Oscar Asitha Tennekoon, right, stars in Rocking Horse Winner, which runs at Crow's Theatre in Toronto from Nov. 1 to Nov. 12.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
Tapestry Opera’s Rocking Horse Winner
In opera as in horse racing, there is no such thing as a sure bet. Still, a reimagined revival of Tapestry Opera’s award-winning 2016 adaptation of D. H. Lawrence’s difficult short story about the hesitant love of a mother and her son’s gambling solution is likely to pay off. Composer Gareth Williams and librettist Anna Chatterton’s Rocking Horse Winner was reviewed in The Globe and Mail as taut, dramatic and well-performed upon its premiere, and most of the original cast is back for another ride. Nov. 1-12, Crow’s Theatre, Toronto
Pacific Opera Victoria’s Die Walkure
With its momentous announcement, triumphant thrust and towering grandeur, Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries evokes a sense of heroism and adventure that has resonated with audiences across generations. It was the Born to Run of its day. The piece is the high point of Die Walkure (the second instalment of Wagner’s tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen), presented by Pacific Opera Victoria over five hours, with a pair of intermissions to catch one’s breath. Running to Oct. 21, Royal Theatre, Victoria
Opera Atelier’s Orpheus and Eurydice
Will cake be served? Opera Atelier opens its season with the French 1774 version of Gluck’s underworld epic Orpheus and Eurydice, created expressly for Marie Antoinette. The balletic production features Canadian tenor Colin Ainsworth as the lovestruck Orpheus – a role he first sang for the company in 2007. Vincent Gerbet makes his North American debut as Opera Atelier’s first dancer drawn from the Parisian dance community, while harpist Julia Seager-Scott performs on a circa 1800 instrument reminiscent of Antoinette’s own harp in Versailles. Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, Elgin Theatre, Toronto
Canadian Opera Company’s La Bohème
Puccini, like Gluck and Huey Lewis, believed in the power of love. His 1896 opera in four acts portrays the relationship between the rent-challenged young bohemians Rodolfo and Mimì, a poet and seamstress, respectively. The real-life married couple of tenor Pene Pati and soprano Amina Edris star as the production’s tragic lovers, under the direction of Tony Award-winner John Caird. Running to Oct. 28, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto
Manitoba Opera’s Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North
Conceptualized by Métis poet, scholar and librettist Suzanne Steele, Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North is the first full-scale Indigenous-led opera ever presented on a Canadian opera mainstage. “I see this project as one of re-placing us into the centre of the big stage where we have been shut out for over 150 years,” Steele told The Globe and Mail recently. Predominantly sung in Cree-Michif, French-Michif and Anishinaabemowin, the imaginative, multigenerational story begins with a female hunter taking down a buffalo with a bullet made of pure light. Eight vocal soloists, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, two Michif choirs, a narrator, fiddlers and dancers are employed. Nov. 18, 22 and 24, Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg
Against the Grain Theatre’s Opera Pub
Against the Grain Theatre’s concept of beer and La Bohème served in a casual environment was born years ago in a Royal Canadian Legion in Banff, Alta. Today, things have evolved to the point that the troupe’s improvised nights of opera occur in various rooms across the country, including monthly at Vancouver’s La Fabrique St-George winery. The pairing of vino and Verdi makes more sense – wine has lubricated many a libretto. And while the bubbly has also made its way into operas, one should remember it is only authentic if it is from the 19th century. Otherwise, it’s just a sparkling aria. Nov. 7, La Fabrique St-George, Vancouver