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Hot Date: Admire the COC’s Love From Afar

FEBRUARY 2 TO 22 A 12th-century love story gets a 21st-century makeover when director Daniele Finzi Pasca brings his striking visual style to Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s opera, Love from Afar. The Canadian Opera Company presents this story of a world-weary medieval troubadour from France who sets sail to find the Countess of Tripoli, his vision of ideal love. Baritone Russell Braun plays the troubadour Jaufré, while Erin Wall makes her COC debut as the object of his desire, Clémence. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $12 to $318; for showtimes and tickets, call 416-363-8231 or click here.

Weekend Roundup: January 20 to 22

Friday: Clarinetist James Campbell performs with Sinfonia Toronto (photo by Tim Leyes)

Friday, January 20
Start your weekend with a touch of class at Sinfonia Toronto’s Black and White performance at the Glenn Gould Studio. Featuring the talents of Canadian clarinetist James Campbell and Russian pianist Dmitry Gordin, the recital—of chamber works by Shostakovich and Mozart—promises to weave these two exquisite soloists together in a musical dialogue you won’t soon forget.

You won’t be able to sit still as Harbourfront Centre reprises its Dance Ontario Weekend, a three-day extravaganza with dozens of local dancers, choreographers and musicians. Enjoy a heart-pounding spectrum of musical styles—from ballet, to flamenco, to Middle Eastern—both live and on film.

Our beloved Sesame Street muppets are all grown up, and foul-mouthed to boot. Tony Award-winning Avenue Q, the riotous coming-of-age musical comes to the Lower Ossington Theatre, and explores coming-of-age anxieties through such tongue-in-cheek numbers as “What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?” and “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.”

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Save the Date: the Canadian Opera Company’s 2012/13 Season

The Four Seasons Centre is sure to fill up for the COC's seven 2012/13 productions

The title of this post is a little misleading. In actual fact, we encourage you to save multiple dates—the Canadian Opera Company this morning announced its 2012/13 season lineup of seven classic and modern works. With so many big-name Canadian singers and directors headlining the program, we can no doubt look forward to an amazing few months of drama and music.

Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore kicks off the season at the Four Seasons Centre on September 29. The story of a vengeful gypsy and her son’s romance with a noblewoman has captivated audiences for more than 150 years—the COC’s production is likely to continue that trend. In particular we’re counting on a fiery appearance by Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas in the lead role of Manrico.

Later, look for arguably Canada’s most famous opera singer, Ben Heppner, when he performs his signature role in Wagner’s grandiose saga Tristan und Isolde. The company’s first show for a shiny new 2013 (opening January 29), it’s conducted by celebrated Czech maestro Jiri Belohlavek and helmed by world-renowed director Peter Sellars, whose incorporation of imagery by video artist Bill Viola makes this staging truly contemporary.

Speaking of acclaimed directors, following on the heels of his theatrical work for the Canadian Stage Company’s Cruel and Tender (on now), Atom Egoyan takes another break from film with an adaptation of Salome (opening April 21, 2013) Richard Strauss’s one-act opera based on Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name.

The best is perhaps saved for last when the COC’s 63rd season wraps up in May 2013 with Francis Poulenc’s haunting Dialogues des Carmelites, said to contain one of opera’s most devastating yet memorable finales. Toronto-born, internationally celebrated director Robert Carsen returns to the Four Seasons Centre for a third consecutive year (his recent productions of Orfeo ed Euridice and Iphigenia in Tauris were hailed by critics and audiences alike). The bar is raised even higher thanks to a cast that includes a marquee pair of Canadian sopranos, Isabel Bayrakdarian and Adrianne Pieczonka.

Hot Date: Midday Music at the Four Seasons Centre

photo by Karen Reeves

ON NOW Add some culture to your lunch break courtesy of the Canadian Opera Company’s free concert series. Every Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 1 p.m., the institution hosts a slate of exceptional performances ranging from small dance productions, piano recitals, world music, vocal jazz and more, including notable upcoming shows like East Meets West (January 19), featuring artists of the COC Orchestra performing works by Debussy and Tan Dun, and a vocal recital by COC talents Russell Braun, Erin Wall and Krisztina Szabó (February 16). Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre; call 416-363-8231 or click here for more information.

Hot Date: The Sublime Tragedy of Rigoletto

Rigoletto character sketch by costume designer Michael Levine

SEPTEMBER 29 TO OCTOBER 22 One of Giuseppe Verdi’s most remarkable works returns to the stage in a new production by the Canadian Opera Company. The three-act Rigoletto presents the tragic tale of a court jester who seeks to avenge his daughter after she is seduced and deceived by a cold-hearted duke. Yet, despite his best efforts, the poor fool stands to lose all that matters to him. Featuring both established and rising opera stars, the COC’s staging is set to entertain and enthrall in equal measure, thanks to Verdi’s beloved arias and a heartrending libretto inspired by a Victor Hugo play. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $12 to $318; call 416-363-8231 or visit here for showtimes and tickets.

Weekend Roundup, September 23 to 25

Friday: See Bryan Baeumler and other design and renovation experts this weekend at the Fall Home Show

Friday, September 23
Pick up tips and tricks for your next home improvement venture at the Fall Home Show. The Better Living Centre at Exhibition Place hosts this year’s weekend-long event where vendors and design experts—including HGTV’s Bryan Baeumler—showcase the latest products in home design.

Let’s go Leafs! Celebrate the return of hockey season with exhibition games at the Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight in exciting pre-season action.

Shop for vintage and independent designs at The Clothing Show held at the Queen Elizabeth Building, Exhibition Place. The three day event features over 300 booths from sample sales to local Canadian designers guaranteed to be a fun shopping experience.

Saturday: Chess the Musical brings '80s music and politics back to the stage

Saturday, September 24
See the critically acclaimed Chess the Musical today at the Princess of Wales Theatre. A world chess competition, a love triangle, and the Cold War are all plot elements in this lively musical, fresh from its sold-out tour of the U.K.

Listen to Emmy-nominated comedian and political commentator Bill Maher at Massey Hall. He is best known for his satirical opinions on current events and his HBO show Real Time.

Enjoy the opening of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra‘s 90th season with special guest Christopher Plummer. The Canadian actor narrates classic Shakespeare accompanied by the TSO at Roy Thompson Hall.

Sunday: Iphigenia in Tauris offers high drama

Sunday, September 25
Broaden your horizons with the Canadian Opera Company‘s rendition of Iphigenia in Tauris. This dramatic opera featuring Susan Graham—the world’s foremost Iphigenia—opens the company’s 61st season.

Laugh at the outrageous Kathy Griffin as she performs a stand-up routine that’s packed with appropriately catty commentary and celebrity gossip. Of course, the self-proclaimed D-List comedienne is an equal opportunity insulter—she readily draws on her own hilarious experiences, too, in her show at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

What’s the The Word on The Street? It’s a free festival celebrating literacy by featuring authors, editors, publishers and other exhibitors. As one would expect from such a major book and magazine fair, there is also a wide range of Canadian literature and periodicals for purchase.

Hot Date: Iphigenia’s Operactic Opener

Susan Graham in Iphigenia in Tauris

SEPTEMBER 22 TO OCTOBER 15 The dramatic voice of world-leading mezzo-soprano Susan Graham opens the new season of the Canadian Opera Company in Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigenia in Tauris. Director Robert Carsen’s production of this lyrical tragedy has been acclaimed in London, Chicago and Madrid, and also features performances from Canadian opera stars Russell Braun and Joseph Kaiser. With a refined score and an emotional twist, it’s sure to emulate the success of the COC’s recent spring engagement of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $45 to $318; call 416-363-8231 or visit here for showtimes and tickets.

Weekend Roundup, May 20th to 22nd

Friday: Gluck's Orfeo is enthralling (photo by Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago)

Friday, May 20
Follow the critics’ raves to the Four Seasons Centre, where the Canadian Opera Company stages the heart-wrenching Orfeo ed Euridice. Compsed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, this opera tells of Orfeo who, after losing his beloved Euridice, literally goes to hell and back to find her.

Take a scenic drive west of Toronto to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where two new plays begin previews. Shakespeare’s classic Richard III tells the dark story of a man trying to seize the English throne by dispatching all those who stand in his way. For something a little lighter, the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar brings the story of Judas Iscariot to life through rock opera.

Running to May 29, Inside Out, the 21st annual Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival, screens throughout the city. Tonight at 9:30 p.m. (at the TIFF Bell Lightbox), catch Bloomington, a story about a television actress who begins to question her sexuality while trying to lead a normal life as a freshman at Bloomington University.

Saturday: See Aussie troupe Circa among many other acts at Harbourfront Centre (photo by Leif Norman)

Saturday, May 21
Celebrate the weekend at Harbourfront Centre, which hosts the Toronto International Circus Festival, a three-day event beginning today and featuring extraordinary circus artists from the around the world. Catch eye-popping acrobats, gravity-defying rope walkers, fire-eaters, clowns and much more.

What’s black and white and coming back to the Toronto Zoo? Endangered African Penguins! The zoo’s new 6,000-square-foot penguin exhibit opens today with a state-of-the-art underwater viewing area so you can come face to face with the penguins.

Also starting today, the Alice in Wonderland experience takes over Black Creek Pioneer Village with events like a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, a “Through the Looking Glass” Maze and the Queen of Hearts’ Field of Games. Families can also enjoy all that the historic village has to offer, including farm animals, Victorian dancing lessons, and the interactive history centre.

Sunday: See cosmopolitan indie artist Lykke Li at the Phoenix (photo by SpoiltCat)

Sunday, May 22
The unique sounds of alternative rock-pop artist Lykke Li pervade the Phoenix Concert Theatre on tonight. Influenced by her nomadic past—having lived in Portugal, Sweden, India and New York City—Li’s quirky use of harpsichords, flutes and Theremins makes her music all the more mesmerizing.

The Kids’ World Energy Festival wraps up today at the Evergreen Brick Works, with family-friendly activities focusing on renewable energy, climate change and the science of energy. Together, parents and kids can learn what they can do to contribute to a sustainable future.

Celebrate the long Victoria Day weekend by catching some fireworks. Weather permitting, Canada’s Wonderland offers a show starting at 10 p.m., or make your way to Ashbridge’s Bay on Monday at 9:45 p.m. for a dazzling display of lights over Lake Ontario.

Hot Date: The Trials of Orpheus

Photo by Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago

MAY 8 TO 28 The Canadian Opera Company welcomes back Toronto-born director Robert Carsen, who brings his acclaimed production of Orfeo ed Euridice to this city. The popular work by Christoph Willibald Gluck follows mythic Orfeo, who travels to hell and back in search of his beloved Euridice. Renowned American countertenor Lawrence Zazzo and Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian perform the lead roles of this star-crossed story of loss and redemption. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $62 to $281; call 416-363-8231 or visit here for showtimes and tickets.

Hot Date: Cinderella with a Twist

Photo by Brett Coomer

APRIL 23 TO MAY 25 Young and old are sure
to be enchanted by a musical take on the classic Cinderella story—with a comedic twist—as
the Canadian Opera Company stages La Cenerentola. Gioacchino Rossini’s Italian opera buffa tells of beautiful Angelina, who lives as a slave to the pompous Don Magnifico and his two daughters until an act of generosity changes her fate. Designed by the innovative Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants, and featuring renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, this vibrant and ever-entertaining production inspires love and laughter among the entire audience. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $12 to $281; call 416-363-8231 or click here for showtimes and tickets.

Hot Dates: Magic Flute Conjures Melodies

Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian stars in the COC's Magic Flute (photo by Michael Agyan)

JANUARY 29 TO FEBRUARY 25 Fall in love all over again with the majestic music and timeless sorcery-tinged tale of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. A brand-new production by the Canadian Opera Company starring Michael Schade and Isabel Bayrakdarian as would-be lovers Tamino and Pamina, this playfully mystical exploration of wisdom, nature and devotion is sure to delight both seasoned opera fans and newcomers to the genre. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $22 to $281; call 416-363-8231 or click here for showtimes and to purchase tickets.

Weekend Roundup, November 5 to 7

The seasons are a-changing! Don’t miss these final fall performances or the first winter productions.

Friday: Marvel at the Merchants of Bollywood

Friday, November 5th
Don’t miss the Canadian Opera Company’s final performance of Aida tonight. Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece tells the tale of forbidden love between an Egyptian king and an Ethiopian slave. After a well-attended run at the Four Seasons Centre, this production closes on a high note.

It’s the opening night of Merchants of Bollywood! This extravagant performance pays tribute to India’s show business, past and present, in an extravagant musical. With 3,800 costumes and 2,000 pieces of jewellery, this performance has all the glamour of Mumbai’s Film City.

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair returns this weekend! Catch a rodeo, browse giant vegetables, see the livestock and more at this Toronto tradition. It’s happening at Exhibition Place, all weekend long.

Saturday: See Allegra Fulton in The List (photo by Robert Popkin)

Saturday, November 6th
Nightwood Theatre’s critically acclaimed play, The List, wraps up tonight. The unique show tells the story of a woman who forgets an item on her to-do list, with tragic results.

Tickle your funny bone at the 2010 Sketch Comedy Festival, featuring more than 40 comedy troupes from North America. At venues throughout the city, this wacky event is sure to have you laughing all the way to next week.

Make it a girl’s weekend at the National Women’s Show! The Metro Convention Centre hosts more than 450 vendors and service providers featuring products geared toward the gentler sex. And let’s not forget, there’s also wine sampling, cooking demos, fashion shows and free makeovers!

Sunday: Fall in love with Acis and Galatea

Sunday, November 7th
Get out your helmets, shoulder pads and pig skin: the National Football League makes its now annual northerly trek as part of the Bills Toronto Series! Today at the Rogers Centre, the Buffalo Bills battle the Chicago Bears for gridiron glory. Be sure to join the Budweiser tailgate party prior to the game!

The witty, romantic—and ultimately tragic—opera Acis and Galatea takes its final bow this afternoon. The tale of a water nymph who falls in love with a mortal is sure to have you swooning, thanks to Handel’s pastoral music and the elegant staging by Opera Atelier.

Celebrate the Day of the Dead at the Harbourfront Centre! This Mexican tradition brings families together to remember departed ancestors. See live music and dance performances, watch films and peruse the marketplace. Be sure to try the pan de muerto, or Day of the Dead bread.

Weekend Roundup, October 15 to 17

Scream, laugh, marvel and applaud! There are many performances to see this weekend!

Friday: Applaud for Aida (photo by Michael Cooper)

Friday, October 15
Be afraid, be very afraid; The Halloween tradition Screemers returns to Exhibition Place! With terrifying attractions like the Haunted House and Maniac Maze—plus a licensed Vampire Lounge—even the bravest are sure to feel chills!

The Canadian Opera Company’s Aida continues to engage audiences at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. This new production of Verdi’s masterpiece tells the tale of forbidden love between an Egyptian king and an Ethiopian slave, as war and a jealous Egyptian princess tear the two apart. In the title role, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky gives a stunning performance.

Don’t miss Out of Context—For Pina—after garnering rave reviews in Europe, this innovative contemporary dance production makes its Toronto debut at Harbourfront Centre. Choreographer Alain Platel uses body language to communicate emotion; the result is raw and deeply moving.

Saturday: Be moved by Joseph Ziegler in Death of a Salesman (photo by Bruce Zinger)

Saturday, October 16
Head to the Drake Hotel for its annual Fall Market! With unique vintage items, handmade knitwear, fresh flowers, baked goods and free gifts, there’s definitely something for everyone.

The Planet in Focus International Environmental Film and Video Festival continues through the weekend, with a slate of films that strive to enlighten audiences about eco-issues and encourage discussion on the state of the environment. Catch such anticipated films as Land of Destiny in various theatres across the city.

Arthur Miller’s classic play Death of a Salesman opens tonight at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Talented Soulpepper Theatre founders Joseph Ziegler and Nancy Palk take to the stage as Willy and Linda Loman. Don’t miss this production of this masterpiece of America theatre!

Sunday: Find a brunch-time seat at the Roosevelt Room

Sunday, October 17
Gather at the Roosevelt Room this morning for “The Breakfast Club,” the swanky venue’s monthly brunch party! Featuring a filling prix fixe menu, beats by DJ Jacques Dumas and plenty of champagne to go around, it’s breakfast done decadently right.

Yuk it up at the Best of Canadian Comedy Awards, part of the Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival! See top Canadian comedians like Mary Walsh, Colin Mochrie, Members of the Royal Canadian Air Farce and more perform at the beautiful Winter Garden Theatre.

It’s your last chance to see the Textile Museum of Canada’s intriguing Person Place Thing exhibition. The works of three contemporary textile artists test the boundaries of their medium: Lia Cook examines faces in her large weavings, David R. Harper embroiders portraits on animal skins, and Stephen Schofield creates huge patchwork figures.

Hot Date: New Aida Debuts

Sondra Radvanovsky and Scott Hendricks in Aida (photo by Michael Cooper)

OCTOBER 2 TO NOVEMBER 5 The Canadian Opera Company opens its latest season with Aida, one of opera’s most spectacular stories. Giuseppe Verdi’s tour de force tells the tale of a forbidden love between an Egyptian king and an Ethiopian slave set against a backdrop of war, jealousy and political intrigue. With soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in the lead role and acclaimed director Tim Albery at the helm, this new production is sure to be a stunning affair. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $28 to $62; call 416-363-8231 or visit here for showtimes and to buy.

Hot Date: Royal Affair

A Dallas Opera Company production of Maria Stuarda (photo by Karen Almond)

MAY 1 TO 30 Delve into the dark intrigue of the Tudor court in Gaetano Donizetti’s thrilling Maria Stuarda, presented by the Canadian Opera Company. Seething with jealousy and thoughts of vengeance upon discovering that her beloved Earl of Leicester is in love with her cousin Mary Stuart, the Queen of Scotland, an enraged Queen Elizabeth issues a death warrant for her rival. Director Stephen Lawless and sopranos Serena Farnocchia and Alexandrina Pendatchanska bring Donizetti’s sumptuous melodies and rousing ensembles to life with dazzling acoustics in this bitter battle. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $62 to $292; call 416-363-8231 or click here to order and for showtimes.

Hot Date: Stormy Sailing

The Four Seasons Centre hosts The Flying Dutchman this month.

OPENS APRIL 24 Spring is a time of rebirth, and this month the Canadian Opera Company breathes new life into Richard Wagner’s haunting masterpiece, The Flying Dutchman. Watch as baritone Evgeny Nikitin embodies the role of the legendary title character, who is condemned by the devil to sail the seas until he can be redeemed by the love of a faithful woman. Director Christopher Alden originally teamed with the COC in 1996 to bring his iconoclastic interpretation of Dutchman to the stage; he returns to helm the German-language opus that is certain to move even the hardest of hearts. Four Seasons Centre, 7:30 p.m., $62 to $292; call 416-363-8231 or click here for tickets.

Hot Date: Opera’s Otello

Otello (photo by Catherine Ashmore).

FEBRUARY 3 TO 28 One of Shakespeare’s most heart-wrenching tragedies is given a musical treatment in performances of Otello by the Canadian Opera Company.
A magnificently demanding score by composer Giuseppe Verdi enhances the drama in this devastating tale of love and betrayal. For this revival, directed by Paul Curran and conducted by Paolo Olmi, seasoned tenor Clifton Forbis returns to the Toronto stage in the title role following an acclaimed run as Tristan in Tristan und Isolde at the Opera National de Paris. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $31 to $292; call 416-363-8231 or navigate here for times and tickets.

Hot Date: COC’s Carmen

Larissa Kostiuk in the COC's 2005 production of <em>Carmen<em> (photo by Michael Cooper)

The COC's 2005 production of Carmen (photo by Michael Cooper)

JANUARY 27 TO FEBRUARY 27 No one can dispute the enduring success of composer Georges Bizet’s final work, Carmen, perhaps the best-loved of all 19th-century operas. Set in Seville, Spain, this dramatic revival by the Canadian Opera Company tells of the rich culture of the gypsies and packs a plot riddled with sexual desire, moral ambiguity and a shocking finale. This passionate tale of obsession and love gone awry is sure to entertain. Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, $68 to $321; call 416-363-8231 or navigate here for times and tickets.

BONUS! On select weekdays, starting at noon, attend one-hour free performances in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, located within the Four Seasons Centre. The special program features concerts and dance recitals by established and up-and-coming artists.

You Are Here: Downtown Queen & Yonge

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Click on any map marker for more information on Where’s neighbourhood favourites.

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Fly to The Nightingale

Olga Peretyatko as the Nightingale and Ilya Bannik as the Emperor in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of <em>The Nightingale and Other Short Fables</em> (photo by Michael Cooper).

Olga Peretyatko as the Nightingale and Ilya Bannik as the Emperor in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables (photo by Michael Cooper).

Since the opening of the Four Seasons Centre in 2006, Canadian Opera Company performances have consistently comprised one of Toronto’s hottest cultural tickets. Not yet one month into its 2009-2010 season, the company has already drawn raves for its near-classic remounting of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (on now to November 3), and now that the critics have had their say about the company’s latest production, opera is once again the talk of this town.

Based on a number of early works by Igor Stravinsky, The Nightingale and Other Short Fables is the brainchild of Quebec director Robert Lepage, a master of visual storytelling who employs diverse media to create immersive theatrical environments.

And if there’s one word that captures The Nightingale experience both literally and figuratively, “immersive” is it. A 45-minute musical drama comprising the second half of the program, it tells of a songbird who is courted by the emperor of China, only to be replaced by a mechanical doppelgänger. But this being a Lepage production, there’s much more to it than a simple story: the action takes place in the Four Seasons Centre’s orchestra pit, which has been filled with 67,000 litres of water as well as the opera’s primary cast—including a radiant Olga Peretyatko as the title character—who not only sing in the pool, but also articulate richly detailed Japanese- and Chinese-style puppets to, as the director notes, “pull the poetry out of the libretto and the poetic ideas out the music.”

While this multi-layered set-piece is undoubtedly the evening’s highlight, it is capably preceded by a selection of other brief Stravinsky works that are equally satisfying, both musically and as performance art. Notable among them are the jaunty Ragtime— a piece for small orchestra (conducted, in this case, with aplomb by the Vancouver Opera’s Jonathan Darlington) that offers jazz-like motifs with distinctly Eastern grace notes—and a trio of song-stories expertly brought to visual life by a troupe of shadow puppeteers. Stravinsky’s allegory The Fox also employs shadow performers to great effect.

Though only two performances into its run, The Nightingale and Other Fables has garnered such buzz that its remaining scheduled dates are now sold out. Fortunately an encore show has just been added for November 2, 7:30 p.m. Act quickly to purchase by visiting the Canadian Opera Company’s website or the Four Seasons Centre box office (145 Queen St. W.), or call 416-363-8231. Tickets range from $20 to $292.