Dr. Colin Eatock, composer
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Tosca in Houston at the Miller Outdoor Theatre

5/21/2016

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PictureThe Miller Outdoor Theatre, in Hermann Park.
Just in the nick of time, I made it to Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre, for the Houston Grand Opera’s Friday evening performance of Tosca. And I’m glad I did.
 
Perhaps I should say that I approach outdoor performances with some trepidation. I’ve come to expect they are likely to be compromised artistic experiences: compromised by the weather (too hot, too cold, raining), by an erratic, snap-crackle-pop sound-system, by extraneous noise, or a by distracted, indifferent audience. Such obstacles can lead to second-rate performances, with artists struggling in less-than-ideal conditions, wishing they were somewhere else.



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Interview with Marshall Pynkoski of Opera Atelier

5/18/2016

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PicturePynkoski's Opera Atelier has stormed the gates of Versailles.
A few months ago, I had an extensive conversation with Opera Atelier's co-artistic director, Marshall Pynkoski. However, the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft aglee. The interview never found its way into print, so I’m publishing it here.
 
There are many opera companies all over the world, but there’s nothing else quite like Toronto’s Opera Atelier. The company was founded in 1983 by two dancers: Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, and in 1985 they mounted their first fully staged opera production. Thirty years later, the couple (who are married) still run the company.
 
What makes Opera Atelier unique is that it’s a “period” opera company, specializing in baroque and classical operas from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, by such composers as Monteverdi, Lully, Handel and Mozart. Their historically informed productions are rooted in the styles and sensibilities of their eras.


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Maometto II at the COC

5/8/2016

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PicturePisaroni and Sledge in Maometto II. Photo: Michael Cooper.
Goacchino Rossini’s Maometto II isn’t exactly standard repertoire. The opera has had a spotty production history, popping up only rarely in the 20th century, in various versions. It wasn’t until three years ago that a musicologically approved production of this 1820 opera was staged, at Santa Fe.
 
It’s this Santa Fe production that’s currently on stage at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre, remounted and partially recast by the Canadian Opera Company.
 
So what kind of opera is Maometto II? As far as the work’s dramatic content is concerned, the piece boils down to a basic good guys vs. bad guys story, despite its many plot-twists. Set in the Kingdom of Negroponte (on the Greek island of Chalkis) during a war between the ruling Venetians and the invading Turks, it’s an opera with a strong martial character, full of soldiers and battles. There’s also a love-triangle: Anna, daughter of the island’s governor, Erisso, is courted by the Venetian general Calbo. But she is in love with “Uberto” – who turns out to be non other than Maometto, the Turkish general, in disguise.



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    Eatock Daily

    I'm a composer based in Toronto – and this is my classical music blog, Eatock Daily.

    When I first started blogging, Eatock Daily was a place to re-post the articles I wrote for Toronto’s Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers, the Houston Chronicle, the Kansas City Star and other publications.

    But now I have stepped back from professional music journalism, and I'm spending more time composing.

    These days, my blog posts are infrequent, and are mostly concerned with my own music. However, I do still occasionally post comments on musical topics, including works I've discovered, enjoyed, and wish to share with others.


    – CE

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