COC’s Don Pasquale gets a one-note Dolce Vita treatment

Joshua Hopkins (Malatesta), Misha Kiria (Don Pasquale) and Simone Osborne (Norina)

Santiago Ballerini (Ernesto) and Misha Kiria (Don Pasquale)

Simone Osborne (Norina) and Joshua Hopkins (Malatesta)

Simone Osborne (Norina) and Misha Kiria (Don Pasquale)

By Gianmarco Segato, 27 April 2024

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“it leaves little room for the work’s intrinsic pathos and darker undertones”

Reviewed at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto on 26 April 2024

Donizetti, Don Pasquale

Canadian Opera Company

Jacques Lacombe, Conductor

Renaud Doucet, Director, Choreography

André Barbe, Set Designer, Costume Designer, Director

Guy Simard, Lighting Designer

Canadian Opera Company Orchestra

Canadian Opera Company Chorus

Misha Kiria, Don Pasquale

Joshua Hopkins, Dr Malatesta

Santiago Ballerini, Ernesto

Simone Osborne, Norina

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

Canadian Opera Company’s Barber proves as fresh as ever

John Gilks, 5th February

The Barber is back in Toronto with an excellent cast, young and old, and it’s as lively, colourful and energetic as ever.

****1

Christopher Alden’s Rigoletto returns to Canadian Opera Company

Michelle Assay, 28th January

Christopher Alden’s Victorian-era Rigoletto still divides opinions, despite top-notch performances all around in this Toronto revival.

***11

Canadian Opera's Orfeo returns elegant, restrained and very satisfying

John Gilks, 9th October

The restrained beauty of Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice is matched by musical elegance in its revival current revival at the Four Seasons Centre.

*****

Canadian Opera Company opens season with Roméo et Juliette

John Gilks, 27th September

Amy Lane’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the COC is eye-catching and enjoyable but doesn’t offer the same level of insight as her Faust last season.

***11

Eugene Onegin revival fails to find the magic spark in Toronto

John Gilks, 2nd May

Robert Carsen’s 1997 production of Eugene Onegin has aged remarkably well but the latest Canadian Opera Company revival of it doesn’t quite recapture its magic.

***11

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Gianmarco Segato

Arts writer, administrator and singer Gianmarco Segato is Assistant Editor for La Scena Musicale. He was Associate Artist Manager for opera at Dean Artists Management and, from 2017-2022, Editorial Director of Opera Canada magazine. Previous to that he was Adult Programs Manager with the Canadian Opera Company. Gianmarco is an intrepid classical music traveler with a special love of Prague and Budapest as well as an avid cyclist and cook.

Canadian Opera Company’s Don Pasquale gets a one-note Dolce Vita treatment