The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra closes out their 50th anniversary season with a concert staging of Handel’s opera Alcina – an MCO first!
In collaboration with director Geneviève Pelletier, MCO Music Director Anne Manson and company plan to bring a theatrical flair to this semi-staged performance.
Featuring world-class coloratura sopranos Tracy Dahl and Andriana Chuchman, joined by the outstanding mezzo soprano Lizzy Hoyt, the amazing contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay, plus exciting tenor Nolan Keyler – this is not a production to be missed.
In addition to the vocal star power, the MCO has brought in some top-notch talent to bolster their already impressive musical ranks.
Based out of Toronto, cellist Kerri McGonigle and harpsichordist Chistopher Bagan are two such individuals who, together, form the “continuo” team.
“We are the jazz combo of the Baroque world,” explains Bagan. “We provide the rhythmic impetus, the harmonic drive, the mood and everybody kind of fits in overtop of us.”
Though often described as an “accompaniment,” the term is misleading.
Building a musical foundation from the ground up is a hallmark Baroque practice, with the pair providing support to the singers while also actively playing a role in the drama unfolding on the stage, says McGonigle.
“We actually have much more influence than the people above us that look like the stars of the show,” she says with a laugh.
“We have to quietly enjoy that position of power – without telling anyone,” adds Bagan with a similar chuckle.
Period players, they bring historically informed practice to the modern Manitoba Chamber Orchestra making for a hybrid production of Alcina.
“I love fitting with a modern group,” says Bagan. “Finding ways to hear what they’re doing, how I can add a rhythmic layer in there that just pulls it together and gives it that a sense of a, for lack of a better word, ‘groove.’”
There should be a rhythmic energy that drives any piece of Baroque music, explains Bagan, and that most certainly can come from the foundation – the continuo team.
“(MCO Music Director Anne Manson) was able to do so much more with the orchestra from us giving that support from underneath,” adds McGonigle. “Taking the orchestra in a new way – a different way.”
The MCO’s first opera concert staging takes place 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 15 with a second performance Saturday, June 17 at Crescent Arts Centre/Crescent Fort Rouge United Church.
For tickets and more details, visit: www.themco.ca