Volume 19 Issue 9 - June/July/August 2014

ALICE IRENE, TEIYA KASAHARABeat by Beat | BandstandBand Forays,Past & AheadNadia Chana (left) and Larissa Koniuk on tour with The Bicycle Opera Projectwith Narmina Afadiyeva as pianist and music director. And last isa rare chance to see Samuel Barber’s opera Vanessa (1958) playingon August 2, 6, 8 and 10 with Raisa Nakhmanovich as pianist andmusic director. The operas are performed by singers who have joinedSOLT to hone their skills and develop their careers. This year’s stellarfaculty includes Derek Bate, Kevin Mallon, Marshall Pynkoski, WayneGooding, Kathy Domoney, Henry Ingram, Stuart Hamilton, CatherineRobbin, Diane Loeb and Guillermo Silva-Marin.Farther afield in Haliburton there are performances of theHighlands Opera Studio run by Richard Margison and Valerie Kuinka.On August 13 and 15 HOS presents a double bill of two comic rarities,Donizetti’s Rita (1841) and William Walton’s The Bear (1967). OnAugust 22, 24, 26 and 28 it presents Puccini’s Tosca. One reason Ritais obscure is that the Opéra Comique for whom he wrote it rejectedit and plans for performances in Naples fell through. Rita finallyreceived its posthumous premiere in 1860, ironically at the OpéraComique. It was only in 2009 that a new critical edition of the scorewas published.This summer marks the third anniversary of the innovative BicycleOpera Project that aims to bring contemporary Canadian opera tocommunities across Ontario that might otherwise not have the opportunityto hear it. According to its website, “The project focuses onoperatic repertoire that deals with contemporary issues relevant toall audiences.” The singers and musicians travel from place to placeby bicycle along with two trailers full of props, costumes and instruments.In so doing BOP aims to demythologize old ideas of what operaand what opera singers are like.Their itinerary for this summer includes a stop on June 15 at theOpen Ears Festival in Kitchener; July 12 and 13 at the Westben ArtsFestival; July 25 to 27 at Stratford Summer Music; August 7 and 8 at theToronto Summer Music Festival; and stops in between in Kingston,Prince Edward County, Belleville, Hamilton, Bayfield, London,Brantford, Waterloo and Guelph.BOP’s 2014 repertory features short operas A little rain must fall byChris Thornborrow, Bianchi: A Five Minute Bicycle Opera by TobinStokes written especially for the company, (What rhymes with)Azimuth? by Ivan Barbotin and Rosa by James Rolfe as well as operaexcerpts from The Brothers Grimm by Dean Burry, Airline Icarus byBrian Current (see above) and L’Homme et le ciel by Adam Scime.The company includes Liza Balkan, stage director; Wesley Shen,music director; Geoffrey Sirett, baritone; Chris Enns, tenor; StephanieTritchew, mezzo; and Larissa Koniuk, Artistic Director and soprano.Have an enjoyable summer!Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-based writer on opera andtheatre. He can be contacted at opera@thewholenote.com.For additional summer operatic riches, south of the border, seeBruce Surtees’ “Through the Glimmerglass” on page 84JACK MACQUARRIEAs most readers will have observed by now,summer has finally arrived. I’m torn betweenduty and the desire for pleasure. The editor tellsme that my deadline was yesterday, but my braintells me that the vista of a cloudless sky hasmore appeal than the computer screen in frontof me. However, it is time to reflect on a fewof the musical happenings of the past month.For many in the band world it has been springconcert season, time to display to their audiencesthe fruits of their musical labours overthe past dreary months. This year, for me it hasbeen more as an audience member than as aband member.The first of my visiting forays took me toOshawa and a concert by the Clarington ConcertBand and their guests, the County Town Singers.After an absence of a few years, this band isonce again in the capable hands of Mr. BarrieHodgins as director. The feature of the eveningwas a performance of a work composed andconducted by renowned Canadian composerHoward Cable. As an introduction to this work, Howard explainedto the audience how he came to write it. During a visit to Alberta, hehad been challenged by a rancher about many of his works with an“Eastern Canada” theme. Too much about Quebec, Newfoundlandand other aspects of the East. Where were his compositions aboutthe ranches and other features of the West? The result was McIntyreRanch Country. For our pleasure it was conducted by the composerhimself. As for other Canadian content, the band played an excellentarrangement by Eddie Graf of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, andthe County Town Singers gave us Lydia Adams’ arrangement of WeRise Again.My next outing couldn’t have been more different. After a visit toa rehearsal of The East York Concert Band, I attended their Springconcert. What a contrast to any other band concert that I have everattended. The concert was in the large, beautifully appointed hall ofSaint Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto.When we arrived there were already a large number of people seatedat tables at the rear of the hall enjoying food and drink prior to theconcert. We sat near the front in a section without tables. Apparently,as part of the cooperation between the band and the cathedral, theladies’ auxiliary of the cathedral do the catering for a broad spectrumof delicacies for the audience to enjoy with the music. In caseyou were wondering, there was a wide selection of drinks availablewith the food. Yes, beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages werebeing served and consumed in a church on Sunday. It certainly didnot detract in any way from the imaginative program, titled “OnceUpon a Tune.”The atmosphere of the evening reminded me very much of cabaretstyleconcerts offered many years ago by the York Regional Symphonyunder the direction of the late Clifford Poole. These, billed as “Wineand Cheese Concerts,” were performed in several small communitiesthroughout the York Region. Admission for a couple included a bottleof wine. There were cheese and crackers on each table. At each largeround table, two seats were to be left vacant. There were a numberof intermissions where orchestra members would go into the audienceand occupy these empty chairs. The inevitable “what instrumentdo you play” was frequently followed by such comments as “what32 | June 4, 2014 – Sept 7, 2014 thewholenote.com