Colin Ainsworth, ten., Jesse Blumberg, bar., Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, sop., Meghan Lindsay, sop., Danielle MacMillan, mezzo, Cynthia Akemi Smithers, sop., Karine White, sop., Douglas Williams, bass-bar. / Christopher Bagan, piano; Edwin Huizinga, violin; Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord / Artists of the Atelier Ballet / Tafelmusik Orchestra, David Fallis, conductor. Koerner Corridor, April 11, 2024.
It was effectively definitely worth the lengthy wait of two years, one month and 23 days.
I’m referring to the return to Koerner Corridor of Opera Atelier’s All Is Love, initially premiered on February 19, 2022. Sadly, it was hit by a triple whammy of misfortunes — highway closures and snarled visitors as a consequence of a truckers’ demonstration, a nasty snowstorm, and the results of the twenty first Century scourge often called COVID 19. Attributable to well being restrictions, attendance capability was drastically decreased. Solely 250 fortunate viewers members made it, a small fraction of Koerner’s 1,135 capability.
Final Thursday, this stunning OA present returned triumphant to Koerner Corridor. This system, an exploration into all aspects of affection, remained the identical with some minor tinkering. It featured a various repertoire that ranged from early music of Lully and Rameau to the late nineteenth Century, within the type of the opening scene of Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande.
It lasted 90 minutes with out an intermission. I admit it took some getting-used-to, seeing an basically Baroque present within the ultra-modern Koerner Corridor. I quite missed the ornate curlicues of the century-old Elgin, a theatre tailored for the OA aesthetic. Nonetheless, the superior acoustics of Koerner greater than made up for it.
The solid remained the identical as two years in the past, aside from the absence of soprano Mireille Asselin. A complete of 19 arias, duets, ballet items, plus a contemporary piece, evocatively performed by violinist Edwin Huizinga. Kudos to the extremely disciplined OA viewers for not breaking the temper with inappropriate applause between the numbers. Given it’s all quick items, it’s basically 90 minutes of biggest hits, pretty to witness but it surely didn’t construct sufficient of a dramatic punch.
It was nevertheless a feast for the eyes and ears, starting with soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, in a melding of music of Purcell and Reynaldo Hahn. The soprano, no stranger to OA, sang with customary opulent tone and a decreased vibrato, consistent with the Baroque fashion. This system order was not chronological however thematic, adroitly designed to discover contrasting aspects of affection, with one piece seamlessly transitioning to the subsequent.
I can truthfully say I loved all 19 alternatives. Significantly memorable had been Colin Ainsworth’s “The place’er You Stroll” (Handel’s Semele), a duet from Purcell’s King Arthur that includes the gorgeous mixing of the voices of Meghan Lindsay and Cynthia Akemi Smithers, and “L’heure exquise” sung by Jesse Blumberg. Given these are all set items, it was robust on magnificence however considerably missing in dramatic continuity, however hey, I’ll take it!
Maybe the strongest piece in theatricality was the opening scene of Pelleas et Melisande with soprano Meghan Lindsay (Melisande) and bass-baritone Douglas Williams (Golaud). I’d enterprise to say that P&M doesn’t excerpt all that effectively, given the character of the drama. That stated, I used to be utterly drawn in by the drama. A lot of the credit score goes to the marvellously evocative photographs by work by Gerard Gauci projected on to the large display.
An enormous a part of the pleasures of attending an OA efficiency is its excellent Atelier Ballet, right here led by the Cupid of soloist Eric Cesar de Mello da Silva, full with outsized wings. And naturally particular kudos to the Tafelmusik Orchestra underneath David Fallis, if something sounding even higher — richer and hotter — in Koerner Corridor than within the dry acoustics of the Elgin Theatre. I hope OA will think about staging full operas there sooner or later.
In any case, it was a terrific night certainly. For the curious, snippets of the present could be discovered on the OA channel on YouTube, together with videoclips of the unique 2022 model right here.
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Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent College and Affiliate Editor of Opera Canada.He’s additionally a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His curiosity in music journalism focuses on voice, opera in addition to symphonic and piano repertoires. He seems frequently as a panel member of the Huge COC Podcast.He has co-edited a e-book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Tradition, Efficiency, revealed by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).