Vol. LIX, No. 4

Opera Canada

Canada's only Magazine Dedicated Exclusively to Opera

Opera Canada3 min read
Notebook
One of the central debates in opera today is how to keep the art form relevant for an audience which no longer passively accepts the racist, misogynist and sexist tropes of yesteryear. Our last issue dealt with the challenges faced by women singers w
Opera Canada9 min read
Artists on Stage
In the high stress, high stakes world of opera auditions, showing up without German repertoire in front of the director of Dresden’s Semperoper would normally be the kiss of death. Not so for soprano Emily Dorn. Born in Mississauga, Ontario to a musi
Opera Canada6 min read
A Culinary-inspired, Feminist Magic Flute
Barbe and Doucet may be based in Italy, but the French-Canadian design/directing duo are always on the go—their busy schedule keeps them jetting to and fro between various cities in Europe and North America. Recently, they’ve been preparing their fir
Opera Canada7 min read
Letter from Hong Kong
Hong Kong likely doesn’t leap to mind as an opera destination, but if you time your visit right, you can enjoy the things the territory is famous for—the food, the photogenic oceanside vistas, the endlessly fascinating interplay of East and West—alon
Opera Canada7 min read
Amazing Ambur
The city is in the middle of one of its first big snow days of 2019 when I go to meet Ambur Braid at Toronto’s Soho House She’s there when I arrive, already settled in a plush armchair beneath a warm-looking sweater and a striking statement necklace;
Opera Canada3 min read
Divine Threads
Divine Threads: The Visual and Material Culture of Cantonese Opera By April Liu in Collaboration with the Museum of Anthropology Richmond: Raincoast Books, 2019 ISBN: 978-1-77327-023-4 $60.00 Hardcover Opera is an art form that presents a multi-senso
Opera Canada8 min read
Calgary Opera Weathers The STORM
Three winters ago, Calgary Opera faced an unexpected shock to its otherwise steady-as-she-goes operation, and it wasn’t the last they would see. Bob McPhee had run the company for 19 years when health issues abruptly ended his tenure in early March 2
Opera Canada6 min read
A Dutchman On The Frontier Of The LIVING And The DEAD
Given Francois Girard’s high profile, impressive track record with Wagner in recent seasons, audiences will be taking careful note of his new staging of Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) this summer. The French-Canadian director’s latest
Opera Canada5 min read
The Native Son Returns…
As summer unfolds and the heat of long days leads to warm, starry evenings, thoughts turn to the many cultural festivals happening across Canada. One of the most celebrated is the Festival de Lanaudiere in Joliette, Quebec, which opens its season in
Opera Canada2 min read
Calendar Highlights
15 vera causa opera, Cambridge, Waterloo, Guelph, ON. For a second summer, the company presents Canadian Opera Fest featuring five short operas, this year, created by local high school and middle school students in collaboration with VCO. 20 ubc oper
Opera Canada50 min read
Opera in Review
Edmonton Opera treated its audience to a rarely produced, politically incorrect Rossini farce to end its 55th season. The Canadian Opera Company last did it in 1994, and the Met produced it for the first time in 2011. Edmonton Opera doesn’t deliver m
Opera Canada10 min read
Opera At Home
CDs ADAMS Nonesuch 7559793107 Doctor Atomic, John Adams’ 2005 opera about the development of the first atomic weapon, makes a powerful CD debut with this issue. This is helped by that fact the piece is almost more oratorio than opera with very little
Opera Canada3 min read
The Final Word
The cover art says it all. OPERA AS OPERA in big capital letters. The first “OPERA” in the title is given a pristine graphic treatment, the second resembles crumbling marble. It’s perfect imagery to sum up the impetus behind this book—that the operat

Opera Canada

More Issues From Opera Canada