An all-local opera company will be performing a rare German opera, Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber, on April 27.
Photo provided.
The show will then travel to Toronto, with some Ottawa singers participating, as a co-production with Opera By Request, led by pianist and conductor William Shookhoff.
Founded in 2012 by Norman E. Brown, OperOttawa is an all-local company. Brown founded the company to provide a space for rarer operas. “There was a gap in opera being performed in Ottawa, nobody was doing anything baroque and nobody was doing anything contemporary,” says Brown.
“We don’t want to the things that people can see in Montreal or Toronto or every two or three years at the National Arts Centre,” says Brown. “We want to bring audiences something they’ll never see at a larger venue. We do the operas that nobody will see anywhere else.”
OperOttawa founder Norman E. Brown. Photo provided.
In the last three years they formed the OperOttawa Orchestra, and now perform with a full orchestra. This production will be with piano.
OperOttawa’s first opera in 2012 was a gala evening—a performance of Handel’s Acis & Galateai, and then favourite arias in the second half of the show. Some of those first soloists are still with the group. “We all enjoy music, we all want to give it our best. It’s a wonderful environment and I’m glad we’ve been around for so long.”
Der Freischütz might be an uncommon pick, but it’s got some similarities to Mozart’s famous The Magic Flute.
It’s quite a complicated love story—in German. “Like combining the love affair of The Magic Flute with the deal-with-the-devil in Faust,” says Brown. There’s a love triangle tied in with a marksmanship competition, maybe the heroine dies (I won’t spoil it), and an archer makes a deal with the devil to win the competition.
In the original, one third of the opera is dialogue in German. In this production, OperOttawa condensed the dialogue and translated it, putting a focus on the singing and making it easier for the audience to follow.
What’s coming next season? The season begins with a gala fundraiser in September, then Handel’s Julius Caesar in November, then the major seller, Mozart’s Don Giovanni in March. They will end the season with a tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams and his wife Ursula Vaughan Williams.
Tickets for Der Freischütz can be purchased here.
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