spin on it for the road.
PROGRAM B (30 - 40 minutes)
Regina by Elisha Denburg and Maya Rabinovitch is a new opera based on the true story of Regina Jona, who, in 1935, was the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi. She later was taken to Auschwitz and records of her legacy were buried until 1991. The opera tells two parallel stories: Regina fights to overcome her family’s discouragement, and her spirit waits to be uncovered by Anna, a present-‐day character, who struggles with her father’s Nazi legacy as she uncovers hidden documents in East Berlin.
Airline Icarus (excerpt) by Brian Current and Anton Piatigorsky. Shortly after its Canadian premiere with Soundstreams, Bicycle Opera will tour an excerpt from this new opera. Set aboard a plane, the opera explores both the spiritual joy and the angst of flying as it invites us into the minds of passengers and crew, revealing their relationships and their inmost thoughts.
(What rhymes with) Azimuth? by Ivan Barbotin and Liza Balkan is another work created through Tapestry Opera’s LibLab. Set in Toronto’s Distillery District, two strangers find a common point of interest through their observation of the universe: the immensity of the galaxies narrows to the discovery of a new pair of eyes, and the pursuit of a yet unexplored love.
Repertoire subject to change by the performers.
Performances:
Friday July 25 | 9 am
Revel Caffè
Program A | Pay What You Can
Friday July 25 | 5:30 pm
Revel Caffè
Program B | Pay What You Can
Saturday July 26 | 9 am
Revel Caffè
Program B | Pay What You Can
Saturday July 26 | 5:30 pm
Revel Caffè
Program A | Pay What You Can
Sunday July 27 | 9 am
Revel Caffè
Program A | Pay What You Can
Sunday July 27 | 3:00 pm
Revel Caffè
Program B | Pay What You Can
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Carmen On Tap brings the excellence, virtuosity and power of opera to you. Georges Bizet’s famous score will delight and tantalize as you enjoy a sumptuous dinner or brunch, with the possiblities of Spanish-themed cuisine from menus specially prepared by the restaurant's senior chef, Frank Hubert, for these presentations. All dramatic walls are banished. There is no stage. Carmen On Tap is all about you and the cast who deliciously blur the line between opera and real life. Carmen On Tap brings you a superb first-hand experience to combine grand opera and fine dining in the elegant Church Restaurant setting. Three unique experiences to choose: evening opera dinner (August 8, 9) or afternoon opera brunch (August 10).
Set in Seville around the year 1830, the opera deals with the love and jealousy of Don José, who is lured away from his duty as a soldier and his beloved Micaëla by the gypsy factory-girl Carmen, whom he allows to escape from custody. He is later induced to join the smugglers with whom Carmen is associated, but is driven wild by jealousy. This comes to a head when Carmen makes clear her preference for the bull-fighter Escamillo. The last act, outside the bull-ring in Seville, brings Escamillo to the arena; she is accompanied by Carmen who now must finally face Don José in the opera's dramatic climax.
Carmen, the most famous of Bizet's operas with its exotic Spanish setting, includes such well-known songs as Carmen's seductive Habanera and Seguidilla; the famous Toreador's Song; Don José's reference to the flower Carmen had once thrown to him, La fleur que tu m'avais jetée (The flower that you threw to me); and Micaëla's moving aria, Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante (I say that nothing frightens me).
Cast:
Carmen, a gypsy - Julie Nesrallah, mezzo-soprano
Don José, a Dragoons Corporal - Richard Troxell, tenor
Micaëla, a peasant girl - Maghan McPhee, soprano
Escamillo, a matador - Pierre-Etienne Bergeron, baritone
Frasquita, a gypsy friend of Carmen - Gabrielle Laxzarovitz, soprano
Mercedes,a gypsy friend of Carmen - Whitney O'Hearn, mezzo-soprano
Remendado, a smuggler - Corey Arnold, tenor
Dancaire, a smuggler - Johnathon Kirby, baritone
Frederic Lacroix, pianist
Brent Krysa, director
Stratford Summer Music is working together with The Church Restaurant to offer our patrons a concert and brunch/dinner package at $110. This includes the opera and a 3 course brunch/dinner, but does not include beverages, HST and gratuities. Please arrive at the Church Restaurant at 6:30 pm for Dinner Opera and 11:30 am for Brunch Opera. This package is only available by calling the Stratford Summer Music office at 519.271.2101. You will only be charged for the concert portion when you book your tickets. Billing for the restaurant portion will be presented the night of the performance.
Friday August 8 | 7 pm
The Church Restaurant
$110 | Includes 3-course dinner and opera
For reservations call 519.271.2101
Saturday August 9 | 7 pm
The Church Restaurant
$110 | Includes 3-course dinner and opera
For reservations call 519.271.2101
Sunday August 10 | 12:00 pm
The Church Restaurant
$110 | Includes 3-course brunch and opera
For reservations call 519.271.2101
Photo: Julie Nesrallah.
2014-05-03
Stratford: Opera is part of Stratford Summer Music July 14-August 24