Inhoudsopgave van Spring 2026 - Opera Canada

I am amazed by the untapped power that could be found in collaboration. I have just returned from O2, the joint conference of the Association for Opera in Canada (AOC) and Orchestras Canada (OC), held in Edmonton at the beginning of February. It was a warm February week for Edmonton – above zero, in fact – and it was made even more warm by the commitment to working together and the mutual respect evident at the conference. Although both AOC and OC have presented conferences for years, this is the first time that they have hosted a joint gathering, and the event owed its existence to the collaborative energy of Executive Directors Katherine Carleton (OC) and Christina Loewen (AOC). I have always maintained that the strength of any arts service…

It’s his first role with the company after graduating from their Ensemble Studio. In February, he was at Dallas Opera performing in their production of Rachel Portman’s The LIttle Prince, and he was also announced as one of the prize winners of the George London Award in New York City. In the last year, he placed in the Orchestre symphonique do Montréal Competition, the Louis and Christina Quilico Awards (Ontario Arts Foundation) and Edmonton Opera’s Rumbold Vocal Prize. Even through a screen, Korin Thomas-Smith is nothing short of radiant. His is a demeanour perfectly in line with being new on the scene: eager, energetic, even silly (“My close friend’s story [on Instagram] is actually a hellscape,” he admits), glowing with what he calls a “wetness behind the ears” as he…

NATHAN BERG may be one of the busiest bass-baritones in the opera world, but he is also one of the most gracious. “What we’re doing is communicating on stage,” he says, “and it’s hard to explain how wonderful that is.” With repertoire ranging from Baroque through Romantic to contemporary, the Saskatchewan-born bass-baritone has been making waves in opera for over three decades, with performances across North America, Europe, Japan and Australia, playing an assortment of kings, saints, gods, villains, parents and henchmen. A Grammy, Juno and Echo Award-winner and a multiple Grammy and Juno nominee, Berg has performed with a range of international companies including the Bavarian State Opera, Opéra national de Paris, The Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro alla Scala and English National Opera. Berg has…

UP NEXT Le nozze di Figaro with Manitoba Opera, singing Susanna – one of my alltime favourite roles. How are you getting ready for it? Preparing Susanna always begins with text: speaking it, speaking it again, letting it settle into my body. She has a lot to say, and with Mozart, clarity of intention behind the words is everything. The late Michael Cavanagh once told me, “If you can recite your text while cooking dinner, you know it properly.” My poor husband now endures Italian muttering at all hours, but the more deeply I know the text, the freer I feel musically and artistically. Are you approaching Susanna differently this time? I’m discovering new things shaped by the world I’m living in. What strikes me most is how she navigates power.…

APRIL Vancouver Opera Sopranos Jonelle Sills and Lucia Cesaroni alternate in the role of the of the doomed seamstress Mimì in Vancouver Opera’s production of La bohème, playing from April 25th through May 3rd.  vancouveropera.ca MAY Seattle Opera Canadian tenor Matthew Cairns makes his Seattle Opera debut alternating in the role of Don José in Carmen. Cairns is scheduled to perform the role on May 2 (opening night), 8, 10 and 16. seattleopera.org Opéra de Québec Canadians Hugo Laporte and Elisabeth Boudreault are sparring lovers Marcello and Musetta in perennial favourite La bohème, which opens at Opéra de Québec on May 16th and runs through the 23 rd. operadequebec.com Edmonton Opera Edmonton Opera continues their Ring Cycle with this year’s Siegfried, playing May 25th through 31st and featuring many Canadian…

FOUR YEARS AGO, GABRIELLE LAVIGNE FIRST appeared on our national horizon when she won the CBC Talent Festival. RM: How did you feel about winning that Festival? GL: In that competition, I was very lucky, and I was lucky again right after it when the Vancouver Opera gave me my first big part on a stage. Before that, I had sung only one little part for television. RM: How did that engagement come about? GL: I was in New York for an audition for the Metropolitan Opera competition, and somebody told Mr. Irving Guttman, who was in New York at the time, that he should listen to me. I auditioned for him, and that night after I had sung in the finals of the Metropolitan, he came to me and…

“Working hard is not enough. After working hard, you have to work harder.” Guillermo Silva-Marin is a powerhouse in the Toronto arts scene, and his hard work has created many interesting opportunities for Canadian performers and audiences. In 1985, he founded Toronto Operetta Theatre (TOT), Canada’s only professional company focused on operetta. In 1986, he founded Summer Opera Lyric Theatre and Research Centre, a training program for young singers concentrating on role study and dramatic coaching that culminates in staged performances. Since 1994, he has been general director of Opera in Concert, another important professional company based in Toronto. Furthermore, he directs the productions for all three companies. This unique position – being able to work handson with students/emerging artists and having the capacity to hire performers of all levels…

Clown(s) OPÉRA DE MONTRÉAL OdM clearly went all in on this production, and the result is something special… upsetting operatic conventions about who does what and who goes where. —ARIADNE LIH Take This Waltz NE.SANS OPERA & DANCE, VANCOUVER Daniel Okulitch’s rich bass-baritone – that sounded at times like black velvet melting – carried the show. —HADANI DITMARS The Telephone AND Baby Kintyre GLENN GOULD SCHOOL, TORONTO [Director Liza Balkan] brought a level of comfort and naturalness to the students’ performances that was particularly effective in the intimate environment. —MICHAEL JONES Die Fledermaus ABRIDGED OPERA, WINDSOR [Conductor Geoffrey] Larson led with infectious energy, and his emotional connection with the music translated into gorgeous playing. —DAWN MARTENS Tosca MANITOBA OPERA, WINNIPEG [In Marina] Costa-Jackson’s searing “Vissi d’arte,” every shimmering, deeply felt…

WHEN I SAY THE WORD “feedback” in the corporate realm, there follows an immediate shudder. Sometimes a panic. And in the arts? Feedback is to artists as water is to whales; we’re all swimming in it, yet it is so ubiquitous that we take it for granted, part of the deal to function and survive. It is necessary and it’s constant, but feedback in opera is often opaque, unspecific and overly personal – sometimes drifting into armchair psychoanalysis. Why not transform the skill of giving and receiving feedback into something closer to mystical mithril armour (Lord of the Rings fans, you get it), imbued with valuable properties of communication, trust-building and protection when needed. Armour does not make you invincible, but it allows you to embody your confidence and take…

VIDEO Handel: Giulio Cesare DUTCH NATIONAL OPERA NAXOS BLU-RAY NBD0187V CALIXTO BIEITO’S PRODUCtion of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, recorded at Dutch National Opera in 2023, is complex and full of interesting ideas. The cast is made up of excellent singing actors. Add a superb Baroque band, Le Concert d’Astrée, in the pit, and it’s really a winning formula. It’s set in a sort of luxury resort inhabited by people who clearly have lots of money but maybe not a whole lot of taste – what we see would not be out of place in Trump’s new East Wing. The set (Rebecca Ringst) at first appears to be just a large wire cage at centre stage but the surface supports video projections (Sarah Derendinger) and can be lit in interesting…