Article: Life on Stage with New Opera Lyra: opera for everyone
This article was written for and published by Apt613.com on October 20, 2023. You can find a link to the article here.
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“Opera for me is the ultimate art form to move someone, to escape. Opera needs to be seen to be believed.” – Ryan Hofman, baritone and artistic consultant for New Opera Lyra
I’m totally new to opera. I’ve never attended one, never seen one on TV or in the movies. So, when I got the chance to find out, I had to ask…
What is the gateway drug to opera?
“Good storytelling,” says John Scott, the general manager of New Opera Lyra. Scott is a classically trained cellist who got involved with opera through choral and orchestral conducting and exercises a breadth of skills with New Opera Lyra.
New Opera Lyra (no relation to the (old) Opera Lyra) is an Ottawa-based opera company that opened its second season on October 14, 2023 with a co-production of the National Capital Opera Competition.
But, according to Andrew Ager, New Opera Lyra’s co-artistic director and resident composer, “our season truly begins with… the world premiere of my opera, The Mummy, the third of the gothic trilogy, [on October 27].” The trilogy began with Frankenstein in 2019 and was followed by Dracula last season – after a long break for COVID.
What are people saying about New Opera Lyra?
“People are excited to see the name “Opera Lyra” with “New” in front of it,” Scott says. “They’re excited that it’s existing and that staged opera has returned [to Ottawa]… it’s modest… but it’s fully staged with set, with props, with scene changes and that’s something that most companies aren’t able to do.”
What does New Opera Lyra bring to Ottawa?
“Opera used to be ‘of the people’ just like theatre was,” Scott says, “and if people didn’t like the character in the opera, then they screamed and yelled and threw vegetables at them. They were engaged and it was a representation of their life on stage...
“New Opera Lyra presents grand opera in an approachable, accessible way… You do not need to be going to the Met. You don’t need to wear furs or your tuxedo (but if you want to you can). You can come with your kids... It’s grand opera for everyone.”
“Because it’s not a large opera house with 3000 seats you are quite close to the stage,” Ager adds. “Our experience is much more immersive and much more immediate.”
But it’s not like the Met, right?
“Because of the way [Ager is] able to write for a small number of instruments, a very intimate chamber orchestra,” Scott replies, “it sounds like the very large romantic orchestras you would expect with [grand] opera...
“The way that Dracula was directed and the way The Mummy will be directed is grand opera on a stage that is small enough that you can afford to put [it] up, which means ticket prices are approachable for people… and they can absolutely be themselves and take part in an art form that still matters.”
Great! But what is opera?
Scott explains, “It’s communication, and it’s catharsis, and it’s healing, and it’s storytelling, and it’s what people require to help process everything that’s broken in the world.”
“It’s the ultimate culmination of all the art forms,” adds Ryan Hofman, New Opera Lyra’s artistic consultant, “so you have theatre, you have acting, dancing, music. For opera singers, it’s the equivalent of running a marathon because you don’t get miked; you just have to sing over an orchestra.” Hofman is also a baritone who will be on stage later in the season.
Dumb question: What’s the difference between an opera and a musical?
“Musicals are going to be more dialogue based whereas operas are completely sung,” Hofman says.
Now I think I’m getting it. But what’s the deal with the singing?
“There’s something very connecting about the human voice,” Scott says. “The bareness and the rawness and the emotion of somebody singing, somebody sharing what is so intrinsically personal which is your voice. When you add that to these wonderful stories but also to Andrew’s music... The emotion is so visceral, and the story is so present for people in the music and the singing that you’re removed from where you are… and carried along with the singers... It’s absolute magic.”
The singers must be pretty special people.
Scott agrees. “These people have to become characters, but that character has to come from inside themselves and then you open your mouth and share what is absolutely the most tender about yourself.
And the audience?
“To either be transported genuinely by somebody’s artistry or to have felt a degree of catharsis and hope through [it] is the pinnacle of art,” Scott says. “Opera combines these things, and you are invited into somebody on a very personal level… You can’t run. You can only be present with the art. It’s totally transformative.”
Oct. 27 and 28: The Mummy. The world premiere of Andrew Ager’s new opera, third in his gothic trilogy. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 82 Kent St.
Dec. 9: Scrooge’s Christmas. A 45-minute family opera that Andrew calls a “scary comedy.” Rideau Park United Church, 2203 Alta Vista Dr.
Apr. 19 and 20: The Great Gatsby. The world premiere of Andrew’s new opera, the one he’s always wanted to write. Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
Jun. 1: Opera Gala. A program of choruses from famous operas in collaboration with the Ewashko Singers. Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
Oct. to May: Sundays @ 4. Monthly recitals featuring emerging Canadian and local artists. Rideau Park United Church, 2203 Alta Vista Dr.
For information and tickets visit New Opera Lyra.
Photo: Kathleen Radke, Bradley Christensen, and Pauline van der Roest in New Opera Lyra’s Dracula.
Photo credit: Suzanne Bassett 2022