Composer: |
Gary Kulesha
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Librettist: |
Cary Bolt
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Other Artistic Personnel: |
Gary Wedow, Conductor; David William, Director; Donna Feore, Choreographer; Teresa Przybylski, Set and Costume Designer; John A. Munro, Lighting Designer
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Original Cast: |
Rayanne Dupuis/Nathalie Paulin as Helen, Dan Chamandy as Fedya, Igor Emelianov as Sasha, Sonya Gosse/Anita Krause as Emma, Marcos Pujol as Kreiderman, Bruce Schaef as Parks, Robert Milne as Henry Clay Frick, Matthew Lord as Johann Most
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Premiere Date: |
November 28, 1995
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Producing Company: |
Canadian Opera Company, du Maurier Theatre
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Description: |
Twenty-year-old Emma Goldman arrives in New York City at the end of the 19th century. Full of idealism, she is passionately committed to the abstract beliefs of anarchism, a left-wing turn-of-the-century dogma. In New York, she encounters Alexander Berkman and Johann Most, two of the leading figures in anarchy, and sequentially has relationships with both men. As the opera progresses, she discovers that her idealism seems to be more deeply rooted than the idealism of those around her. The story of the opera concerns Emma's coming to consciousness, and her growing awareness that if change happens, she herself will have to make it happen-a particularly unusual situation for a woman in the late 1890s.
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Reviews: |
The Wall Street Journal, Heidi Waleson, 12-11-95; NOW Magazine, Jon Kaplan, 12-7-95; Maclean's, John Bemrose, 12-11-95; Music Works Magazine, Sibylle Preuschat, 3-96; The Toronto Star, Vit Wagner, 11-25-95; The Ottawa Citizen, 11-25-95; The Hamilton Spectator, 11-25-95; The Toronto Star, William Littler, 11-29-95; The Toronto Sun, Wilder Penfield III, 11-29-95; The Buffalo News, Herman Trotter, 11-29-95; The Globe and Mail, Elissa Poole, 11-30-95; Opera Canada, Paula Citron, 12-1-95; Radio: CFRB-FM, Jeremy Brown, 11-29-95; 680 News, Dick Smyth, 11-29-95; Classical 96-FM, Catherine Belyea, 11-29-95; CJRT-FM, Jon Kaplan, 12-1-95.
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Total Acts: |
Not Available
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Orchestration: |
fl, ob, cl, bsn - hrn - perc, pf (syn) - 2 vln, vla, vc, db
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Musical Style: |
The opera is crafted in arias, duets, and ensembles, accessibly tonal, and tuneful. The music exhibits a wide range of coloration and an imaginative use of a small chamber ensemble. The composer has a flair for writing both brief motivic interchanges
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Contact: |
Canadian Opera Company
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Address: |
227 Front Street East Toronto, ON M5A 1E8 Canada
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Phone: |
416-363-6671
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Schedule of Performances Listings
Red Emma
( Kulesha)
Tuesday, November 28, 1995 - Canadian Opera Company
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