Opera in a Matchbox
Generally speaking, opera is considered to be lavish, expensive and grand. But there is a small opera company, based in Vancouver, who believe "Opera in a Matchbox" is a viable option, especially when budgets are counted in hundreds of dollars, not tens of thousands.
Opera Pro Cantanti has been performing full productions of several mainstream operas, fully staged and in costume, with piano accompaniment for over a decade.
They are Canada's only "repertory" opera company, with a current repertoire of great standards like La Traviata, Nabucco and Macbeth by Verdi and Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti. They even perform a scaled down production of Bellini's Norma, normally thought of as a "monster" of an opera!
How do they do it?
"Dedicated singers, who are passionate about singing, and love these great operas. Singers willing to accept our limitations." says Vancouver baritone Richard Williams, the company's artistic director and founder. "We know we can't fill a huge stage like the Queen Elizabeth, nor attract the size of audience needed to fill such a space. That's where our "Opera in a Matchbox" model comes in. We scale things down and focus on the singing, not the spectacle."
The company numbers around 20 singers, recently augmented by singersfrom the Tri-Cities/Maple Ridge area. "We brought our production of Verdi's Macbeth to Port Coquitlam" says Williams. "We loved singing in the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Hall!
What a wonderful accoustic!"
OPC will also be bringing future performances to
Westacres in Maple Ridge.
The intimacy is just right for our
"Opera in a Matchbox" concept."
