Canadian Opera Company - Toronto | 19 June 2024 |
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Performance reviews
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Don GiovanniCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() ![]() |
A powerful, reimagined ‘Don Giovanni’ |
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A long, dreary night |
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‘Don Giovanni’ at the Met Opera and in two other stagings |
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A moody Svengali attracts women in an unusual staging of Mozart’s opera |
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A new vision for Don Giovanni, with mixed results |
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Miss seeing COC’s Don Giovanni at your peril |
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‘Don’t worry about kissing right now, guys. Let’s just get the scene worked out, and you can all kiss properly in later rehearsals, when it will come more naturally.'
Canadian Opera Company brings 'Don Giovanni' back to the stage.
Madama ButterflyCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() ![]() |
Kelly Kaduce is a moving Butterfly in the Canadian Opera Company’s alternate cast |
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The great favourite sails on |
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The Canadian Opera Company’s Madama Butterfly is a notch below essential |
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Canadian Opera Company's production of 'Madama Butterfly' soars |
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COC’s Madama Butterfly remains beautiful and problematic |
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Madama Butterfly fails to deliver on large promise |
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FalstaffCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 9 | ![]() |
Falstaff offers sheer perfection |
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A gala season opener |
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All-Canadian cast shines in Verdi's masterpiece |
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The COC’s Falstaff is a fine figure of a performance |
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COC opens new season with a stunning Falstaff |
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Brush up your Verdi… |
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Gerald Finley is Falstaff |
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The revengers’ comedy |
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Falstaff: A comic masterpiece |
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Roberto DevereuxCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() ![]() |
The real star of "Roberto Devereux" was the music |
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A dramatic tour de force |
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COC’s Roberto Devereux delivers with style, eventually |
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This absolutely thrilling production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux puts the “grand” back into “grand opera.” |
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With Canadian Opera Company’s Roberto Devereux, opening April 25, Radvanovsky will have sung all three Donizetti queens, including Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda.
Don QuichotteCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
Don Quichotte is a compact classic |
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Full of charm and delight |
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Canadian Opera Company puts on production of 'Don Quichotte' |
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Don Quichotte a brilliant end to a satisfying COC season |
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Don Quichotte redeemed by star Italian bass |
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HerculesCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
A stirring achievement |
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Update of Handel’s opera about the far-reaching effects of war touches a universal chord |
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With Hercules, COC’s big idea doesn’t help an in-between opera |
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Hercules: A vision of life and redemption |
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COC's Hercules sears the soul |
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Un Ballo in MascheraCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() ![]() |
A bold reimagining of Verdi’s timeless opera of love and political intrigue |
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Un ballo in Tinseltown |
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A Masked Ball dazzles with spectacular singing |
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Così fan tutteCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 3 | ![]() |
Atom Egoyan schools opera audiences on love and fidelity |
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Così triumphs over directorial onslaught |
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The Canadian Opera Company mounts clash of concepts with Così fan tutte |
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‘I’d love to direct a comedy’
Peter GrimesCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() |
A wonderful Britten centennial tribute |
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Anthony Dean Griffey, orchestra and chorus stunning in COC Peter Grimes |
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Benjamin Britten’s tale of a troubled outsider gets a superb production by the Canadian Opera Company |
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What could have been a tragedy wound up as a triumph |
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Acclaimed Canadian tenor Ben Heppner was back in fine form Tuesday night, returning to the stage to star in Peter Grimes after having withdrawn from the opera's opening night performance.
Health reasons cited; American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey steps in for Peter Grimes.
Star tenor, who opens in Peter Grimes for the Canadian Opera Company, still sees himself as the ‘lumpy guy from Toronto’.
La bohèmeCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 2 | ![]() |
An artistic view of the artist's life |
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Canadian Opera Company’s La Boheme keeps me dry-eyed, and that's not good |
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Dimitri Pittas and Michael Fabiano to Replace David Lomeli in Canadian Opera Company's La Bohème.
Dialogues des CarmelitesCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 8 | ![]() ![]() |
Simply marvelous |
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“A terrible beauty is born” |
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One of the COC’s best productions |
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Two 20th-Century works that still shock and awe |
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Dialogues Of The Carmelites offers fear, faith, and grace |
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A masterful Dialogue |
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Judith Forst, Adrianne Pieczonka and Isabel Bayrakdarian stunning in Canadian Opera Company production |
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Dialogues des Carmélites: Its faults are redeemed by its intensity and power |
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SalomeCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
Two 20th-Century works that still shock and awe |
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Still a shocker |
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Salome soars |
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Salome survives the Egoyan touch |
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Atom Egoyan’s Salome |
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Baritone who plays John the Baptist had gruesome replica of his head made for Canadian Opera Company production.
Lucia di LammermoorCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() ![]() |
Spookily effective |
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Lucia di Lammermoor not yet worth the price of admission |
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A bold vision gives new depth to this rich score |
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Dark, claustrophobic, and highly enjoyable |
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La clemenza di TitoCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
Bliss and exasperation |
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The performances are superb |
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How the COC’s La Clemenza di Tito is like rooting for the Leafs (seriously) |
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Fine performances make this imperfect production worthwhile |
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La clemenza di Tito sounds great but tough to watch |
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Down-to-earth diva on the rise.
Tristan und IsoldeCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() ![]() |
A special event indeed! |
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Tristan und Isolde is Wagner-riffic |
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Musical perfection was in the air |
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A transcendent experience |
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The Canadian Opera Company has scored a major coup in bringing this world-renowned talent here to mount a new production of Wagner’s immense Tristan und Isolde.
The new year can’t come fast enough — if only for Ben Heppner’s impassioned return to the Canadian Opera Company for the first time since the Clinton/Chrétien era.
Die FledermausCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() ![]() |
Lúgubre producción escénica |
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A welcome return |
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You can’t suck the fun out of Die Fledermaus |
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Psychoanalysis and an ominous batman add a couple of fascinating layers to well-known Strauss confection |
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COC's Fledermaus leaves you looking for Strauss |
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Die Fledermaus a rich, racy triumph |
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Il TrovatoreCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 7 | ![]() ![]() |
La casa por la ventana |
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A welcome return of Verdi’s great work |
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Voices, not the acting or staging, drive opera |
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COC's Trovatore surpasses the libretto's limits |
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There’s plenty of lyricism and good singing in Verdi’s passionate opera but little stage drama |
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The Canadian Opera Complany’s Il Trovatore is thunderous |
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A must-see for Opera fanatics |
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World-renowned tenor Ramón Vargas sails the high Cs in Il Trovatore.
SemeleCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
Hot Handel |
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A perplexing show |
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The stage steals the show in the Canadian Opera Company’s Semele |
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Opera production saved by spectacular music |
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East and West meet as strangers in COC’s Semele |
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Talk about a couple of heavyweight performances: The Canadian Opera Company has cast two sumo wrestlers for its upcoming production of Semele.
Gianni SchicchiCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
A winning pair |
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COC serves up a Florentine double bill |
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Double bills come in a few flavours... |
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Two courses of Italian hit the spot |
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A Florentine Tragedy tepid while Gianni Schicchi soars |
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Eine florentinische TragödieCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() |
A winning pair |
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COC serves up a Florentine double bill |
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Double bills come in a few flavours... |
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Two courses of Italian hit the spot |
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A Florentine Tragedy tepid while Gianni Schicchi soars |
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Les Contes d'HoffmannCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 6 | ![]() |
Hoffmann’s visions come to life |
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The Canadian Opera Company production is a marvel to see and hear |
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The vocal delights were considerable |
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Unfocused Hoffman still fine operatic entertainment |
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Beautiful singing, but Tales of Hoffman are really musical sugar |
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Hoffmann stories great individually, but fail to come together into a whole |
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Samuel Johnson famously called opera “an exotic and irrational entertainment,” but there are a few people in the world who can also justifiably call it something else: the family business.
L'Amour de loinCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 5 | ![]() ![]() |
Opera from the 21st Century |
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Love from Afar provides suspense by the sea |
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Stunning COC production of Finnish composer’s opera a feast for the senses |
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COC delivers a distant love letter from a medieval poet |
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Modern opera at its very best |
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Love from Afar, the most-performed opera from this young century, has proven to be a game-changer for composer Kaija Saariaho.
ToscaCanadian Opera CompanyNo. of reviews: 4 | ![]() ![]() |
La cosa vera! |
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Adrianne Pieczonka made a formidable impression as Tosca |
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Simple telling of timeless tale highlights stunning performances, orchestration |
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Adrianne Pieczonka’s Tosca the best thing in COC’s production of Puccini classic |
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Having sustained a knee injury in her death scene in the title role on Friday, Adrianne Pieczonka didn’t jump to her death Tuesday night at the Canadian Opera Company.
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News & Articles
Canadian Opera Company general director Perryn Leech resigns |
Canadian Opera Company general director Perryn Leech has left the organization only three years into his tenure, with former board chair David Ferguson stepping into the role on an interim basis. |
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Canadian Opera Company’s 2024-25 season |
Tamara Wilson, Anna Pirozzi, Eri Nakamura and Long Long lead Canadian Opera Company’s 2024-25 season. |
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Canadian Opera Company announces winter & spring 2021-22 season |
The Canadian Opera Company has announced three new mainstage productions at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts for the 2021-22 season. |
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Canadian Opera Company receives new funding |
The Department of Canadian Heritage has announced that the Canadian Opera Company will receive $644,372 in crucial funding provided through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. |
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Canadian Opera Company announces new General Director |
Canadian Opera Company has announced that Perryn Leech will be its new incoming General Director, effective March 1, 2021. |
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