Toronto - A very creative Semele

We travelled to an amazing world of opera love and passion taking place in the restored ruins of a 16th century Chinese temple, amidst dazzling stage effects and playing to the strains of the baroque music of Handel's Semele at the Four Seasons Centre, home of the Canadian Opera Company.

I was awestruck by the many creative ways the temple on stage was transformed and wish I was allowed to take photos of each of the scenes.  Two particularly memorable scenes took place on the roof of the temple.  One was Semele singing on the roof with a moon behind her and eventually taking off with the moon - a very recognizably Chinese myth.  The other was Somnus, the god of sleep, waking up on a gigantic red quilt spread out on the temple roof with a sleeping balloon giant beside him.  Then to the audience's surprise, a nymph emerged out of the red quilt.  It was awesome!  Yet another scene has a whole mirrored wall on stage as a backdrop for the aria "Myself I shall adore, if I persist in gazing" - it provides a giant reflection of the orchestra and the audience.  Dazzling!  You can go to the COC website to see more scenes. 

The costumes by Han Feng were stunning - a rich blend of Asian and baroque aesthetics with some Hellenistic flavour persisting throughout the opera.   Other than her very Asian marital costume in the first scene, Semele wore flowing Greek goddess gowns throughout.  There were ethereal scenes with haunting arias by the gorgeous soprano Jane Archibald as Semele.  In marked contrast, there were rowdy scenes which included one with riotous sexual romps on the temple grounds with the strains of the familiar Handel oratorio music vigorously playing in the background.  It was the sacred and the profane all in one!  

This production of the mythical story, under the bold direction of Chinese artist Zhang Huan (previously staged in Brussels and China) is hugely sardonic, heavy on stage machinery but also richly creative.  He took out the last scene with the triumphant chorus, choosing to end the story with the chorus' lament of Semele's death.  The opera began and ended with a person sweeping ashes off the floor of the temple, attributed to Zhang Huan's buddhist belief in the impermanence of all things.  Critics didn't like the loss of the last chorus, but a recording of it was played as the audience exit the theatre.  I could live with that - given how memorable the rest of the opera was.

The final bow 

I share below some of the photos of the Four Seasons Centre which I took when I first visited it during its Open House, June 2006:

The Four Seasons Centre atrium

The glass staircase

The hall with perfect acoustics.  If you're visiting Toronto, it's worth getting a ticket just to hear the hall.

Outside the hall

I love the AGO!

I have to confess though, I love it more for the architecture than the art.  I've enjoyed the art every time I was there but the art seldom evokes the same passion as when I looked at the spiral staircase or the Galleria.  I will share with you some of those photos, taken shortly after the Frank Gehry redesign of the Art Gallery of Ontario was completed in 2009.


We visited the gallery again yesterday to take in the Picasso exhibit from Paris and the Toronto debut show by the Chinese artist Zhang Huan on Ash Paintings and Memory Doors.  The Picasso needed no introduction but the Zhang Huan show was a little different.  The much sought after artist had gone through some tough times but is now rich and famous.  His work commanded millions and one of his commissions in Toronto was the dragon sculpture Rising outside the new Shangri la hotel.  We will also be seeing his work at the opera later this month.  Handel's Opera Semele will be performed under his artistic direction at the Four Seasons Centre and part of the set consists of a Ming dynasty Chinese temple that he had rescued from some small town in China.  Check on the links to learn more.

The very top of the spiral

The stunning "ballustrade" 

Looking up at the top of the spiral

View of the spiral from Walker Court

The spectacular Galleria on a Sunday morning (the only time you'll find it empty)

Memory Door "Buddha"

Berlin: Amazing Architecture

I will wrap up the Berlin posts with more examples of the amazing architecture in that city.  Often the buildings look unexciting on the outside but could be quite spectacular on the inside.

Buildings near Potsdamer Platz (Sony building in the distance)

Who would have thought the inside of the Deutscher Dom you see above would look like
this (below) -

The traditional-looking St. Hedwigs Kathedrale - the Catholic Church of Berlin

The unconventional interior with a horizontal crucifix (the 18th century church was completely gutted during the war)

the contemporary cupola

the magnificent organ

The German Historical Museum in a stunning I. M. Pei building

The Pei building from a different angle

Liebeskind's Jewish Museum, awe-inspiring on the outside, echoed on the inside

Sloped hallways  and ceilings

Holocaust Tower with no light other than a slit in the wall evoked strong feelings

It's a very powerful, emotive building - difficult to walk out untouched

The Garden of Exiles - there was no escape even when you're outside

The beautiful cupola of the Martin Gropius Bau Museum

The acoustically perfect Berlin Philharmonic Hall -
and on that harmonious note, we reached the end of my Berlin posts.  Thank you for coming along with me!

Berlin: The Wall

There seems to be bits and pieces of the Berlin Wall all over Berlin, in places, cobblestones traced the actual wall on the street.  The longest section in the East Side Gallery had been painted over with some very expressive graffiti images which you can see below.  But the section in Bernauer Strasse, which was only a short walk from our apartment, was the most fearsome.  You can climb up a tower to see the two parallel walls and the no man's land in between.  The site has a memorial chapel and a museum with some very touching and thought-provoking exhibits.  Definitely worth a visit.

Cobblestones mark the wall on Berlin streets

The longest stretch of the wall at the East Side Gallery

My favourite

Here's the section on Bernauer  Strasse with the tower in the distnace

Sculpture on the grounds of the Bernauer Strasse Wall Memorial

Chapel of Reconciliation built on the grounds of the former Church of Reconciliation, which was destroyed in 1985 because of its awkward location between the walls - 5 years later, the Berlin wall came down

The new chapel with its double walls 

A section of the wall just in front of the Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum, itself a historical monument.  I was very lucky to catch the Hannes Kilian photography exhibit when I was there.

The iconic Frulingstanz

The sign at Checkpoint Charlie

Berlin: Potsdam, the Sans Souci palaces

We spent a day at the Sans Souci palaces in Potsdam, a 20 minute train ride away from the Berlin City Centre.  The three main palaces were the Sans Souci, the New Palace and the Orangery.  I wish I were less rusty and more confident on a bike - really the best way to see the parks and palaces with the bike rentals just outside the train station.  Instead we had to opt for the double-decker tourist bus.

Old town Potsdam

A building in the New Palace complex

The formal gardens

The garden in the Sans Souci palace

This was a summer palace - all on one floor

Looks familiar?  The same sculpture was also in the Altes Museum in Berlin

The Tudor style Cecilienhof Palace, for the Crown Prince and Princess Cecilie

The grounds of Cecilienhof

The tower of the Church of Peace on the edge of the Sans Souci park

The beautiful proportioned grounds around the church - built by the artistically gifted King Frederick William IV - no wonder, it's my favourite structure in the entire palace grounds

These lovely cloisters surround the church and end in a gorgeous tiered portal

The exquisite marble fountain in an arcade on the Church grounds

One of the less gaudy part of the Chinese Tea Garden

The lush gardens around Sans Souci - this was a great day trip!

Next post: the Berlin Wall