Rigoletto at the COC

by Kelly Bedard

Verdi's brilliant 3-act opera is given a beautiful if sometimes silly staging at The Canadian Opera Company this fall.

Iphigenia in Tauris at The COC

by Kelly Bedard

I am by no means an opera expert. A working knowledge of classical music, a solid background in French, a decent understanding of Greek myth and a critical eye for good storytelling was what I had to cling to as I entertained the prospect of reviewing the Canadian Opera Company’s current production. What I found, however, was that opera expertise didn’t prove a dire necessity as director Robert Carsen teamed with designers Tobias Hoheisel and Peter Van Praet and choreographer Philippe Giraudeau to create a production that is far more balanced between sound, movement and set than most opera I’ve seen.