Hopkins shines in Heggie and Atwood’s Songs for Murdered Sisters

Joshua Hopkins and Margaret Atwood

Joshua Hopkins

Alexander Shelley conducts the National Arts Centre Orchestra

By John Gilks, 12 February 2023

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“so much verbal and musical complexity is packed into these 25 minutes”

Reviewed at Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto on 11 February 2023

Mayer, Faust-Ouverture, Op.46

Jake Heggie and Margaret Atwood, Songs for Murdered Sisters (NACO commission)

Brahms, Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op.98

Alexander Shelley, Conductor

Joshua Hopkins, Baritone

National Arts Centre Orchestra

Paradise Deferred: Shelley takes on Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri

Andrew Larkin, 13th February

Alexander Shelley tackles Schumann’s sprawling Das Paradies und die Peri with conviction, shaping real momentum and drama, even if balance issues and Thomas Moore’s cloying libretto sometimes distract.

***11

An English salad, French dressing from Shelley and the RPO

Dominic Lowe, 5th April

Shelley led an unusual mix of English music by Walton, Coleridge-Taylor and Delius, with a poignant addition of two small works by the young Lili Boulanger.

***11

Diverse visions of love on display from the OSM and Alexander Shelley

Linda Holt, 9th February

Ahead of Valentine's Day, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal presented a concert centered on “symphonic love”.

****1

“Engaging with death”: the OSM plays Strauss and Sibelius

Edward Sava-Segal, 24th November

Alexander Shelley conducts a contemplative programme featuring Strauss' Four Last Songs and Death and Transfiguration.

****1

The RPO making sense of Shostakovich: a thrilling Ninth

Nick Boston, 28th November

Shelley and the RPO make sense of Shostakovich with lush Glazunov, tight Borodin and dazzling Prokofiev with Kian Soltani.

****1

Seeking new horizons with the Royal Philharmonic

Timmy Fisher, 27th November

Alexander Shelley conducts a folksong-infused programme of Kodály and Bartók, with Mariam Batsashvili performing Liszt.

***11

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John Gilks

John trained as a mathematician before working all over the world in management consulting. He’s now settled in downtown Toronto as an e-health strategy consultant. His operatric interests are eclectic but lean to the very early and very modern. He is also passionate about art song. His writings can be found in Opera Canada magazine and in his blog. He is owned by a small, grey cat called Jane.

Joshua Hopkins and the NACO shine in Heggie and Atwood’s new Songs for Murdered Sisters