Dialogues of the Carmelites
Vancouver Opera
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Saturday November 26 7:30pm
Francis Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites is the powerful story of Blanche de la Force's spiritual journey from fearful living to beatific death. It is based on true historical events during the French Revolution when 16 Carmelite nuns were executed.
The cast featured many singers who have appeared before in VO productions. Kathleen Brett last seen here in La Bohème as Musetta takes on the title role of Blanche. Perennial youthful tenor John Tessier last seen in Così fan tutte as Ferrando is Blanche's brother the Chevalier. Veteran Judith Forst last seen here in Elektra as Klytemnestra shows the youngsters how it's done as the Prioress. Also appearing in Elektra as Chrysothemis is Claire Primrose as Mother Marie. Nathalie Paulin last seen as Mélisande in the concert production of Peléas et Mélisande is Constance.
Making her stunning VO debut is Measha Brueggergosman as the young Prioress Madame Lindoine. Not being familiar with Brueggergosman, I was initially skeptical when a friend enthused she was the next Jessye Norman during the first intermission. Happily my skepticism was completely erased in the second act. Brueggergosman has a vibrant voice which she controls masterfully. I think she stole the show if not my heart.
Even though he wanted to create a sound unlike Ravel and Debussy, Francis Poulenc's evocative music reminded me of Debussy's Peléas et Mélisande. It was reassuring to read Music Director Jonathan Darlington's program note and see I was not totally off-base. I think I may be starting to understand opera.
What I really noticed about this opera is the how the relationships between the characters are defined. Some are quite obvious and others are more subtle. Opposites attract, and there could be no stronger contrast in personalities than between Blanche and Constance. Blanche meets the cheerful Constance while doing laundry duty together. While Blanche is initially envious of Constance's optimism the two novices bond closely.
There is a strange relationship between Blanche and her brother. He calls her his "pet" and "lamb" which seems more than a little brotherly. At their final parting scene she tells him his words are poison and he has always been trying to confuse her.
As the assistant Prioress, Mother Marie seems to have a prickly relationship with both the Prioresses. She seems somewhat aloof and may be jealous that she is not in charge and must do their bidding.
The director takes a few liberties with the opera's climactic final scene. A raised platform stretches across the stage with the guillotine offstage. The crowd is in black 1930's style dress. I guess this symbolizes how repressive events occur over and over again throughout history.
The condemned sisters in pure white nightgowns stride across the platform to their deaths one by one. The young Prioress leading her charges to the end is the first to die. Constance is the last but is joined by Blanche at the end. They have a brief moment of joy at reuniting before rapturously facing death. Each drop of the guillotine is like a punch to the gut, and then there is silence and blackness.
After the thunderous applause from the audience died down and the curtain dropped for the final time, a great cheer could be heard from behind the curtain. Was that the sound of a happy cast relieved at a successful performance?
Monday, November 28, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Eastside Culture Crawl—Day 3
The ARC Building
1701 Powell St
Sunday November 20
The Artist Resource Centre is a seven storey rental building housing artists exclusively. There is a screening process where prospective tenants must submit their portfolios. The artists of ARC are a diverse lot with everyone from musicians, to furniture makers, to painters.
Gideon Hay
How many people do you know with a full-sized statue of a fully armed and armored orc? Hay has many maquettes of various sizes of fantasy creatures crammed into his studio. There are dinosaurs, prop weapons, and many other objects created for film and TV.
Mark Henderson
Henderson's computer geek heritage is reflected in his oil paintings. A large red canvas covered with floating numbers and letters is reminiscent of the computer displays in The Matrix movies. Careful observation of the painting reveals hidden meanings and phrases. Henderson's birthdate and hexadecimal ASCII text can be discerned in the tumult.
E&M Designs – Elia Mishkis
Metal and stained glass are Mishkis' media. I really liked his series of pyramid, cube, and sphere with metal frames and stained glass inserts. Written on a glass pane within each is the mathematical formula for computing the volume of each shape. It turns out that each of the shapes have the same volume.
Fia Cooper
Cooper is a multi-talented metal smith, furniture maker, and painter. I really liked her distressed metal hexagonal mirrors, her giant sized grasshopper, and minimalist giraffe sculpture.
rena del pieve gobbi
Rena's abstract movie Interception is made with thinly sliced dried fruits pasted directly onto the film frames. The equally hypnotic soundtrack was improvised by local musicians Dylan van der Schiff, Ron Samworth, and Peggy Lee as they watch the images flash by.
Russell Kehler
What happens to moose and deer antlers when they shed them? Russell Kehler turns them into painstakingly detailed works of art. The discarded antlers are transformed into dragons and eagles with scales, feathers, and dynamic motion.
1701 Powell St
Sunday November 20
The Artist Resource Centre is a seven storey rental building housing artists exclusively. There is a screening process where prospective tenants must submit their portfolios. The artists of ARC are a diverse lot with everyone from musicians, to furniture makers, to painters.
Gideon Hay
How many people do you know with a full-sized statue of a fully armed and armored orc? Hay has many maquettes of various sizes of fantasy creatures crammed into his studio. There are dinosaurs, prop weapons, and many other objects created for film and TV.
Mark Henderson
Henderson's computer geek heritage is reflected in his oil paintings. A large red canvas covered with floating numbers and letters is reminiscent of the computer displays in The Matrix movies. Careful observation of the painting reveals hidden meanings and phrases. Henderson's birthdate and hexadecimal ASCII text can be discerned in the tumult.
E&M Designs – Elia Mishkis
Metal and stained glass are Mishkis' media. I really liked his series of pyramid, cube, and sphere with metal frames and stained glass inserts. Written on a glass pane within each is the mathematical formula for computing the volume of each shape. It turns out that each of the shapes have the same volume.
Fia Cooper
Cooper is a multi-talented metal smith, furniture maker, and painter. I really liked her distressed metal hexagonal mirrors, her giant sized grasshopper, and minimalist giraffe sculpture.
rena del pieve gobbi
Rena's abstract movie Interception is made with thinly sliced dried fruits pasted directly onto the film frames. The equally hypnotic soundtrack was improvised by local musicians Dylan van der Schiff, Ron Samworth, and Peggy Lee as they watch the images flash by.
Russell Kehler
What happens to moose and deer antlers when they shed them? Russell Kehler turns them into painstakingly detailed works of art. The discarded antlers are transformed into dragons and eagles with scales, feathers, and dynamic motion.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Eastside Culture Crawl—Day 2
Strathcona
Saturday November 19
Day two and it's time to get serious about hitting the studios. Since it's my first crawl I wandered through the heart of the Strathcona area where many of the artists work and live.
Elemental Designs
717 Hawks Ave
Sculptor Sandra Bilawich works in stone and metal. There's a backwards cuckoo clock with a mirror image face that runs counterclockwise. Her trumpet candle holder is made from bits of recycled metal. Old saxophones don't die, they get recycled into a cool water fountain by Bilawich. I liked her pieces, and they are quite reasonably priced.
Arnt Arntzen
800 Keefer St
Arntzen works mostly in metal and builds furniture. His signature cigar shaped rocketship sidetable is a retro-futuristic bit of whimsey. The metal fish would make an interesting conversation starter at your next cocktail party next to the sushi tray. His beautiful reclaimed wood and metal desk is priced at a cool $5800. Outside the building is what appears to be a high voltage insulator from an electrical transmission tower which looks like some alien phallic sculpture.
Scott Plumbe Studios
737 Keefer St
Scott Plumbe seems to be slightly obsessed with Tibet and Buddhism. These are the subjects of his paintings which really embody the spirit of the people and the religious symbols in a photo-realistic way.
Big Green House
450 Heatley St
Artist Ruth Scheuing provides a computer geek's delight in the Big Green House. Her GPS tracks of her trips around the Lower Mainland are an unexpected study on the aesthetics of geography and paths. Her tapestries of Ada Lovelace are a wonderful homage to the world's first computer programmer.
Alley Gallery
715 E Pender St
Probably the most far out artwork of the crawl emerges from the twisted mind of Mad Dog. Playing with dolls takes on an entirely different meaning with his child's dolls dressed in BDSM outfits and fitted with angel wings. Various mounted doll heads in leather fetish hoods and masks are a fetishist headhunter's delight. Alternately creepy, and hilarious in equal measure.
Saturday November 19
Day two and it's time to get serious about hitting the studios. Since it's my first crawl I wandered through the heart of the Strathcona area where many of the artists work and live.
Elemental Designs
717 Hawks Ave
Sculptor Sandra Bilawich works in stone and metal. There's a backwards cuckoo clock with a mirror image face that runs counterclockwise. Her trumpet candle holder is made from bits of recycled metal. Old saxophones don't die, they get recycled into a cool water fountain by Bilawich. I liked her pieces, and they are quite reasonably priced.
Arnt Arntzen
800 Keefer St
Arntzen works mostly in metal and builds furniture. His signature cigar shaped rocketship sidetable is a retro-futuristic bit of whimsey. The metal fish would make an interesting conversation starter at your next cocktail party next to the sushi tray. His beautiful reclaimed wood and metal desk is priced at a cool $5800. Outside the building is what appears to be a high voltage insulator from an electrical transmission tower which looks like some alien phallic sculpture.
Scott Plumbe Studios
737 Keefer St
Scott Plumbe seems to be slightly obsessed with Tibet and Buddhism. These are the subjects of his paintings which really embody the spirit of the people and the religious symbols in a photo-realistic way.
Big Green House
450 Heatley St
Artist Ruth Scheuing provides a computer geek's delight in the Big Green House. Her GPS tracks of her trips around the Lower Mainland are an unexpected study on the aesthetics of geography and paths. Her tapestries of Ada Lovelace are a wonderful homage to the world's first computer programmer.
Alley Gallery
715 E Pender St
Probably the most far out artwork of the crawl emerges from the twisted mind of Mad Dog. Playing with dolls takes on an entirely different meaning with his child's dolls dressed in BDSM outfits and fitted with angel wings. Various mounted doll heads in leather fetish hoods and masks are a fetishist headhunter's delight. Alternately creepy, and hilarious in equal measure.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Eastside Culture Crawl—Day 1
Strathcona
Friday November 18
The problem with annual events is that it's easy to put them off because they'll come around again next year. This year my procrastination with the Eastside Culture Crawl finally came to an end. How wonderful it is to discover the historic Strathcona neighbourhood. Not only coming across all the artists in the area, but also its hidden architectural gems as well.
Anagram Studio
531 Hawks Ave
Anagram is the home and studio of Anna Lumiere and Graham Ord. Displayed on the walls are Ord's mostly black and white photographs. His photos have a painterly style to them. His shot of trees with buildings in the background looks normal until you realize that it's a shot of a reflection in a pool and it's mounted upside down to upright the image.
The next best thing to having a band in your living room is listening to the band in their living room. Lumiere fills the small space with the cool jazzy Euro-lounge stylings of her group Mimosa. Grooving to their hip beats is great way to start off a weekend of culture crawling.
Friday November 18
The problem with annual events is that it's easy to put them off because they'll come around again next year. This year my procrastination with the Eastside Culture Crawl finally came to an end. How wonderful it is to discover the historic Strathcona neighbourhood. Not only coming across all the artists in the area, but also its hidden architectural gems as well.
Anagram Studio
531 Hawks Ave
Anagram is the home and studio of Anna Lumiere and Graham Ord. Displayed on the walls are Ord's mostly black and white photographs. His photos have a painterly style to them. His shot of trees with buildings in the background looks normal until you realize that it's a shot of a reflection in a pool and it's mounted upside down to upright the image.
The next best thing to having a band in your living room is listening to the band in their living room. Lumiere fills the small space with the cool jazzy Euro-lounge stylings of her group Mimosa. Grooving to their hip beats is great way to start off a weekend of culture crawling.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Concert Review: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Orpheum Theatre
November 7 8:00pm
It was modern classical night at the VSO. Not just 20th century music, but the Canadian premiere of a 21st century piece. Bramwell Tovey gave his usual personable introduction to the first piece by Michio Kitazume. Ei-Sho is a wonderfully evocative of dawning light which is the translation of the title. The beginning is reminiscent of Gyorgy Ligeti's Overture: Atmospheres from 2001: A Space Odyssey but soon heads in Kitazume's own naturalistic direction.
The highlight of the evening was the Canadian premiere of John Adams' The Dharma at Big Sur. Concertmaster Mark Fewer played on a custom made six string electric violin in an incredibly tight and energetic performance with the orchestra. The use of just intonation made for an exotic, almost Eastern sound. It was an unfamiliar tuning for the audience but it sounded brilliant to my ears. John Adams is definitely one of the best composers alive today. Now if only I could convince Vancouver Opera to put on Doctor Atomic sometime...
The second half of the evening featured Igor Stravinsky's Petrouchka which was my first hearing of his tragic love triangle puppet ballet. While the story is rather unconventional to say the least, the music was pure Stravinsky. I swear I heard bits of The Firebird in there. Tovey chose to use the original more mysterious ending and not the perfunctory orchestral version which prompted him to ask, "what was Stravinsky thinking?!"
I'm thrilled that the VSO can put on a concert like this with new, and exciting music. I've been lucky to see Tovey and Fewer stretching the limits here, and with their Wagamama jazz group. Looking forward to more great music!
Orpheum Theatre
November 7 8:00pm
It was modern classical night at the VSO. Not just 20th century music, but the Canadian premiere of a 21st century piece. Bramwell Tovey gave his usual personable introduction to the first piece by Michio Kitazume. Ei-Sho is a wonderfully evocative of dawning light which is the translation of the title. The beginning is reminiscent of Gyorgy Ligeti's Overture: Atmospheres from 2001: A Space Odyssey but soon heads in Kitazume's own naturalistic direction.
The highlight of the evening was the Canadian premiere of John Adams' The Dharma at Big Sur. Concertmaster Mark Fewer played on a custom made six string electric violin in an incredibly tight and energetic performance with the orchestra. The use of just intonation made for an exotic, almost Eastern sound. It was an unfamiliar tuning for the audience but it sounded brilliant to my ears. John Adams is definitely one of the best composers alive today. Now if only I could convince Vancouver Opera to put on Doctor Atomic sometime...
The second half of the evening featured Igor Stravinsky's Petrouchka which was my first hearing of his tragic love triangle puppet ballet. While the story is rather unconventional to say the least, the music was pure Stravinsky. I swear I heard bits of The Firebird in there. Tovey chose to use the original more mysterious ending and not the perfunctory orchestral version which prompted him to ask, "what was Stravinsky thinking?!"
I'm thrilled that the VSO can put on a concert like this with new, and exciting music. I've been lucky to see Tovey and Fewer stretching the limits here, and with their Wagamama jazz group. Looking forward to more great music!
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Hopscotch Festival 2005
Vancouver's 9th annual Whisky and Premium Beer Festival
Friday November 4
Rocky Mountaineer Railtours Train Lounge
This year's edition of Hopscotch moved from the former train yard of trendy Yaletown's Roundhouse Community Centre out to the grungy side of the tracks in the False Creek Flats area. This area is undergoing redevelopment as the neighbours include a Hope Depot, and a Moe's Home Collection furniture store. The Rocky Mountaineer Railtours Lounge is a large open space with plenty of room for thirsty tasters and vendors.
What a wonderous thing malted barley and fermentation are. From this ingredient and process comes the waters of life--beer and whisky. Here are my tasting notes on the waters which passed my lips.
Echt Kriekenbiere Flemish Sour Beer
This fine Belgian fruit beer has a delicious sour cherry flavour and makes a fine dessert drink.
Scapa 14 yo Single Malt
This light bodied Scotch has a sweet start and a spicy finish.
Glendronach 12 yo Single Malt
With a toffee nose this light bodied Scotch was sweet on the tongue with an orange peel zest.
Johnnie Walker Gold Label
The pricey Gold Label is very, very sweet and smooth. Probably one of the easiest drinking Scotches out there. They offered the pour with a chaser of a square of Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa dark chocolate. A wonderful taste combination but I think I prefer the...
Johnnie Walker Green Label
Sweet, honey, woody, and a hint of peat make for a very good blended Scotch.
Talisker 18 yo
My favorite Scotch of the night. A perfect balance of sweetness and smokiness. Smooth as silk--a dream.
The Macallan Fine Oak 10 yo
This malt is not as sweet as their signature sherry casked 12 year old. The oak makes for a lighter bodied, smooth whisky.
The Macallan Fine Oak 21 yo
Unfortunately they ran out of this before I got a chance to taste it. *SNIFF*
Alisa Craig Blended Scotch Whisky
A very young 3 year old blend which probably needs a few more years to mature. It's harshness and oiliness are overpowering.
Glen Garioch 15 yo Highland Malt
It's heathery sweetness is characteristic of the Highland malts.
Springbank 10 yo Single Malt
Slightly peaty, vanilla, and spice with a citrusy aftertaste. Quite nice but it's older brother...
Springbank 15 yo Single Malt
This is my second favorite Scotch of the night. Similar to the 10 yo but smoother and sweeter with an added dark chocolate flavor.
And that's when they started to close down the place. Eleven o'clock comes too early or maybe I needed to start earlier. Until next year...
Friday November 4
Rocky Mountaineer Railtours Train Lounge
This year's edition of Hopscotch moved from the former train yard of trendy Yaletown's Roundhouse Community Centre out to the grungy side of the tracks in the False Creek Flats area. This area is undergoing redevelopment as the neighbours include a Hope Depot, and a Moe's Home Collection furniture store. The Rocky Mountaineer Railtours Lounge is a large open space with plenty of room for thirsty tasters and vendors.
What a wonderous thing malted barley and fermentation are. From this ingredient and process comes the waters of life--beer and whisky. Here are my tasting notes on the waters which passed my lips.
Echt Kriekenbiere Flemish Sour Beer
This fine Belgian fruit beer has a delicious sour cherry flavour and makes a fine dessert drink.
Scapa 14 yo Single Malt
This light bodied Scotch has a sweet start and a spicy finish.
Glendronach 12 yo Single Malt
With a toffee nose this light bodied Scotch was sweet on the tongue with an orange peel zest.
Johnnie Walker Gold Label
The pricey Gold Label is very, very sweet and smooth. Probably one of the easiest drinking Scotches out there. They offered the pour with a chaser of a square of Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa dark chocolate. A wonderful taste combination but I think I prefer the...
Johnnie Walker Green Label
Sweet, honey, woody, and a hint of peat make for a very good blended Scotch.
Talisker 18 yo
My favorite Scotch of the night. A perfect balance of sweetness and smokiness. Smooth as silk--a dream.
The Macallan Fine Oak 10 yo
This malt is not as sweet as their signature sherry casked 12 year old. The oak makes for a lighter bodied, smooth whisky.
The Macallan Fine Oak 21 yo
Unfortunately they ran out of this before I got a chance to taste it. *SNIFF*
Alisa Craig Blended Scotch Whisky
A very young 3 year old blend which probably needs a few more years to mature. It's harshness and oiliness are overpowering.
Glen Garioch 15 yo Highland Malt
It's heathery sweetness is characteristic of the Highland malts.
Springbank 10 yo Single Malt
Slightly peaty, vanilla, and spice with a citrusy aftertaste. Quite nice but it's older brother...
Springbank 15 yo Single Malt
This is my second favorite Scotch of the night. Similar to the 10 yo but smoother and sweeter with an added dark chocolate flavor.
And that's when they started to close down the place. Eleven o'clock comes too early or maybe I needed to start earlier. Until next year...
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