Review: (Toronto) Un Ballo in Maschera

Roland Wood, Adrianne Pieczonka (photo by Michael Cooper)

What the Booing Meant

by Lucy Wells

I’ve just come from the opera and, to be honest, I’m not sure what to tell you about it. The Canadian Opera Company has just started its run of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. One of the more frequently performed works in the operatic literature, it is a showcase of beautiful music. In the hands of the COC, it features some of the finest singing and playing I’ve had the pleasure of hearing.

The cast stars American tenor Dimitri Pittas as Riccardo, Canadian soprano and COC favourite Adrianne Pieczonka as Amelia, English baritone Roland Wood as Renato, Canadian soprano and COC Ensemble Studio graduate Simone Osborne as Oscar, and Russian mezzo Elena Manistina as Ulrica. These five, as well as the other artists rounding out the cast and the chorus, sing about as well as you could ever hope for. Pittas and Pieczonka, both debuting in their roles, sing as though the music was written for them. They all do, actually; it’s difficult to single out any one artist when everyone performs so beautifully. Stephen Lord, the conductor, brings a luscious sound out of the orchestra, and paces the work naturally. Even when there were slight ensemble issues (the fun of live theatre!), the cast and orchestra came back together almost immediately; clearly, everyone is at the top of his or her game. The performance was a master class on how to perform this repertoire. On those merits alone, it is a show worth seeing.