An Achingly Human Hercules

By Catherine Kustanczy, 07 April 2014

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Reviewed at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto on 5 April 2014

Handel, Hercules

Canadian Opera Company

Harry Bicket, Conductor

Peter Sellars, Director

George Tsypin, Set Designer

Dunya Ramicova, Costume Designer

Lucy Crowe, Iole

Alice Coote, Dejanira

Richard Croft, Hyllus

Eric Owens, Hercules

David Daniels, Lichas

Werther oozes quiet despair in new Canadian Opera Company staging

John Gilks, 7th May

Excellent performances cannot turn a conventional production of Massenet’s Werther into a dramatic experience for the 21st century.

***11

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

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Catherine Kustanczy

Catherine is a freelance arts journalist. She has worked in Dublin, London, Toronto, and New York City, in a variety of capacities for film, TV, radio, and digital. She has been part of cultural panels on CBC Radio, the Canadian Opera Company, HufPost Live, and television. Find her at @catekustanczy.