Review: (Toronto / Opera) Persée

Don’t Stop Believing 
by Shannon Christy

People give strange wedding gifts. Imagine for a moment that you have just been married to a stunning woman who hails from a remarkable family, is intelligent and incredibly witty.  On your wedding night you are presented with a gift: an opera about a bastard who is infatuated with a beautiful maiden engaged to someone else. The bastard then rescues her from many monsters one of whom is her betrothed. One would have to be sympathetic if Louis XVI was upset about such a wedding gift but if the original was anywhere near as entertaining as what Opera Atelier presented last night then it is understandable if the Dauphin and future King of France simply ignored the content preferring to indulge in the music, ribald humour, and beauty presented to him.

The story is about the exploits of Persée, (Christopher Enns) who is the self-proclaimed bastard of Jupiter and is in love with Andromède, (Mireille Asselin), despite the fact that she is a class above him and already betrothed to Phinée, (Vasil Garvanliev). Naturally Persée is oblivious to this and as a result a series of events unfold putting our hero on the path of capturing the eye of his desire. 

Review: (Toronto) Abduction From the Seraglio

Ambur Braid, Lawrence Wilfiord (photo by Bruce Zinger)

I Need a Hero
by Shannon Christy

At some point one wonders why the cavemen bothered to paint on their walls.  Theories abound but I have always been convinced that it was boredom.  Art to a large sense is a desire to alleviate the pain and monotony of routine.  In this sense Opera Atelier’s production of Abduction From The Seraglio is just that, a relief from the minutiae of life.

Abduction From The Seraglio is about the kidnapping of three youths by a Turkish Pasha who installs them in his seraglio or harem and a rescue attempt by their friend.  It is about the emotions, and especially the passions of life in youth and the mercy of a foreigner with plenty of opportunity for humour.  I have always walked a fine line with Mozart’s humour.  On one hand it can seem to stretch new boundaries and eliminate innate prejudices but on the other hand it can be as the American comedian Bill Hicks would say, a lot of purple-headed dick jokes.  I tend to prefer it when new boundaries are stretched but this production seems more in tune with purple-headed dick jokes. 

Review: (Toronto) The Magic Flute

Ambur Braid and Laura Albino (photo by Bruce Zinger)

Tempos off, Singers Lost
Opera Atelier's Magic Flute has serious problems
by Shannon Christy

I am tired of those painted boards in lieu of set. Can I say it loud enough? Can I? Gerard Gauci might be a talented painter exhibiting in Toronto and in Montreal, but I want a set. Not a 2D wall with 2 benches in front.

Opera Atelier’s production of The Magic Flute last night was terrible at best. It felt like a rehearsal, with everything going half tempo and the singers looking directly at the conductor half of the time, as if to make sure they were okay. One thing was sure all right: every singer’s part was very well spelled out. I guess it was a good thing since the opera is sung in English: the surtitles were barely needed but God! Was. It. Slow. By the time it is over you will be working hard to suppress the memory of seeing it. 

Sunday Feature: Marshall Pynkoski on The Magic Flute at Opera Atelier (Toronto)

Opera Atelier’s The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute seems to have a life of its own and galvanizes every performer and every rehearsal in a way that is absolutely unique.
by Marshall Pynkoski 

Opera Atelier Founding Co-Artistic Director and Director of The Magic Flute Marshall Pynkoski's fascination with music, theatre and dance of the 17th and 18th centuries began in classes with the late Leonard Crainford and John Marshall, respectively Chairman and Major Examiner, Royal Academy of Dancing in London. His further studies with Florentina Lojekova (Master Artist of Czechoslovakia) and David Moroni (the Royal Winnipeg Ballet) were pivotal in his decision to pursue a career in ballet. Early in Mr. Pynkoski's professional career, he had the opportunity to undertake in-depth studies of baroque opera and ballet in Paris. His studies continued with renowned baroque dramaturge professor Dene Barnett at Flinders University in South Australia. In 1985 he founded Opera Atelier with his partner Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg and he has since directed a wide range of period productions of baroque and early classical opera and ballet in close collaboration with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. He has acted as guest instructor at the Centre for Baroque Studies under conductor Marc Minkowski with whom he premiered North America's first period production of The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. Mr. Pynkoski has collaborated with many of the finest artists in the world of early music and his productions of opera and ballet have toured throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He is recipient of numerous awards including the Toronto Arts Award, the Ruby award for Outstanding contribution to Opera in Canada and the TIME Magazine award for classical music. He was named Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres following his international tour of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre.

Given the fact that our upcoming production of The Magic Flute (April 6-13) will mark the fourth time Opera Atelier has produced this opera in only 22 years, you would think we would have a pretty good idea of what to expect from rehearsals, but this is certainly not the case! More than any opera I have ever directed, The Magic Flute seems to have a life of its own and galvanizes every performer and every rehearsal in a way that is absolutely unique. 

Review: (Toronto) Armide

Photo: Bruce Zinger / Marie McDunnough & Jack Rennie, Artists of Atelier Ballet.

The One by Lully
Armide - the singer and the opera - are gorgeous
by Axel Van Chee


The story of Armida by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso about an Arabian sorceress and her unrequited love with the Christian soldier Rinaldo during the First Crusade is a popular subject in opera literature; Handel had one (of course, it is actually harder to name what he doesn't have), Gluck had one, Rossini had one, even Dvorak and Haydn, who is not exactly known for his operatic works had one. The first known rendition of the poem in operatic form however, is Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Armide, first performed in 1686, and it opens at the Elgin Theatre in a visually stunning production by Opera Atelier.


Reincarnated from its 2005 run, Marshall Pynkoski unfolds the story like an enchanted fairy-tale manuscript, with the sets and costumes exquisitely designed by Gerard Gauci and Dora Rust D’Eye. There are intricate details everywhere, enfolding both Asian and Western motifs to further accentuate the conflicts between the East and the West. The lighting design by Bonnie Beecher further adds a layer of spectacles to the opera.