How does the Canadian Opera Company end its 2023-24 season of high calibre singing and vibrant productions? With a bang, not a whimper. The COC saves its best for last.
This production of Luigi Cherubini’s Medea has a great deal of hype for several reasons. First, Medea is rarely performed, and has never graced a Canadian stage. The second reason is the involvement of Sondra Radvanovsky, who made the titular role her own in The Metropolitan Opera’s 2022 production. Toronto audiences have been looking forward to her much anticipated return to the COC stage since Rusalka in 2019, after she bowed out of Macbeth last year.
Alas, it was not to be. Radvanovsky was only able to sing the first of her four scheduled performances (which was stellar by all accounts), only to succumb to laryngitis, leaving us deeply disappointed again. Fortunately, Italian Soprano Chiara Isotton stepped in early (she was originally scheduled to sing the last two performances) and saved the day. Her Canadian debut was nothing short of spectacular.
What you missed
This COC premiere is a co-production with The Metropolitan Opera, the Greek National Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, featuring almost the same leads as its Met premiere in 2022: Tenor Matthew Polenzani (Giasone), Soprano Janani Brugger (Glauce) and Sir David McVicar (Director). Along with Brugger, mezzo Zoie Reams (Neris), bass-baritone Alfred Walker (Creonte) and Conductor Lorenzo Passerini are making their COC debuts.
Janai Brugger as Glauce and Matthew Polenzani as Giasone in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Medea, 2024, Photo: Michael Cooper
Medea is a searing drama based on Greek mythology and Euripides’ play of the same name. The sorceress Medea helps Giasone rise to power by obtaining the Golden Fleece. They marry and have children. Some years later, Giasone abandons her for a more politically-advantageous union with Glauce, daughter of King Creonte. He takes their two children with him, leaving Medea in complete isolation. When Medea tries in vain to win Giasone back, she embarks on a path of destruction and takes revenge by killing everyone near and dear to him.
Medea is a notoriously difficult role made famous by Maria Callas in the 1950s – few sopranos have attempted to follow her daunting legacy. Her character is on stage for almost the entirety of the opera, requiring herculean stamina, both vocally and physically. Isotton is completely up to the task, showing immense focus and control of her instrument as she effortlessly darts between octaves and nails high notes with laser precision. Her delivery of the famous Act I aria “Dei tuoi figli la madre,” among others, showcases her full-bodied soprano and depth of colours to navigate the range of emotions of loss, abandonment, love and rage with both nuance and power.
Charlotte Siegel as First Handmaiden (in green dress), Janai Brugger as Glauce (in wedding dress), and Alex Hetherington as Second Handmaiden (right) in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Medea, Photo: Michael Cooper
Polenzani is a mesmerizing Giasone who has no trouble matching Isotton’s vocal prowess. His impossibly creamy, rich tenor voice shows marked clarity and dynamic control. His high notes are radiant, with a velvety texture. As Giasone, he carefully imparts the character’s ambivalent feelings of scorn, fear and a hint of sympathy for the woman he once loved and now abandons.
The supporting cast gave an all-around solid performance. Brugger is a sweet-toned soprano, whose Act I aria “O Amore, vieni a me” was both angelic and sensitive. As Medea’s handmaiden Neris, Reams is a warm mezzo with beautiful phrasing. Her “Solo un pianto” in which she communicates her devotion to Medea is especially moving. Walker’s stentorian bass-baritone gives his character a regal presence.
Cherubini’s fiery score is full of colourful, rich orchestration with a foreboding undercurrent. Conductor Passerini led the robust COC Orchestra through the frantic tempos with the right amount of intensity. The COC Chorus, in its usual fine form, provides strong supporting vocal technocolours.
“Visually and vocally superb”
This McVicar production features the most dramatic sets seen at the COC in years. The bronzed doors open to reveal a jaw-dropping scene: a massive mirror is angled strategically to show a canvas backdrop which is actually a reflection of the actions on stage.
A scene from the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Medea, Photo: Michael Cooper
One will not soon forget the stunning wedding banquet; Glauce’s long wedding veil and her subsequent gruesome death; and the final scene in which Medea and her children are encircled by flames.
Medea takes “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” to the next level. This production is both visually and vocally superb. I cannot think of a better end to the COC’s triumphant season.
Canadian Opera Company presents Medea at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto from May 3-17, 2024. www.coc.ca
