Could it be? Can it be true? Is Toronto really a world class city? We are now convinced that Toronto's Four Seasons Centre and the Canadian Opera Company definitely put us there. They outshine the two big opera houses in Paris the Garnier and the Bastille in production values, orchestral skill, beauty, comfort of the seats and ease of purchasing tickets.
We carefully planned our trip to Paris around performances at both houses, Idomeneo at the Garnier and La Sonnambula at the Bastille.
The Garnier is the oldest. Opened in 1875, it is richly decorated with friezes, columns, and statues. The interior is red velvet, gold leaf, nymphs and cherubs. The central chandelier, made famous by Phantom of the Opera, is huge. In stark contrast is the ceiling. The original was repainted in 1964 by Chagall. It is a pleasant relief from the gold leaf and cherubs.
The Opera Bastille was François Mitterand's baby. He wanted a more modern house to appeal to everyone. Opened in 1989, it is a contemporary design of glass and metal. Unlike the Four Seasons, it looks more like a factory than a place of entertainment. We had difficulty finding the entrance: it is not that large space with the poster! The hallways feel like an office and the bars are small and uninviting. It is said that there are only
two kinds of tickets for opera in Paris: those not yet for sale and sold out! We went online the exact moment tickets were on sale. The process was frustrating and difficult. First, one has to register as a patron; then there was no way of knowing which day had the best available seats: we had to try each day. When we finally decided, the best seats were gone--in 5 minutes! There was also no way of seeing sight lines to the stage. We bought what we thought were good seats at 70€ and 74€ each seat--$120 less than our two Canadian Opera Company subscriptions for seven performances!!
There is definitely a sense of occasion and excitement as you enter the Garnier. I felt like the Queen as I climbed the famous Grand Escalier. The glass staircase of the Four Seasons Centre, while not as grand, has this same sense of occasion.
We found our way to our seats, the 2eme Loges de Coté, only to be confronted by a circle of locked doors! Although it was ten minutes before the performance, the hall was empty. With great difficulty, we found a highly stressed (without any joie de vivre!) attendant. Her job is to find the correct door, unlock it and brusquely point at the little, very little, red velvet chairs that are yours. Until the performance begins, the doors are locked behind you. There are three rows of two chairs each in the space beside the curved wall. Behind that is a small room with a bench and a coat rack--very nice.
We were seated in the middle of the three rows about four loges from the stage, in the second row of tiny velvet chairs. Our view of the stage? Perhaps half! David has speculated that when the Garnier was built, the actual opera was secondary to the notion of being seen and therefore these boxes would have been prime sites, even though one can't see the stage. The parterre or orchestra in Shakespeare's time was for the lower classes. Although that had changed by the time the Garnier was built, we suspect that those with money sat higher up. However, even here class was evident. The chairs in the front row of our loge had highly decorated backs. Ours were plain. The poor people behind us didn't sit at all on their plain chairs. They could see a small portion of the stage only if they stood.
All of this would have been bearable if the production had been excellent. However, the orchestra played so poorly, the Paris critics were scathing. The set consisted of a bare stage with a pile of sand, supposedly representing Crete and the costumes were clearly purchased from the French equivalent of Goodwill. Poor Isabel Bayrakdarian, singing Ilia, wore the same nurse/waitress dress throughout. We thought she was the only one of the leads who could act. Otherwise, there was much pounding of chests and dropping to the ground in agony. Since we couldn't see much of what was happening, we were glad that at least the voices were good ones. And we loved parading around the large and elegant public spaces during the intermission, feeling very much part of an elegant scene.
For another opinion, go to the February 11th page of this blog and find 'Idomeneo Drowns in the Seine':
http://opera-cake.blogspot.com/
And then, two nights later we were off to the Bastille. While it is an ugly and utilitarian building with paltry public spaces, people were more formally dressed than at the elegant Garnier. There were many couples in evening dress, one woman wearing a long mink cape. No ascending of grand staircases here! They are narrow and out of the way. We got to our seats by stuffing ourselves in an elevator! At least this time we could see the stage, the whole stage from the back of the first balcony. No bare set either: lots of decoration, big chorus, great costumes. And the orchestra played well. We were lucky to hear one of the current French divas, Natalie Dessay who has a lovely voice and a wonderful stage presence. We were amused by some strange moments. The lead character sleepwalks over a very high drift of newly fallen snow without sinking in and then, instead of breathless moments over a raging river, walks through a broken window teetering onto an upended piano! This production was better than the Garnier but certainly not what we would have expected in one of the European capitals of opera.
We have just bought our Canadian Opera Company subscriptions for 2010/11 and now are enthusiastically anticipating the season. We are looking forward to feeling part of something exciting when we enter, of sitting in our very comfortable seats, of listening to an excellent orchestra and seeing and hearing first class opera productions. It is hard not to feel smug, knowing that we 'colonials' have surpassed our mother country. Of course, we don't think the French will believe us and will tell us that 'normalement', there would be world class productions at both houses. But we will know that, in Toronto, we have access to a real gem.
We carefully planned our trip to Paris around performances at both houses, Idomeneo at the Garnier and La Sonnambula at the Bastille.
The Garnier is the oldest. Opened in 1875, it is richly decorated with friezes, columns, and statues. The interior is red velvet, gold leaf, nymphs and cherubs. The central chandelier, made famous by Phantom of the Opera, is huge. In stark contrast is the ceiling. The original was repainted in 1964 by Chagall. It is a pleasant relief from the gold leaf and cherubs. The Opera Bastille was François Mitterand's baby. He wanted a more modern house to appeal to everyone. Opened in 1989, it is a contemporary design of glass and metal. Unlike the Four Seasons, it looks more like a factory than a place of entertainment. We had difficulty finding the entrance: it is not that large space with the poster! The hallways feel like an office and the bars are small and uninviting. It is said that there are only
two kinds of tickets for opera in Paris: those not yet for sale and sold out! We went online the exact moment tickets were on sale. The process was frustrating and difficult. First, one has to register as a patron; then there was no way of knowing which day had the best available seats: we had to try each day. When we finally decided, the best seats were gone--in 5 minutes! There was also no way of seeing sight lines to the stage. We bought what we thought were good seats at 70€ and 74€ each seat--$120 less than our two Canadian Opera Company subscriptions for seven performances!!There is definitely a sense of occasion and excitement as you enter the Garnier. I felt like the Queen as I climbed the famous Grand Escalier. The glass staircase of the Four Seasons Centre, while not as grand, has this same sense of occasion.
We found our way to our seats, the 2eme Loges de Coté, only to be confronted by a circle of locked doors! Although it was ten minutes before the performance, the hall was empty. With great difficulty, we found a highly stressed (without any joie de vivre!) attendant. Her job is to find the correct door, unlock it and brusquely point at the little, very little, red velvet chairs that are yours. Until the performance begins, the doors are locked behind you. There are three rows of two chairs each in the space beside the curved wall. Behind that is a small room with a bench and a coat rack--very nice.
We were seated in the middle of the three rows about four loges from the stage, in the second row of tiny velvet chairs. Our view of the stage? Perhaps half! David has speculated that when the Garnier was built, the actual opera was secondary to the notion of being seen and therefore these boxes would have been prime sites, even though one can't see the stage. The parterre or orchestra in Shakespeare's time was for the lower classes. Although that had changed by the time the Garnier was built, we suspect that those with money sat higher up. However, even here class was evident. The chairs in the front row of our loge had highly decorated backs. Ours were plain. The poor people behind us didn't sit at all on their plain chairs. They could see a small portion of the stage only if they stood. All of this would have been bearable if the production had been excellent. However, the orchestra played so poorly, the Paris critics were scathing. The set consisted of a bare stage with a pile of sand, supposedly representing Crete and the costumes were clearly purchased from the French equivalent of Goodwill. Poor Isabel Bayrakdarian, singing Ilia, wore the same nurse/waitress dress throughout. We thought she was the only one of the leads who could act. Otherwise, there was much pounding of chests and dropping to the ground in agony. Since we couldn't see much of what was happening, we were glad that at least the voices were good ones. And we loved parading around the large and elegant public spaces during the intermission, feeling very much part of an elegant scene.
For another opinion, go to the February 11th page of this blog and find 'Idomeneo Drowns in the Seine':
http://opera-cake.blogspot.com/
And then, two nights later we were off to the Bastille. While it is an ugly and utilitarian building with paltry public spaces, people were more formally dressed than at the elegant Garnier. There were many couples in evening dress, one woman wearing a long mink cape. No ascending of grand staircases here! They are narrow and out of the way. We got to our seats by stuffing ourselves in an elevator! At least this time we could see the stage, the whole stage from the back of the first balcony. No bare set either: lots of decoration, big chorus, great costumes. And the orchestra played well. We were lucky to hear one of the current French divas, Natalie Dessay who has a lovely voice and a wonderful stage presence. We were amused by some strange moments. The lead character sleepwalks over a very high drift of newly fallen snow without sinking in and then, instead of breathless moments over a raging river, walks through a broken window teetering onto an upended piano! This production was better than the Garnier but certainly not what we would have expected in one of the European capitals of opera.
We have just bought our Canadian Opera Company subscriptions for 2010/11 and now are enthusiastically anticipating the season. We are looking forward to feeling part of something exciting when we enter, of sitting in our very comfortable seats, of listening to an excellent orchestra and seeing and hearing first class opera productions. It is hard not to feel smug, knowing that we 'colonials' have surpassed our mother country. Of course, we don't think the French will believe us and will tell us that 'normalement', there would be world class productions at both houses. But we will know that, in Toronto, we have access to a real gem.
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