Joseph So

1 month ago | operacanada.ca | Joseph So

The Canadian Opera Company ended its 2024/25 season with an extra treat for its audience. Instead of the usual spring offerings of two full-length operas, there was the addition of a single concert performance of a one-act work, the beloved Italian opera not seen locally for nearly a quarter century, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana.

2 months ago | operacanada.ca | Joseph So

Last staged by the Canadian Opera Company as its final production at the old Hummingbird Centre (now Meridian Hall) in 2006, Wozzeck is making a triumphant return to the COC, in the celebrated production by South African artist William Kentridge that opened last Friday at the Four Seasons Centre. This production premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 2017, reaching the Paris Opera and the Met later. Met Live in HD fans may well have seen it in the Cineplex cinemas at the time.

Feb 6, 2025 | operacanada.ca | Joseph So

Following the highly successful Puccini warhorse Madama Butterfly that opened the winter season at the Canadian Opera Company (COC) winter season, the company followed it with something entirely different, La Reine-garçon, a new opera and the first co-commission between Opéra de Montréal and the COC. It featured an excellent all-Canadian cast. Given the relatively conservative Canadian opera audience when it comes to new works, it was gratifying to witness the very enthusiastic ovation at the end.

Jan 27, 2025 | operacanada.ca | Joseph So

The Canadian Opera Company opened its winter season on January 24th with Madama Butterfly, one of Puccini’s most beloved operas. A quick bit of research shows that it was staged by the COC in its inaugural season of 1951, and it was subsequently revived a total of 15 seasons, the last in 2014. In fact, it was slated for its 16th production in 2022, but the COVID pandemic sadly reduced it into a single, online concert performance.Thankfully, we are once again able to experience its magic in person.

Dec 4, 2024 | ludwig-van.com | Joseph So

Festival of Carols/ Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Jean-Sébastien Vallée, conductor; Jonathan Oldengarm, organ; Irene Gregorio, piano. Dec. 3 & 4, 2024 7:30 p.m. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge Street, Toronto. Repeats Dec 4; tickets here. For the last 25 years, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has been bringing the joy of communal Carol Sing to its Toronto audience. The sole exception was in 2020 and 2021 when the in-person event was cancelled due to the pandemic.