Wish Opera; the sound of modern elegance
Review by Sherry Isaac, Ontario Arts Review
March 26, 2010
The life of a reviewer: Attend a show, sit in great seats, have a night out, then home and critique it. I am a writer, so how hard could it be? Or so I thought until handed my first assignment: The Wish Opera. After the initial thrill of attending my first opera: - a flutter of anxiety. I checked the website and the apprehension temporarily lifted. It is not merely an opera, but fashion, contemporary art and design infused, uplifted and showcased by opera. Then a new wave rises up. Rarely do I take the time to match my shoes to my purse. How can I write about fashion? Or art? I can’t tell an aria from an intermezzo, an Anne Klein from a Calvin. What had this poor ‘schmuck’ gotten into?
A night full of glamour, fun, joy and mystery, that’s what! And why should’t opera, or fashion for that matter, appeal to the schmucks of the world? Still, I was a tad nervous.
Opening night, Thursday, at the Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre at York University’s Keele Campus. A tingle, an energy; filled the air as instruments were tuned. Opera, for me, was a new & rich experience. Where were the tuxedos, the up-dos; the diamonds? Surrounded by everyday folk like me, I could breathe at last. The stage was simply adorned with furniture from Canadian designers, photography by Canadian photographers, and art by Canadian artists. In fact all of the talent that graced the stage was distinctively Canadian. Deirdre Kelly of The Globe & Mail opened the evening with a delightful passage from her book, “Paris Times Eight”. Tonia Cianciulli, the program’s executive director, welcomed us. Lights dimmed, the music began.
As a writer I depend on language to convey how character feels, thinks, grows. Opera, to my delight, was a language within itself. The range of emotion that weaved through soprano Sinead Sugrue’s performance of Qui la voce, the longing, the heartbreak, the hint of madness in her laughter, was easily evident; no interpreter required. Did it matter that I recognized Largo al factotum, an aria from The Barber of Seville, as the score to the playful Bugs Bunny cartoon I watched as a five-year old, cross-legged on the living room rug? Not at all—it made me feel right at home. I was right to feel the fun and frivolity of the piece as it was brought to life by baritone Theodore Baerg. Wrapped up and carried away by the music, I found myself physically reacting to the notes, to the grand, sweeping expressions, to the lilts and falls of the operatic voices. I was alert and wide-eyed, fully engaged. Often I noticed my head titled to one side, as though listening to a passionate story being told to me by a close friend. My chin trembled to ‘Vesti la giubba’, sung with such heart by tenor Ermanno Mauro. ‘The tears of a clown’ was the translation I found on Wikipedia this morning and it came as no surprise. I could have written the same translation last night as I watched and listened.
The night finished with a fun and energetic number performed by York University’s Flash Mob Dancers. The evening lived up to its promise: [To create] ‘a modern vision of opera by fusing the existing beauty of operatic sound with contemporary fashion and design’. The sopranos were gowned by Canadian designers Ula Zukowska, Breeyn McCarney, Ron de Ramos & Farley Chatto. The most striking outfit was the gown worn by mezzo-soprano Jennifer Fina, which sparkled like starlight reflected in still water. And in case nobody noticed- I DID match my bag to my boots.