The last opera of my season of free opera was last night, and I attended with my friend Abby. Madame Butterfly, in a version borrowed from Australia, and starring Hiromi Omura of Japan as Cio-Cio-San. (It is, reputedly, quite rare for an actual Japanese woman to play this part, and this was her North American debut.) Richard Troxell was a very handsome (and ultimately despicable and cowardly) B.F. Pinkerton. It was beautiful.
I particularly loved the set, which was a giant box with screens that raised and lowered to create walls, windows, doors and alcoves, with a lovely 'pool' and very simple platforms as furniture. Now I want an apartment that operates just like that (maybe I could hide some clutter behind screens!).
I also have to say that I love the imagery the Opéra de Montréal uses to promote its productions. Here's this season, in order (omitting Madame Butterfly, above):
Le Bal masqué
Roméo et Juliette
Le Barbier de Séville
Atelier lyriqueOkay, the Atelier lyrique was a little less interesting as an image. They do much better for that activity in the coming season — here's the lineup:
La Fanciulla del West
Les Pêcheurs de perles
Macbeth
Lucia di Lammermoor
Starmania
Atelier lyrique : Cosi fan tutteNow I have to tussle with the idea of buying season tickets for next year (I didn't win the contest this time around). I might accidentally end up cultured!
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