.jpg)
While it may not be a part of everyone’s holiday playlist, opera can capture the spirit of the season just as well as most other genres can. Flipside Opera and Art Song Collective are out to prove that theory with their latest, festive instalment of the Opera by the Pint series that the group presents at Little Brown Jug Brewing Company in The Exchange.
“This is the perfect middle ground between going caroling and going to the opera,” explains bass-baritone Christopher Dunn. “There’s nothing better than coming together to get sing with each other during the holidays.”
But what exactly does opera add to a season filled with choirs and bands? The answer from the performers is the range of feelings that opera can cover, which resonates regardless of where people are at emotionally during the holidays.
“We are touching on all the emotions,” says Judy Oatway, Flipside Opera’s artistic director, highlighting the different musical offerings on tap that range from operatic gems to holiday favourites. “Some of them aren’t always happy,” Oatway admits, “but the holidays aren’t always happy.”
“The stories are so human,” Dunn agrees. “You get much better an impression of that when you go to a show like this and are closer physically to people.”
For soprano Diana Rockwell, opera’s ability to give voice to the whole range of the emotional spectrum is what makes it a perfect addition to a concert featuring more standard holiday fare. "It's beautiful to return to opera and to return to those stories,” she says, speaking of operatic stories set around Christmastime like Puccini’s La boheme. “The sadness and and the tragedy accompanies the highest of highs and the most happy moments. And I think we find that in in life and that usually is reflected most prominently at at the holidays.”
Rockwell also notes that the intimacy and relaxed nature of a venue like Little Brown Jug allows people to feel more empathy for emotions of all kinds. “You get to see people's faces and see the reactions,” she explains. “Having that barrier removed of the lights on the stage and the fancy dress... it makes me break out of the sometimes-cold wall that there is in performing and brings me closer to them."
You can feel that closeness at Flipside Opera and Art Song Collective’s Opera by the Pint, which takes place at 7 p.m. on December 11 at Little Brown Jug Brewing Company on William Avenue in the Exchange District. For more information, you can visit Flipside Opera’s website.