An afternoon of Popera!

As an admitted music snob, I was skeptical when I first heard that the Calgary Civic Symphony was performing a combination of opera and musical theatre greats in their Popera! show. Certainly, doing justice to timeless pieces from operas and musical theatre classics is already challenging individually, but attempting both together in the same performance seemed almost unattainable. I am happy to say that Popera! certainly rose to the challenge.

Calgary’s music scene has been steadily growing in the past few years, and with the coming opening of the National Music Centre, it is doubtless that fantastic opportunities for concerts and shows like Popera! will increase in number. While the Calgary Civic Symphony isn’t as well known as their Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra counterparts, they certainly are also an extremely accomplished group of musicians. Host to the C3 concerto competitions annually, among their events this season were The Mighty Cathy Organ and Bach for the Holidays. In partnership with Cowtown Opera and some of the best vocal talents in the city, they have produced a performance that this city should be very, very proud of.

Hearing familiar pieces – from Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, and various other Puccini works among others – was very refreshing, and especially so right here at home in Calgary. I was also pleasantly surprised by many operatic pieces I was wholly unfamiliar with, such as numbers from Puccini’s Turandot.

In the latter half of the show, classic musical theatre hits were brought to the stage, and it was very interesting to hear Johann Strauss back to back with the music from The Sound of Music. It was also here at Popera! that I was introduced to the work of Canadian composer David Foster, whose music I will certainly be looking out for in the future.

Andrea Gedrasik gave a tasteful, nuanced performance as the titular character in Giuditta, and her “My lips, they kiss so hot” was indisputably one of the best pieces of the night. The orchestra also demonstrated impressive control and mastery of a diverse repertoire of Viennese works.

A fantastic encore performance of the Anvil Chorus rounded out a powerful Sunday afternoon. Overall, a wonderful, eye-opening show that I look forward to attending again next year. The Calgary Civic Symphony and Cowtown Opera have successfully brought together two genres in a very ambitious work, and if they aren’t already, every music lover in Calgary should be putting them on their radar. Bravo for a job well done!