Opera...What A Blast!

This past Tuesday night saw me attending the Canadian Opera Company event which they call Centre Stage. It is the COC's annual competition where young singers vie for a cash prize as well as a chance to be invited to the COC's young artist program, known as the COC Ensemble.

It was a BIG deal. I could hype it here myself but I couldn't do as good a job as the COC's promotions department did with their video trailer leading up to the event,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9hg8-q_Yl0

I am, however, qualified to talk about the event after the fact. First and foremost let me just say what gigantic balls the seven finalists must have in order to sing in front of a large live audience, with the COC Orchestra, in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. I would have imploded on stage, or exploded (hence today's image).

One really nice thing that I noticed was that the audience was clearly on the side of the singers. Happy hoots and generous applause greeted the singers on both their entrances and exits. It was a 'feel good' moment for all. Another thing that struck me was how fortunate Wendy was to get into the COC Ensemble program in 1988. Imagine that, this year, 150 young singers (ranging in age from 22 to 30, roughly) auditioned for the competition. Seven made it to the finals, and perhaps two or three will be invited to join the Ensemble program. Daunting odds.

Wendy has come full circle with the Ensemble. She is now the Head Vocal Consultant for the COC Ensemble, and was one of the five judges for Tuesday night's competition. The emcee of the Centre Stage gala was none other than Ben Heppner, himself a graduate of the COC Ensemble program. Are you getting a sense for how important this program can be to young singers, if only by judging the company they keep and/or those who have come before them?

For me it's always enlightening to hear young opera singers at the 'start' of their careers because I don't think I fully comprehended what transpired when Wendy did the same. To put things in proper context, the COC asked Canadian soprano, mega star Adrianne Pieczonka, to entertain the audience with three numbers while the competition judges were deliberating. Though the competition singers sang beautifully, it was Adrianne who gave the audience a masterclass in opera. Here's how I would describe the evening as though I was in the driver's seat....

Imagine that you're driving along Toronto's major thoroughfare, the 401. It has been newly paved and traffic is flowing smoothly. The highway is the COC Orchestra. It bends. It weaves. It flows. It brings you up, but never down except in planned decrescendo. It is smooth. The lines are bright and crisp. It is, in a word, gorgeous and you thank your lucky stars to be on it. The competition singers are like cars on the highway. There are all polished and shining. They are the BMW and Mercedes 3-series of the world. They're just a little bit fancier than your ride. Some overtake you momentarily. You take admirable notice, and smile. There's no fist shaking, no bad vibes. They belong on this highway...they were built for performance. Everything is going at a buoyant tempo when all of a sudden you see something approaching at twice the speed limit, with considerably more volume than anything else on the road. Its paint shimmers and its chrome glistens as it passes. The leather inside is sumptuously tan; warm and inviting. You sit more upright in your seat and wonder what just happened. Make no mistake...you've just been overtaken by Adrianne Pieczonka. In a word....wow!

That was my evening.