WERTHER – REVIEW OF 2026 CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

Jules Massenet’s Werther has had a rocky history, but it has joined the standard repertoire even if it is with infrequent productions. The Canadian Opera Company last performed it in 1992. Thirty-four years later, it is offering us a new production, a co-production in fact with the Opera de Montreal and the Vancouver Opera. Nice to see Canadian companies co-operating. 

The libretto is based on Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, his sorrows being that he cannot get the woman he loves. That is hardly a unique occurrence and disappointment in love for the duration of a play or a novel, means that you take your moping and life goes on. You may take the case of King Edward VIII who give up a kingdom for the woman he loved.

In the opera’s creaky plot Werther is in love with Charlotte, and she has no objection to reciprocating his grand passion except for the fact that she is married and not prepared to betray her husband. And adultery is not an option. This is noble love.

Massenet’s librettists provide some padding like rehearsing Christmas carols in July, meeting some local people to help with the advancement of the plot and an extended death scene. If a man is willing to give up his life for love, he is entitled to some of our time.

The COC production by Alain Gauthier with sets designed by Olivier Laudreville and costumes designed by Leilah Dufour Forget is very good and there is nothing they could do about the creaky plot. But to Gauthier’s credit he remains faithful to the feel of the opera.

The opera opens with the ever-reliable bass Robert Pomakov as the Bailiff trying to get his six children to rehearse Christmas carols in July. They will get them right by Christmas.  

Werther, our hero, enters the yard of the Bailiff’s house and he is in a state of ecstasy. He has not seen Charlotte, the woman that will make him more ecstatic which in his case is impossible. He is at the peak. He wonders if he is awake or dreaming. This is paradise where the woods sigh like a harp. He goes on praising nature, the sun, the walls, the hedges in almost erotic language. The expression of that powerful ardor in the opening scene and to the end of the opera is in the hands and vocal chords of tenor Russell Thomas. Through solos and duets his defining romantic being is maintained with unfailing sonority.

 Victoria Karkacheva and Russell Thomas in Werther. Photo: Michael Cooper

The inspirer of his passion is not nature or the hedges and flowers, but the lovely Charlotte sung by soprano Victoria Karkacheva in her debut with the COC. Charlotte in the hands of Karkacheva has everything to offer as a woman but there a couple obstacles. She is first betrothed and then married to Albert (bass-baritone Gordon Bintner – fine performance). And she promised her mother that she will marry Albert. Karkacheva has a lovely voice and she expresses passion and restraint but eventually tells Werther that she does love him and they kiss. In this opera a kiss is the equivalent of a celestial experience.      

Soprano Simone Osborne sang the role of Sophie, Charlotte’s teenage sister. We like her character and her lovely singing except that on a couple of occasions that orchestra drowned her out.

Johannes Debus conducted the COC Orchestra in the outpouring of romantic music (it’s a package deal) that rounded off the evening.

The set by Landreville consisted of some moveable walls and a view of the background when we are in the Bailiff’s yard. The background is a bland colour and it is at odds with Werther’s aria praising nature. Would some lush greeneries not have been more appropriate? Maybe it would make no difference. Werther sees or dreams of whatever he wants anyway.

Director Gauthier does a highly commendable job by giving us a well-thought out, solid and enjoyable production.    

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Werther by Jules Massenet with a libretto by Edouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann is being performed seven times by the Canadian Opera Company until May 23, 2026 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. For details see www.coc.ca

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto 

DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL – REVIEW OF 2026 CAA THEATRE PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas

A few questions. Do you read graphic novels? Have you read any graphic novels by Dav Pilkey? Are you between 6 and 12 years old? Do you have offspring or friends in that age group? If the answer is “yes”, you should go and see Dog Man: The Musical now playing at the CAA Theatre in Toronto.

The musical’s natural audience is the youngster but there is enough energy and laughter generated by the event to entertain adults. After all, those kids cannot go to the theatre by themselves, can they? 

Kevin del Aguila wrote the book and lyrics and Brad Alexander composed the music and Dav Pilkey’s  cartoon characters of the graphic novels jumped out  and became the personages of the musical. The six of them are George (Troi Lennoxx Gaines), Harold (Mundo Ballejos), Petey (Anthony Rodriguez), Dog Man (Nick Manna), Flippy (Glory Yepassis-Zembrou) and Li’l Petey (Sadie Jayne Kennedy). You or your companions probably know them all by heart.

With boisterous (that means really loud) music and energy to propel a supersonic jet, George and Harold welcome us to the show and we are just getting started.  

We meet Dog Man who was a nice cop but like many of them he was not very bright. (This does not apply to Toronto police officers who are nice and very bright, just in case one of them stops me for a traffic violation). The not-too-swift cop owned a very intelligent dog and when it met its unfortunate demise (it died) its brain was transferred to the cop who became a very intelligent officer, like a Toronto cop. With floppy ears and dog’s nose, so to speak, we have a well-done Dog Man in Manna’s hands. He cannot speak but he is ready to fight for justice.

 The cast of Dog Man: The Musical.  Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel.

Good guys need bad guys and in Dog Man we have the gnarling, super active Petey. He is so bad he wants to clone himself so we can have one more criminal. What he gets is a cute, chatty, effervescent and funny kitten called Lil Petey. But she is not evil and in fact sings “Happy Song.” What is worse, she becomes friends with Dog Man and they all sing “The Perfect Mashup”.

Flippy is a telekinetic (I don’t know what the word means either) fish and there is a Robot that is supposed to make the kitty become evil. But the  dastardly and very funny villains are no match for Dog Man, Li’l Petey and law and order. All the actors take on other roles with maximum speed and minimum fuss. There are only six actors and far more roles to fill. They do it with humour, energy and plain gusto.

The set by Timothy R. Mackabee is supposed to be a treehouse but it looks like a colorful room that can be changed to different locations with little fuss. The costumes are again colorful with touches of humour, all intended to fit the high-octane performances by the actors.

There are thirteen musical numbers that emphasize  rambunctiousness and comic spirit that suit the plot and I admit that I cannot recall many tunes. The singing involves the company in every number and aims at moving the plot and entertaining us rather than impressing us or becoming embedded in our memory.

Director and Choreographer Jen Wineman sets the relentless pace and maintains it throughout,

In a theatre with a large number of youngsters, I find myself enjoying the enthusiastic reactions and participation of the audience as much as the show. When I saw the performance on Friday, May 8 I was disappointed that the youngsters were not engaged with the stage as I hoped they would be. I have no idea why that happened and it may have been just one of those nights that actors dread.
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Dog Man: The Musical by Kevin Del Aquila (book and lyrics), Brad Alexander (music), adapted from the books by Dav  Pilkey, continues until June  14, 2026, at the CAA Theatre, 651 Yonge St, Toronto ON, M4Y 1Z9  www.mirvish.com/

James Karas is the Culture  editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

CICADAS - REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT TARRAGON THEATRE

Reviewed by James Karas

Cicadas are large insects that make annoying, loud, high-pitched sounds during hot summers. They are also the title of a play created by Chris Thornborrow and David Lee that is now playing at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. The play is about a haunted house and I am not sure what the connection with cicadas is but that may simply reflect my ignorance of the lives of the creatures.

Cicadas, the play, is about a couple, Janie (Monica Dottor) and Trim (Ryan Hollyman) who buy a house in the Trinity Bellwood neighborhood of Toronto and according to the program the play “is a modern eco-thriller from the minds of….David Yee and…. Chris Thornborrow that serves as mystery and warning.” Climate dramaturg Vicki Stroich is listed as part of the Creative Team.

The set by Jawon Kang represents a house with a first and second floors and a door leading to a mysterious basement. In the opening scene we see a woman on the second floor slithering to the main floor, grabbing a large sheer curtain and wrapping it around herself in a type of dance routine and disappearing. 

We then meet the couple and their real estate agent checking the house out with a view to purchasing it. Ellora Patnaik plays the agent and several other roles in the play. She warns them that the house is haunted and has been unoccupied for many years. She recommends that they not buy it. Trim is a contractor and knows about construction and they buy the house.

We know that the house is haunted and it will be haunted until the final curtain and we have been warned that no one should go in the basement. This is 2032 so current residents of the neighborhood have no immediate concerns?

Ellora Patnaik_Ryan Hollyman_Monica Dottor. Photo: Jae Yang

They go into the basement and find a lot of water on the floor. Was it two feet? Very disturbing especially when the insurance agent tells them that they do not have coverage for it. The water will disappear and return miraculously or is there a stream or two under the house?

The real estate agent (I think) opens a panel in a wall and is sucked in and is never seen again. The ghosts haunting the house mean business. Janie is pregnant and wants to give birth at home. The warm-water flooded basement may be ideal for underwater birth. There is a hilarious scene where Trim bangs his head, faints and Janie’s water breaks. There are many laugh-out loud moments.

The couple’s child is abducted and they search for it frantically. They even hire a spiritualist or medium to advise them about the whereabouts of their child. Trim considers her a charlatan and she is sent packing.

Finally, a building inspector from the city visits and tells them that the house is condemned and uninhabitable. Considering its condition and location it is worth nothing.

I provide these details to give you an idea about the plot outline. That does not tell the whole story, of course. The play has some hilarious and some serious parts and Trim and Janie have some horrific scenes. It is noteworthy that the play has a live band that provides background music befitting the situation. It is like watching a film with a good soundtrack that accentuates the action. The musicians deserve to be mentioned and applauded. They are Amahl Arulanandam, Marc Blouin, Nathen Petitpas and Westley Shen. Superb.

Dottor and Hollyman go through a gamut of emotions and suspenseful moments as their situation deteriorates from a scream at some unusual noise (the horror movie standard), to genuine tragedy from the loss of their child to the loss of their house.   

Full marks to Nina Lee Aquino for outstanding direction of a quirky play.

The program lists Yee and Thornborrow as creators and I suppose they both composed music and wrote the text. But I still can’t figure out what the Climate Dramaturg offers. If your real estate agent tells you to stay away from a haunted house, listen to her? Stay away from Trinity Belwood? If you own a house there already, get the hell out of there?

You should see the play whether you live in that neighborhood or not.
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Cicadas created by David Yee and Chris Thornborrow, a Tarragon Theatre and NAC English Theatre co-production in association with fu-Gen Asian Theater Company continues until May 24, 2026, at the Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave. Toronto, Ontario.  www.tarragontheatre.com

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

COME FROM AWAY – REVIEW OF 2026 PRODUCTION AT GRAND THEATRE, LONDON

Reviewed by James Karas

The numbers 9/11 may mean almost nothing to most people around the world but they are embedded in the consciousness of Americans as a reminder of the events of September 11, 2001. Most of them would remember precisely where they were when they heard about the attack on the two towers of the World Trade Centre. Almost three thousand people were killed by the attacks and the United States declared an all-out war on terrorism. 

One can hardly imagine a pleasant consequence of the terrorist attacks, but there is one in Canada. All planes were ordered to land immediately and 38 of them landed in Gander, Newfoundland. A town of 9000 found itself with 7000 visitors from numerous airlines. The townspeople reacted with simultaneous and unbelievable acts of humanity, and gathered all their resources to welcome and care for the unexpected visitors.

That encounter of distress and decency on a massive scale, gave Irene Sankoff and David Hein the idea of writing a musical about the event called Come From Away. The musical opened in 2015, fourteen years after the terrorist attacks. It was a hit and was produced around the world. It became a legendary success and continues to be produced almost 25 years after the tragic events of 9/11.

The redoubtable Grand Theatre of London has produced the musical using an all-Canadian cast. That alone deserves a round of applause when one considers the number of road  productions that have been seen across Canada. 

The cast of Come from Away. Photo: Dehlia Katz

Come From Away has twelve actors  that play a variety of roles. We start with the residents of Gander, a quiet town that goes about its business until news of something horrific filters through. It is 9/11 and 38 planes land in its large airport. The twelve townspeople change chairs and become passengers on a plane that is forced to sit on the tarmac for hours.

The townspeople go into high gear preparing to receive, house, feed and take care of 7000 people. There is comedy as they try to figure out what to get. Medications, tampons, food for pets including monkeys, sleeping accommodations and…and…

The musical is written through and performed at a brisk pace. The dozen or so musical numbers are performed by the company except for several solos. The titles tell the story of the stranded passengers and the townspeople. “38 Planes,” “Blankets and Bedding, “28 Hours/Wherever We Are” (the time spent in the plane after landing), “Phoning Home,” “Screech” (the local moonshine).

There is humour like trying to find translators for the international guests. Anyone speak Moldovan? The Mayor (Darrin Baker) leads with “Welcome to the Rock”. There is the Black man (Joema Frith) who is sent to take people’s barbecues and bring them to a central location. You do that where he comes from, he tells us, and they will shoot you! And Hannah (Divine Brown) whose son is a firefighter in New York and she finds out that he is one of the victims in the Twin Towers. She sings the solo “I am here.” Nick (Steven Gallagher) and Diane (Lori Nancy Kalamanski) find romance and sing “Stop the World”

Then there is Janice (Kelly Holiff) the cub reporter, nervous and lost on her first assignment, the police officer Oz (Sheldon Elter), the teacher Beulah (Darlene Spencer). It is difficult to remember all the roles the cast took but I give equal praise to all. But there is also a knock. Newfoundlanders have a beautiful, lilting accent all their own. Unfortunately I did not hear any of it although there appeared to be some attempts at it. The Creative Team lists four dialect coaches and with an international group of visitors they may have had their hands full.

The set by Scott Penner consists of chairs pinned to all sides of the stage from floor to ceiling on a dark background. The only props are chairs and a couple of tables and that is all that is needed.

Director Julie Tomaino maintains a lively pace with some pauses in the face of tragedy. The comedy is intrinsic to the situation such as trying to buy all that maybe needed. How about tampons? Back to the drug store. Baby food? Oh, yes, back to…

Tomaino has chosen to have most singing and band playing at fortissimo volume. This was unnecessary and at times it seemed inappropriate. Less volume for tragic events would be more appropriate.

The nine thousand residents of Gander looked after and entertained 7000 visitors from around the world for five days back in 2001. The Grand Theatre of London entertained us almost 25 years after the tragic events of 9/11 thanks to Irene Sankoff and David Hein.
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Come From Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein (Book, Music and Lyrics) opened on May 1 and continues until May 31, 2026, at the Spriet Stage of the Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond St. London, Ontario. www.grandtheatre.com/

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto 

EUGENE ONEGIN – REVIEW OF 2026 LIVE IN HD FROM THE MET PRODUCTION

 Reviewed by James Karas

The bad news is that New York’s Metropolitan Opera has a deficit of $30 million for the 2025 -2026 season that nears its end. The good news is that we are still able to see some Live from the Met in HD transmissions. The latest one was Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in a revival of Deborah Warner’s 2013 production. It represented the 165^th performance of the opera at the Met.

The production boasts a first-rate cast with soprano Asmik Grigorian as Tatiana and baritone Iurii Samoilov as Onegin. Tatiana is the young, impressionable girl living on the family estate, mostly reading books. She goes for a walk with the dashing Onegin and falls passionately in love with him. We do not see the walk. Tatana wants to tell Onegin that she loves him so she spends a night composing a letter to him. Alas, Onegin rebuffs her, ever so politely.

She grows up, marries a decent aristocrat and in the end sends Onegin packing when he tries to get her to leave her husband. She may love him but she will not betray her husband,

That is the role that Grigorian must fulfil. The letter scene is the heart of the opera and         she delivers the fears, doubts, love and passion demanded. She sings beautifully and communicates all those emotions to the audience.

Asmik Grigorian, Maria Barakova, Iurii Samoilov, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac. 
Photo: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera

Samoilov has all the traits of a jerk but he comes out better than that perhaps because he appears to have matured. He dumped the innocent Tatiana and killed his friend in a duel after acting abominably towards him but we see him repentant.  There he is. Samoilov has a marvelous voice and he gives us a vocally splendid and theatrically credible Onegin.

Tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac sings the sympathetic role of the tragic poet Lenski, Onegin’s friend and dueling victim as well as Olga’s betrothed. He is decent but jealous and challenges Onegin to a duel. He sings the beautiful farewell aria with surpassing passion and beauty.

Tatiana’s sister Olga is sung by mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova. She is not a diehard romantic like her sibling and flirts with Onegin causing the duel. A fine performance. The lesser roles of Filippyevna (Larissa Diadkova), Prince Gremin (bass-baritone Alexander Tsymbalyuk) are sung splendidly.

Unfortunately, I cannot give the same praise to the set designed by Tom Pye and some of the blame must go to producer Deborah Warner unless she had no input in it. The opera is set on a large and wealthy estate. The opening scene takes place in an outside structure of the estate. It has dirty windows and I have no idea what Tatiana and Olga are doing there or what the building is supposed to be. The peasants enter through there so it can’t be part of the house but I did not like the drab look.

The second and all-important letter scene is set in Tatiana’s’ bedroom. There is no bed and she is writing the letter on the floor. I have no idea why. The ballroom in the house on the estate is not much better.

On to the palace of Prince Gremin, Tatiana’s husband. We have Greco-Roman columns (they always look impressive) but hardly beautiful, there is no ceiling and it looks like we are out in the open with a blue sky on top.

Maestro Timur Zangiev conducted Met Orchestra and Chorus in Tchaikovsky’s lush and beloved score.

Eugene Onegin by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (libretto by the composer and K. S. Shilovsky after Pushkin) was shown Live in HD on May 2, 2026, at the Cineplex Theatre, Shops at Don Mills, Toronto and other theatres across Canada. Encore showing on May 16, 2026. For more information go to: www.cineplex.com/events

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto

HOW TO CATCH CREATION – REVIEW OF 2026 SOULPEPPER PRODUCTION

Reviewed by James Karas 

How to Catch Creation is a complex and at times complicated play by Christina Anderson. It is set in San Francisco and deals with the ambition and problem of creating a legacy such as painting, writing, or getting and raising a child. All the characters are  Black and the emphasis is on queer women and it is a paean to Black literature especially by Black queer women.

The play opens with Griffin (Daren A. Herbert), a gay man, announcing that he wants a kid. He spent 25 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit and wanting to adopt a child in his late forties has a sad and comic ring to it. Without financial wherewithal, a prison record and no partner, he is not considered as a suitable candidate for adoption or finding a surrogate. He is an avid reader and has read all the works of G.K. Marche (Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah), a prolific lesbian writer. Griffin is a promoter of lesbian writers and can rhyme off the names of many of them. 

His friend Tami (Amanda Cordner) is a lesbian painter and an administrator in a college admissions department. She is responsible for Stokes (Dante Prince), an aspiring painter, not being admitted to her school. He has been refused admission by 13 institutions and he is, understandably, at the end of his rope. Stokes’s girlfriend Riley (Germaine Konji) makes a cold call to Tami to ask the reason for her refusal to admit Stokes. By happenstance, Tami and Riley are attracted to each other and become lovers.

Riley is a tech expert and works part time in a computer repair store. She has some musical talent as well. Stokes works in an art gallery and while suffering from painter’s block decides to become a writer.

Natalie (Shakura Dickson) is a graphic textile artist in a relationship with G.K. but they have their issues too including infidelity. 

Daren A. Herbert and  Amanda Cordner. Photo by Dahlia Katz. 

All the characters want to “catch creation.” Adopt a child, paint, write a novel, fulfill an inner craving. But the ultimate creation and legacy is probably a child. Griffin pursues that end doggedly but Riley, Stokes and Natalie achieve it despite themselves. Riley becomes pregnant by Stokes accidentally and Natalie is impregnated by a former boyfriend. I will not disclose how things are worked out. 

As I said, the play is set in 2014 but there are scenes that take place in 1966, 1967 and 1988. Anderson inserts split scenes where the action takes place in two places or time periods simultaneously. Two actors converse in 2014 and another two converse in 1966. Unfortunately, these scenes proved to be confusing despite some help from the playwright in telling us in passing about the dates. We see G.K and his lover Natalie talking in 1966 (young) and in 2014 (not so young). There are numerous scenes, almost vignettes, that do not help with development with the plot strands that Anderson includes in the play.

There are head-scratching coincidences. Griffin and Stokes meet,  Tami tells Griffin about Stokes without naming  him and  Riley calls Tami while Stokes is with Griffin.

The big timespan and the numerous complications and plot coincidences create a problem for the actors who need to jump from one generation to the next and the brief scenes.

The set by Teresa Przybylski shows an apartment seating room on the left and an office  desk and chairs on the right. In the middle and above are spokes of light creating a dome and moveable structures again made of light spokes below. The light spokes changed colours but I could not follow the reason amid the complicated plot.

The play tackles the great themes of leaving a legacy and just as importantly the issue of writing by Black lesbian women. Except for Griffin having a prison sentence for a crime he did not commit, the people in the play are intelligent, erudite and talented and away from the racism and injustice that we hear about them in the news.  There is considerable humour as well as dramatic scenes. I commend the six actors for their work despite difficulties presented by the plot. Director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu keeps the action and frequent scene changes going but there is not much more she could do to provide clarity.

This is How to Catch Creation’s Canadian premiere at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in a co-production by Soulpepper, Obsidian Theatre and Nightwood Theatre.
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How To Catch Creation by Christina Anderson opened on April 30 and continues until May 17, 2026, at The Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 55 Tank House Lane, Toronto, Ontario. www.soulpepper.ca.

James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto.

BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE AND ERWARTUNG – REVIEW OF 2026 REVIVAL OF LEPAGE PRODUCTIONS

Reviewed by James Karas

The Canadian Opera Company in 1993 produced two infrequently staged operas, namely Bela Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Arnold Schoenberg’s ERWARTUNG. The director of both works was the inimitable Robert Lepage. The productions were reprised in 2015 and eleven years later they are back at the Four Seasons Centre with Francois Racine as the revival director.

Both one-acters are twentieth century operas and are a long way from Verdi and Puccini. Duke Bluebeard brings his new wife Judith to his dark and formidable castle. Before the curtain rises, they walk across the stage; he is dressed in a blue uniform and she is walking behind him in a trailing bridal gown. Then Set and Costume designer Michael Levine shows the newlywed couple in the long walls of the dark castle and the Duke asks her if she wants to go back to her family and her betrothed.

They address each other affectionately and she insists that she wants to stay because she loves him. She will change the cold castle into something warm, she says. She notices seven doors that are locked and wants to open them all.

American bass-baritone Christian van Horn is an upright and sonorous Bluebeard who is clearly hiding something but he expresses his love for Judith and tries to dissuade her from opening the seven doors that are represented by projected lights that resemble keyholes.

Karen Cargill and Christian van Horn in Bluebeard's Castle. 

Photo: Michael Cooper

Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill as Judith is a woman in love who has given up everything to be with Bluebeard. She will not be dissuaded from opening the mysterious doors and she stays in the castle despite the dreary milieu and the frightful sights that she encounters upon opening the seven doors. 

We watch the revelations as they appear when the doors are opened. The Torture Chamber, the Armory, the Treasury, The Secret Garden, The Kingdom, the Lake of Tears and finally The Silent Wives. Different colors of lights flash through the doors, the contents are covered in blood and tensions are rising  about Bluebeard’s true character. We fear that Judith’s demand to see what is behind every door without understanding the dangers that are perhaps all too obvious could end in tragedy. The music varies from dissonant and discordant to martial, to shimmering, to expansive, to funereal and finally to hushed horror as Judith joins the procession of Bluebeard’s three former wives as they all march towards eternity.

Cargill gives a superb performance, revealing Judith’s strength in insisting on finding the truth and her failure to realize the abyss that she is walking into. She expresses both strength and naivete and we follow her thoughts and development while listening to  her vocal prowess and beauty.

Lepage controls the conduct of the characters and maintains the macabre atmosphere and fearful situation with Hitchcockian finesse. A brilliant production.

ERWARTUNG (it means expectation) is described as a one-act expressionist monodrama for a solo soprano and a large orchestra. The soprano, called simply The Woman, in this production is Anna Gabler and her partner is the COC Orchestra conducted by Johannes Debus.

For half an hour, we follow the Woman through a gamut of  emotions, states of mind and crises. There is darkness and a long wall. She is in a forest looking for her lover. We see a man in a white coat, there is cot or is it a hospital bed on the stage? Is she hallucinating? She is looking for her lover and finds a body. Is it her dead lover? Her love turns to hatred and jealousy – did her lover have a mistress? She experiences exaltation, fear, horror and anguish. We are not sure of her mental state nor of what she is seeing.

Anna Gabler in ERWARTUNG. 

Photo: Michael Cooper

Schoenberg’s music is atonal, complex and I have heard nothing like it before. It is the second time  that I am seeing this opera and the denseness of the music and the plot, the quick changes in the conduct of the Woman, from possible hallucination to outright madness to whatever one can imagine is out of this world.

I can only express admiration for the performance of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra under the baton of Johannes Debus and Lepage’s take on the monodrama.     

Bluebeard’s Castle and ERWARTUNG may not be your regular operatic fare but if you see them, you will not soon forget them. You might find yourself having a great night at the opera.      _________________________

Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartok and ERWARTUNG by Arnold Schoenberg opened on April 25 and will be performed seven times until May 16, 2026, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario.  www.coc.ca

 James Karas is the Culture Editor of The Greek Press, Toronto