Valery Gergiev

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Opera
  • Ballet
  • Orchestra
  • Conductors
  • Financial

Valery Gergiev

Header Banner

Valery Gergiev

  • Home
  • Opera
  • Ballet
  • Orchestra
  • Conductors
  • Financial
Opera
Home›Opera›The curtain rises again at the McGill University Opera Company

The curtain rises again at the McGill University Opera Company

By Meghan Everett
March 25, 2022
0
0

Alexis Reed has her wardrobe readjusted during a dress rehearsal at McGill University’s Pollack Hall in Montreal on March 24.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

The McGill University Opera Company held its last in-person show, a performance of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, in January 2020, shortly before the pandemic put an end to live events. This weekend the curtain will rise once again on live performances at Opera McGill with performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Handel’s Orlando.

An opera production typically takes a year of planning, months of rehearsals, and about eight days in the theater to install lights, organize sets, and resolve technical issues. More than 125 people took part in the preparations for the two operas, which each last about three hours. The singers and musicians are all students in the performance department of the Schulich School of Music at McGill.

McGill Director of Opera Studies Patrick Hansen chats with Brianna Jones before the start of a dress rehearsal. Between the dress rehearsals and the actual performances, “we will have rehearsed [and] performed nearly 24 hours of opera in less than five days,” Hansen said.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

Between the dress rehearsals and the performances themselves, “we will have rehearsed [and] played nearly 24 hours of opera in less than five days,” says Patrick Hansen, director of opera studies at the school. “Then there are all the challenges behind the scenes with the wardrobe and the makeup and stage teams having to support two different shows. Just make one. It is as if Opera McGill had become a full-time professional opera company.

Don Giovanni is to be played Friday night and Saturday afternoon, while Orlando will be played Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Kelsey Ronn warms up her voice in the locker room before a rehearsal. The singers and musicians are all students in the performance department of the Schulich School of Music at McGill.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

Kelsey Ronn goes over her lyrics in the locker room before a rehearsal.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

Raphaël Laden-Guindon adjusts his wardrobe in the mirror before the start of a dress rehearsal.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

More than 125 people took part in the preparations for the two operas, which each last about three hours.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

Alexis Reed, left, as Donna Elvira, Kelsey Ronn as Donna Anna and Wesley Harrison as Don Ottavio perform during a dress rehearsal for Mozart’s Don Giovanni.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

Don Giovanni is to be performed on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.Evan Buhler/The Globe and Mail

Related posts:

  1. $ 45 Mobile Rush tix offered for Opera Australia’s first spectacular all-digital AIDA
  2. Ben Mingay plays Sweeney Todd for State Opera of SA
  3. New York opera impresario Paul Kellogg dies aged 84
  4. An unknown season of classical music, opera and live dance

Categories

  • Ballet
  • Conductors
  • Financial
  • Opera
  • Orchestra
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions