Maybe Edgier Opera Might Convince Me

Okay, I'm going to try Opera one more time.

I'm going to check out Toronto's Underground /Opera's multi-media production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Winchester Street Theatre (running from August 18th - 29th 2009). Underground /Opera is a new series of cutting edge, contemporary adaptations of classical opera brought to you by the avant-garde performance company Opera Erratica and the Classical Music Consort, Toronto’s most exciting new classical music ensemble.

They've been kind enough to send me this to share: SPECIAL OFFER: We would like to offer your blog readers half price tickets ($19/$11 for under 30 and seniors) for the August 18th performance. They should respond to info@opera-erratica.org with the subject heading Blog Offer (limit of 2 per person). Get tickets here - or 416 978 8849

"Opera Erratica and the CMC bring to this masterpiece of English opera their unique mix of old music and new media—performing on period instruments, conducted by Ashiq Aziz, with a with avant-garde video projections and staging by director and designer Patrick Eakin Young. This innovative production is sure to interest opera lovers, art fans, and downtown scenesters alike and is part of an exciting new movement in Toronto’s art scene, combining classical music with contemporary culture."

If you've followed my blog for a while, you know I've tried and tried to love Opera but I just can't do it. Usually I'm mildly bored and confused. I tried Ballet and fell in love, but it didn't happen with Opera. I was so hoping I would have the Julia Roberts revelation in Pretty Woman but alas, I'm no pretty woman. Still, maybe I've been seeing the wrong things, since I've only gone to see the classical stuff at the Canadian Opera Company, or I saw some productions at the Vienna Opera House or the Budapest Opera House where the surtitles were not in English so I was super confused the whole time. At this point, the only Opera I've loved is La Boheme, though seeing it on Broadway from a production directed by Baz Luhrman might have helped (though I did enjoy it when they ran a Met performance on PBS's Great Performance (or somewhere on TV once, though where else would it have been?).

The Underground/Opera seems to be going for the youth market so could be interesting and at even their regular prices, is fractions from the COC (I know, not the greatest abbreviation is it?).

Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com