NATIONAL CAPITAL OPERA SOCIETY • SOCIÉTÉ D'OPÉRA DE LA CAPITALE NATIONALE Newsletter • Bulletin Summer 2010 Été P.O. Box 8347, Main Terminal, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3H8 • C.P. 8347, Succursale principale, Ottawa (Ontario) K1G 3H8 Opera Lyra's Macbeth Another Crowning Success! by Murray Kitts Working on Macbeth, Verdi wrote to his librettist, Piave, who as Macduff had just received word of the massacre of as follows: “This tragedy is one of the greatest creations of his wife and children. Verdi had some difficulty persuading man.” Needless to say Verdi did his utmost to match the the first Banquo to play the ghost in the Banquet Scene as brilliance of the original play keeping within the conven- the latter felt it was below his dignity as a singer. Andrew tions of mid 19th century Italian opera but also using his Funk was quite cooperative in this regard as well as giving a musical genius to enhance the tension and drama of the strong characterization to the man perceived as a threat to play. Only three witches do quite well for a play but opera Macbeth’s ambitions. All the minor parts were well done in- needs a chorus and a good thing too. The Opera Lyra cluding Dillon Parmer as Malcolm, Renée Lapointe as the Lady- chorus shone in the performance both musically and dra- in-waiting and young singer Brian Werhle, a member of Opera matically. Another great leap forward artistically for the Lyra’s Studio Program which is assisted by donations from the chorus under the direction of Laurence Ewashko. Verdi National Capital Opera Society. The NAC Orchestra under originally had definite ideas about the type of voice for the Tyrone Patterson played superbly, the woodwinds especially in first Lady Macbeth. He rejected using a certain soprano the hauntingly lovely music of the Sleepwalking Scene. What- with “ …a marvellous voice, clear, limpid and strong..” in ever deficiencies there were in the set (from New Orleans) were favour of a singer with a made up by the excellence of voice which was “…rough, The Opera Lyra chorus shone in the per- the lighting effects designed hollow, stifled.” Brenda formance both musically and dramatically. by Harry Frehner. The stage Harris clearly was in the direction by Joseph Bascetta first category, her voice was consistently outstanding. soaring above orchestra and chorus in the ensembles, and One small criticism - at times the English surtitles were quite quite brilliant in her solos. Perhaps she was not the most puzzling and only by consulting the corresponding French surtitles fearsome or loathsome of Lady Macbeths, but she gave a was the meaning clarified. Strange, for a work originally written most enjoyable performance. Greer Grimsley was an ideal in English and adapted by an Italian librettist. Macbeth, tall with the bearing of a successful warrior, To sum up, soloists, chorus, orchestra, production, outstanding voice, excellent actor , capable of delivering a direction, were all excellent. Opera Lyra Ottawa goes from definitive rendering of Macbeth’s great aria “Pieta, strength to strength. I’m sure all Verdi opera lovers truly respetta, amore…” in the last act. Another aria from the appreciated the opportunity to attend such a fine perfor- same act involved the very fine voice of tenor Luc Robert mance of one of his early great works. Maureen Forrester 1930 - 2010 The National Capital Opera Society would like to join Canadian and international music lovers in paying tribute to the late Maureen Forrester. We have a special reason for mourning her loss as she was the distinguished patron of the Brian Law Opera Scholarship. Maureen showed her interest in our project on a number of occasions sending us one of her prized necklaces which raised a considerable amount at a celebrity auction. She will always be remembered for her magnificent voice and her generosity. Summer2010 NEWSLETTER • BULLETIN Été 2010 PRESIDENT’S ANNUAL REPORT, MAY 16, 2010 Last year at this time the Board was struggling with the large In order to reduce insurance costs we decided to increase in costs for the venue of the Brian Law Competition. omit the usual wine cash bar. This allowed us to avoid the We came to an agreement to again use the Unitarian Congrega- cost of a liquor licence and for glass rentals. As usual tion after it was discovered that Board members could be indi- Peggy Pflug arranged a fine selection of food and drink vidually liable for possible damage suits if we did not have insur- for our large audience. Peggy’s husband, Bob, was only ance to cover our event. Jumping ahead to the competition itself in one of the many spouses, relatives, friends of Board mem- November our present concern is the question of the capacity of the bers who assisted in many capacities during the evening. Unitarian Congregation to hold our potential audience in the future. House management was under the capable control of Jean There were many reasons for the more than capacity Saldana, the fifth member of the Brian Law Scholarship crowd on November 21, 2009. First, there was the increase in Committee, the others being Renate Chartand, Ute Davis, the prize money for the winners: 1st, $5,000; 2nd, $3,000, and 3rd, Peggy Pflug and myself. The extensive program was again $1,000 (the latter due to the generosity of Pat Adamo). These the work of former NCOS president Marjorie Clegg. It sums attracted a record number of applicants, twenty-three in all, was decided to encourage potential audience members to of which one was ineligible and one sent the application to the reserve tickets by telephone. Around 150 tickets in a hall wrong address (in spite of the fact that the proper address was which seats 300 were reserved by phone and were ready printed on the application form). The preliminary jury had a field for pick-up on that evening. Obviously this procedure is of twenty-one applicants from which to choose the maximum valuable and should be continued. number of six. The audience was treated to very polished perfor- The competition itself demands a great deal of mances of many usual competition selections as well as some time and thought. But our society would not function with- more unusual ones by Meyerbeer, Donizetti and Lalo. The mini- out the excellent work of all our Board members: Vera- recital given by Yannick-Muriel Noah, fresh from her outstand- Lee Nelson handles membership and issues receipts for ing success as Madama Butterfly with the Canadian Opera Com- all donations; Gordon Metcalfe keeps the books and wisely pany, was a strong attraction for many. She did not disappoint invests our funds for maximum returns; Jean Saldanha her fans. Advertising for the event was even more successful keeps the records of meetings and reminds the president than ever because of the hard work of Renate Chartrand. In of important dates; Jim Burgess, assisted by Renate addition Ute Davis used her connections with Pelligrini Opera Chatrand in her publicity capacity, is our excellent web and with Opera Lyra Ottawa to have ads inserted into appropri- master and can always be relied on to keep our informa- ate opera performance programs at reduced rates. Our continu- tion right up-to-date; Elizabeth Meller has become an in- ing use of Rob Clipperton as MC has brought us to the notice of valuable help in the Opera alla pasta events with her long a number of his former colleagues at the CBC with resulting experience in opera DVD presentations; and Pat Adamo’s announcements, even a contest for two free tickets, on radio connections with the opera-loving Italian community make broadcasts. So this year our problem is: do we need to move to her an invaluable resource. David Williams and Tom another venue? One which has a larger audience capacity? One McCool continue to produce an excellent newsletter at- which is more centrally located? One which is less expensive to tracting more new contributors and keeping everyone rent? The opinions of members on these questions would be ap- aware of important opera happenings. Tribute must be preciated. It has become apparent that the word “scholarship” is paid to the annual hospitality of the Pflugs who open their not appropriate for the prize money awarded at the Brian Law country home to Board members and spouses at a sum- Competition as “scholarship” implies the use of the money for mer meeting. Somehow the gourmet potluck meal ac- studies whereas there are no restrictions on how the money may companied by a glass of wine leads to a most pleasant and be used. Again members are invited to give suggestions as to how agreeable meeting. to amend the title “The Brian Law Opera Scholarship Competition.” Finally I must personally thank all the Board mem- The choice of certain finalists led to two of the experts bers, especially Vice President Ute Davis, for their con- who had agreed to be final jurors withdrawing because of their cern and help for me during the period of a serious health connection with one or more of the finalists. This was particu- problem which arose before the competition. I should also larly unfortunate because both of these experts had served as thank all those young talented prospective competitors with jurors more than once previously. However, due to personal con- whom I was exchanging emails at the time. Faced with tacts by Renate Chartrand and Ute Davis, we were able to ob- such talent, ambition and optimism for the future, who tain three outstanding jurors: Susan Blyth-Schofield, Donna would have occasion to feel apprehensive and depressed? Brown, and Richard Turp, who were able to find unanimity in their decisions.