Jonelle Sills, sop., Olivia Morton, sop., Matt Chittick, ten., Nathan Keoughan, bar., Greg Finney, bar., Sebastien Belcourt, bar., Toronto Operetta Theatre Orchestra and Refrain, Derek Bate, conductor. Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, December 29, 2023.

Hey opera followers, are you affected by the post-Yuletide blues or early winter blahs? The dreary, wet climate that we’ve been getting in Toronto doesn’t assist both. My recommendation is to present Toronto Operetta Theatre’s The Merry Widow a attempt.  It opened to an almost full home on Friday night on the Jane Mallett Theatre. After the present, I walked into the chilly evening air, discovered myself buzzing snippets from the present.

The Lehar masterpiece, along with Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, are two mega Vacation Season favourites with nice music and feel-good blissful endings. The ultra-romantic tales paired with the attractive tunes by no means fail to please the ears and raise the spirits. TOT has staged Merry Widow 5 instances beforehand, in 1995, 2001, 2007, 2012, and 2019.  I fondly recall the beautiful Hanna Glawari of soprano Leslie Ann Bradley again in 2012.

This time round, it’s the up-and-coming Jonelle Sills within the title position, making her TOT debut. A York College and Royal Conservatory of Music graduate, Sills was named considered one of Canada’s 30 sizzling classical musicians below 30 for 2020 by CBC Music. Her Mimi on the COC Boheme final October was pretty. It’s a significant voice, to make certain. Her Hanna Glawari is youthful and impetuous; she sang with wealthy tone and a most spectacular prime, providing a stunning Viljalied, the one factor wanting was extra of a excessive pianissimo.

She was paired with baritone Nathan Keoughan as Danilo, additionally making his Firm debut. He possesses a pretty, ringing lyric baritone, making a really massive sound, nearly too forceful for the intimate 499-seat Jane Mallett Theatre. He acted with youthful power and good dramatic acuity. By the way, his snore in Act Two was world-class!

The second couple featured soprano Olivia Morton (Valencienne), additionally making her TOT debut. Her soubrette was mild and mushy, a contact underpowered within the center. Reverse her was seasoned tenor Matt Chittick, reprising Camille, which he final sang for TOT in 2019. Maybe it was opening evening nerves, he based the excessive tessitura in his two duets a problem. That mentioned, each embodied their roles properly and gave pleasing performances.

A standout was baritone Sebastien Belcourt within the character position of Njegus, the secretary of the Embassy. Final heard as a charismatic Pirate King within the TOT Pirates of Penzance, Belcourt was a scene-stealing Njegus within the scrumptious quantity with the Grisettes of Maxim’s. Talking of scene-stealing, no one does it higher than buffo baritone Gregory Finney as Baron Zeta, a task tailored for him. His comedian timing and deadpan supply contributed vastly to the merriment of the night.

Additionally deserving of reward was the fantastic refrain, going that further mile with their dancing within the present, because of the sensible choreography of TOT Founder and Stage Director Guillermo Silva-Marin, who was additionally the set and décor designer. It by no means ceases to amaze me how with restricted funds he manages to make use of the small and technically difficult Jane Mallett stage to such fantastic impact in all of the exhibits through the years.

In comparison with different Merry Widows productions, this one is especially dialogue-heavy. Sung in English, it has the addition of assorted social and political commentaries, a specialty of Silva-Marin. Kudos to the ensemble solid for tackling every little thing with aplomb, particularly the dancing with its high-kicking Can-Can numbers. The small, 12-member orchestra below veteran conductor Derek Bate did yeoman service. All in all, it’s a terrific option to spend a post-Christmas wet night in Toronto.

Further performances on December 30, 31, and January 2. Particulars and tickets [HERE].

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent College and Affiliate Editor of Opera Canada.He’s additionally a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His curiosity in music journalism focuses on voice, opera in addition to symphonic and piano repertoires. He seems repeatedly as a panel member of the Huge COC Podcast.He has co-edited a e book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Tradition, Efficiency, revealed by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

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