COCMAM 2010 Outershell V2 Pr

COCMAM 2010 Outershell V2 Pr

CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY Per formanceSpring 2010 THE FLYING DUTCHMAN THIS IS NOT NEW. New’s gotten old. It’s exhausted, winded and seen better days. So let’s not call this new. Let’s call it something else. Let’s simply call this next. Introducing the Acura ZDX. Introducing NEXT. acura.ca ACU9020_01D.indd 1 2/22/10 2:25:29 PM PIAGET POLO Men’s Model: Piaget Manufacture movement 504P Women’s Model: Mechanical self-winding movement Piaget quartz movement 690P White gold case & bracelet, diamond set White gold case & bracelet, diamond set www.piaget.com ACU9020_01D.indd 1 2/22/10 2:25:29 PM t WE’VE SAVED THE BEST SPOT t For You Welcome to Bradgate Arms... a prestigious address to call home. Formerly an exclusive hotel, Bradgate Arms is now Toronto’s premier retirement residence. Experience refined architectural details, such as exposed wood beams and grand fireplaces, reminiscent of the well-appointed neighbouring homes of Forest Hill and Rosedale. The concierge awaits you, a reminder of the art of living well at Bradgate Arms Retirement Residence. Your personalized tour awaits you! 416-968-1331 54 Foxbar Rd, Toronto reveraliving.com 1977 feature Top – COC Music Director Johannes Debus. Photo: Michael Cooper CONTENTS Middle – The COC presents 6 Debus, Dutchman and More Maria Stuarda (from Dallas by Elizabeth Gowen Opera), 2007. Majella Cullagh as Maria Stuarda. 12 Maria Stuarda: Truth through Fiction Photo: Karen Almond by Eric Domville Right – The COC presents Idomeneo, in co-production 22 Virtuosity and Expressiveness: with Opéra national du Rhin, Idomeneo, re di Creta, Mozart’s 2007. Kobie van Rensburg masterpiece of reform opera as Idomeneo. Photo: Alain Kaiser by Julian Rushton 32 Stanley McCartney Retires 36 We Are Your Canadian Opera Company CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY Per formanceSpring 2010 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY EDITOR: Suzanne Vanstone, Manager of Publications ART DIRECTOR /DESIGN: Jan Haringa GRAPHIC ARTIST: Glenda Moniz NATIONAL ACCOUNT DIRECTORS: Danny Antunes, Gary Bell, Tom Marino, David Thom, PERFORMANCE MEDIA GROUP INC.: PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER: Joe Marino CEO: Frank Barbosa SECRETARY TREASURER: Rajee Muthuraman FINANCE: Gina Zicari The Flying Dutchman cover image by: Scott Eiden Maria Stuarda cover image by: Matt Eich Idomeneo cover image by: Dominic Nahr Canadian Opera Company’s edition of Performance magazine is published quarterly by Performance Media Group Inc., 2724 Coventry Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6H 6R1. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written consent is prohibited. Contents copyright © Performance Inc. Subscriptions available by contacting publisher. Direct all advertising enquiries to 2724 Coventry Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6H 6R1 or phone 905-829-3900, Ext. 222. For blogs, interactive quizzes, and podcasts featuring music and interviews, visit coc.ca. 5 DEBUS, DUTCHMAN AND MORE COC BASSOONIST, ELIZABETH GOWEN, SPEAKS WITH CONDUCTOR JOHANNES DEBUS Elizabeth: Have you ever conducted Dutchman before? Johannes: No, it’s my first time conducting it, although I have played it on the piano as a rehearsal pianist. The version we did was also in one act, which I think is right. In Dutchman you have so many different scenes, one right after another, and it’s full of different styles. There is some Carl Maria von Weber, some German Spieloper that is buffonesque and light, and then on the other hand, the heavy duet with the Dutchman and Senta where Wagner opens the doors to his later works. Elizabeth: You’ve worked with us before as a guest conductor, but this is your first opera with us as our boss. Does this change anything for you in how we work together? Johannes: To be honest, I hope not! I mean, I thought that the work we have done so far together worked well and I’d like to continue that path. Elizabeth: How did you get the job here? Johannes: I was asked about two weeks after the opening of War and Peace. It went quite quickly and unexpectedly. Elizabeth: So you weren’t expecting to be asked? Johannes: No, not at all. I mean, Alexander (Neef) is from Germany. So a second German at the helm of a Canadian institution? Kind of strange, isn’t it? Besides, War and Peace was totally unknown for me, 6 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY 2009 / 2010 SEASON feature Opposite Page – COC Music in a language I don’t speak, and it was my first appearance with the company. Director Johannes Debus. I just thought I would take the risk and jump into that icy cold water and see Clockwise from top left – if I could survive. As it turned out, I loved the piece, the people working here Gidon Saks as the were so nice and collaborative, and I had a really great time. But I really wasn’t Dutchman; The COC’s Women’s Chorus; Gidon expecting things to go any further; maybe that’s the best way sometimes. Saks; Gidon Saks (far left) with the COC’s Men’s Elizabeth: But you were pleased to get the job? Chorus; Gidon Saks as the Dutchman and Frances Johannes: Yes, totally. I’ve never had this special feeling as a conductor before Ginzer as Senta. All photos that the orchestra is going to allow you to do certain things you couldn’t do from the COC’s The Flying Dutchman, 2000. before. The support of the orchestra is enormously great. They have a quality of openness where you can see they really want to make that effort as a Photos: Michael Cooper group to go to another level together. That’s great. Elizabeth: How do you prepare for an opera you haven’t conducted before? Johannes: Usually I get a piano vocal score and sit down at the piano and play it. Of course, I listen to recordings; why not? Sometimes you have to get in touch with certain traditions. Sometimes you are just curious to know how a colleague solves certain problems, and to hear passages where you think there may be different possibilities to play them. For blogs, interactive quizzes, and podcasts featuring music and interviews, visit coc.ca. 7 DEBUS, DUTCHMAN AND MORE Left – Gidon Saks as the Dutchman, Frances Ginzer as Senta, and Gordon Gietz (on stairs) as the Steersman in the COC’s production of The Flying Dutchman, 2000. Top – Susan Schafer (on stairs) as Mary with the women’s chorus in the COC’s production of The Flying Dutchman, 2000. Photos: Michael Cooper Elizabeth: So piano is your main instrument? Johannes: Yes, it’s my main instrument, but I wouldn’t say I’m a pianist. I couldn’t play the Rachmaninoff concertos. Elizabeth: I got to a War and Peace performance early one night and heard you playing piano music in the conductor’s suite. Is this a regular pre-performance routine for you? Johannes: I love this. It’s good to play music on an instrument yourself, not only to conduct where you let other people play. For example, when I conduct a Mozart opera, I often sit down and play some Mozart sonatas beforehand to get in touch with the style of the music. It’s a way to warm up, like you do. During the afternoon of a performance, I’ll go through the score, then right before the performance I play. It’s also maybe a way to distract myself. Elizabeth: Is that because you get nervous before a show? Johannes: A certain kind of nervousness is usual and can be a positive thing that increases the tension and your attention. When all the preparation work is done and everyone knows pretty well what to do, you need this inspiration for a great performance, maybe even to do things you haven’t done before in the rehearsals. Elizabeth: Imagine a good fairy has just waved a magic wand and you now have an unlimited budget – what opera would you do? Johannes: Just one? Elizabeth: No, you can do a whole season if you want. Johannes: Well, there are some Strauss pieces. Die Frau ohne Schatten, Salome, Elektra, Rosenkavalier... Elizabeth: So we’re going to do four Strauss operas in one season? That would be fine with me! Johannes: (laughing) No, no, no! I think early opera, like Monteverdi, is gorgeous music. So my choices cover a wide range. There is, for example, a masterpiece of 20th-century opera, Die Soldaten by Bernd Alois Zimmermann. The Mozart/Da Ponte operas. Pelléas et Mélisande – I just adore this piece. And of course Wagner: Tristan, Parsifal, the Ring… 8 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY 2009 / 2010 SEASON DEBUS, DUTCHMAN AND MORE Far Left – Frances Ginzer as Senta (above) and Susan Shafer as Mary (below) in the COC’s production of The Flying Dutchman, 2000. Left – The COC Chorus in the COC’s production of The Flying Dutchman, 2000. Photos: Michael Cooper Elizabeth: Do you want to do the Ring? Johannes: Every German conductor wants to do the Ring! Elizabeth: What projects do you have in mind for the orchestra? Johannes: Concerts. I’d love to play concerts. It’s vitally important that the orchestra gets out of the pit from time to time. We now have this acoustical shell for the stage, so everything is set to play concerts. And the hall, I think, sounds great. But we have to raise the money for that. Maybe that good fairy is still around? Elizabeth: You’ve conducted orchestras in many countries around the world. In this era of international travel and cultural influences, have you found that there are still distinctive national styles of playing? Johannes: It’s probably more in the process. The rehearsals maybe are a bit different because the mentality of the people is different.

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