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COR
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  • About COR
    • About COR
    • How To Use COR
    • FAQ – For Users
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    Canadian Opera Resource
    Canadian Opera Resource
    COR
    Operas
    Pomegranate
    On a fateful school trip to the ruins of Pompeii, the fantasies of smitten teenagers Suzie and Cass are ignited. They are transported from 1977 to 79 AD, where they discover romantic freedom in the looming shadow of Mount Vesuvius – but not for long. The timeline shifts to 1981 and the Fly by Night, a Toronto lesbian bar, in the aftermath of the...
    Composer: Kye Marshall
    Librettist: Amanda Hale

    Pomegranate
    Mother Everest
    Content warning: death

    Just below the summit of Mount Everest on the south summit ridge, Jackie and her partner Pasang are celebrating that she is the first woman to reach the summit without oxygen. Then something changes. Could it be Mother Everest punishing the climbers?
    Composer: Abigail Richardson
    Librettist: Marjorie Chan

    Mother Everest
    Mother Everest
    Man in Avalanche
    Content warning: death

    Trapped and encased by an avalanche, a man thinks only of his wife and finding a way out. Meanwhile, his wife is filled with suspicion. She thinks he’s having an affair, and his silence is the proof. Between the two, Death sings of the ways it brings about disaster.
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: David James Brock

    Man in Avalanche
    Man in Avalanche
    Facing South
    Content warning: illness, death, colonialism

    Facing South is inspired by the life story of American Arctic explorer, Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary, and his contested discovery of the North Pole in 1909. The opera takes place in the inner landscape of Peary’s mind during the last hours of his life in February 1920, as he lies dying of pernic...
    Composer: Linda Catlin Smith
    Librettist: Don Hannah

    Facing South
    Otherworld
    Two miners are making their way into the heart of the mountain. There, they discover another world.
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Bobby Theodore

    Otherworld
    Otherworld
    M’dea Undone
    Content warning: death, murder, suicide, xenophobia

    Jason, an army captain and now war-hero, is returning home after years of war and an uncertain future. His interpreter and lover M’dea and their son Chase accompany him to a new life in the West. Jason begins a political career, working alongside the President and Dahlia, the President’s bea...
    Composer: John Harris
    Librettist: Marjorie Chan

    M’dea Undone
    Sanctuary Song
    An opera for all ages. Sydney, an Asian elephant poached at a young age from the jungles of Indonesia, recalls her remarkable life in captivity, far from home, as her keeper of 22 years leads her on a journey towards sanctuary in the hills of Tennessee. A dynamic weaving of opera and dance unearths friendships lost and found and restores a stole...
    Composer: Abigail Richardson
    Librettist: Marjorie Chan

    Sanctuary Song
    Sanctuary Song
    Jacqueline
    Content warning: terminal illness

    This is not a biographical opera, it is an exploration of an emotional journey. At age 5, Jacqueline has instant chemistry and sparks fly when she meets her cello. Their relationship grows stronger and closer, and Jacqueline matures into a charismatic and likeable teen, powerful on major stages. Soon she is a...
    Composer: Luna Pearl Woolf
    Librettist: Royce Vavrek

    Jacqueline
    Shanawdithit
    Content warning: colonial violence, colonialsm, death, illness

    1828, Notre Dame Bay, on the northeast shore of Newfoundland. William Cormack, an explorer and anthropologist, has recently created the Beothuk Institute: an organization designed to prevent the extinction of the original inhabitants of the island. After learning that a Beothuk wo...
    Composer: Dean Burry
    Librettist: Yvette Nolan

    Shanawdithit
    Shanawdithit
    Iron Road
    Content warning: racism, colonialism, violence, death

    In 1880’s China, Lai Gwan, a young impoverished woman, stands on the brink of momentous change. Her dying mother urges her to respect and honour the memory of her father, Manli, whose disappearance to the New World haunts them both.

    Armed with the hope that she will find her father aliv...
    Composer: Ka Nin Chan
    Librettist: Mark Brownell

    Iron Road
    The Last Life
    A farmer lovingly takes care of his brown cow, not knowing he and the cow have met before in past lives, once in the 18th century and again in the 20th.
    Composer: Katya Pine
    Librettist: Sharon Bajer

    The Last Life
    The Waterfall (LIBLAB)
    Content warning: death, infanticide, murder

    A rumble of hooves. A family is fleeing, but the baby is slowing them down. The mother is forced to choose between her husband and her child. She chooses the husband and tries to get the baby to sleep before letting it go over a waterfall. At the last minute, the baby awakes, and the mother’s grief ...
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Maja Ardal

    The Waterfall (LIBLAB)
    The Waterfall (LIBLAB)
    Hydrophis Expedition
    "My real voice is my cry: OPEN YOUR EYES."

    The Hydrophis is a Deep Sea Submergence Vehicle (DSV) that takes scientists on extreme-depth expeditions to research and explore. During a recent expedition, a rare jellyfish, Stygiomedus Gigantea, has been captured on film. It is rarely seen but thought to be one of the largest invertebrate predator...
    Composer: Benton Roark
    Librettist: Colleen Murphy

    Hydrophis Expedition
    Of the Sea
    Content warning: descriptions of enslavement, violence, sexual violence, death

    A father will do anything to save his daughter. Of the Sea follows the story of Maduka, his daughter Binyelum, and fellow Africans thrown overboard during the Middle Passage who now populate mythical underwater kingdoms that span the ocean floor. Amidst the waves, ...
    Composer: Ian Cusson
    Librettist: Kanika Ambrose

    Of the Sea
    Harper’s Floe
    A historical reenactment: Prime Minister Stephen Harper sets off to the Arctic to claim dominion over a particular ice floe. Mr. Valernikov, a Russian seal, mistakes Harper for a full-figured female seal and propositions him. After sorting out the misunderstanding, Valernikov claims Harper is in Russian waters. Harper, chagrined, tries to make h...
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Charles Hayter

    Harper’s Floe
    Harper’s Floe
    The Waterfall
    Content warning: sexual harassment, violence, fire

    A northern land, the end of winter. A cold, dusky pre-dawn on the edge of a mountain; across the valley roars a mighty waterfall. In this valley there are two farms, one poor - owned by Runa, a single woman - and one rich, owned by Olaf, who wishes Runa for his bride.

    Olaf proposes to Runa...
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Maja Ardal

    The Waterfall
    The Waterfall
    COR
    Excerpts
    M’dea Undone – Act 2, Scene 10: Aftermath

    After the murders, M'dea almost kills herself but is interrupted by Chase. They escape to the beach.

    Mother Everest – “Namaste” (aria)

    Jackie realizes that her sherpa has died.

    Mother Everest – Mother Everest

    Westerner Jackie and sherpa Pasang summit Everest without using oxygen cannisters. Soon their victory turns into a culture clash as they argue about their affair and the mountain, and slowly die of hypoxia.

    The Waterfall – Part 1

    On the first warm spring day in the mountains, Olaf, a rich farmer, proposes to Runa, a poor farmer, only to discover that she is in love with the bandit Davith. Angered by this, Olaf burns down Runa's farm, and Runa escapes up the mountain searching for Davith.

    Otherworld – Otherworld

    Miners crack open a mountain and two green children emerge. They sing, then the minors pray to them as they fall asleep.

    Sanctuary Song – Scene 2: Capture

    James and Sydney start their journey. Sydney remembers being young and playing in the forest with her friend Penny. One day, they are both captured, and the family herd is shot.

    The Shaman’s Tale – “Because of the sacrifice”

    The Shaman explains the end of the couple's tale.

    Sanctuary Song – Scene 7: Reunion

    Sydney exits the train with James at the Sanctuary and sees her old friend Penny. They reunite lovingly. Sydney and James say their final goodbye.

    Shanawdithit – Scene 5: Salmon, Seal, Caribou

    Shanawdithit describes the last days of her family as they were pushed from their land and then hunted. She asks Cormack not to speak of their death, but of their life. Cormack is ecstatic and gets lost in the memories Shanawdithit paints. She breaks his reverie with the cold fact that the life she speaks of will never happen again. She colla...

    Shanawdithit – Scene 7

    Her health fading, Shanawdithit wonders if she’ll be welcomed into the spirit world after so much time with the colonists. Cormack tells her he must leave, and Shanawdithit gives him a sketch of his house to carry with him. He leaves the room to pack. Shanawdithit hears the spirits of her people calling her name. It is time. One spirit in par...

    The Last Life – The Last Life

    Former lovers are reincarnated and reunited, but this time around one is a farmer and one is his cow.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” in Bb (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Facing South – Scene 1: “Pure Light (1909)”

    Two explorers close to the north pole - the explorer Peary becomes confused.

    Facing South – Scene 2: “Interior (1919)”

    An ill and delirious Peary reminisces about his polar days; his wife remembers their early love.

    Facing South – Scene 3: “Ice (1909)”

    Peary is unsure if they have reached the North pole.

    Facing South – Scene 7: “Wild Horse (1909)”

    Peary and Henson once again try to confirm they are at the North pole.

    Facing South – Scene 9: “Ice”

    Peary and Henson believe they have reached the North pole.

    Harper’s Floe – Harper’s Floe

    While claiming sovereignty of an ice floe, Harper meets a seal, then drowns as the floe melts.

    Hydrophis Expedition – Serpent’s Aria

    An undersea monster sings to the scientists observing her.

    Hydrophis Expedition – Hydrophis Expedition (Close Your Eyes)

    In a deep sea submergence vehicle, a crew voyages in search of a sea creature whose gaze can cause burns to the eyes.

    Man in Avalanche – Man in Avalanche

    On a solitary walk a Man gets buried by an avalanche; a Woman thinks his absence means he is cheating on her.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” in C (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” Short Version in Bb (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” Short Version in C (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Jacqueline – “Run” – voice and cello

    Delirious, Jackie envisions running to the ocean again through the fields, this time with her sister, Hilary. She asks that Hilary not tell Daniel about the disease.

    Jacqueline – “Bathing in the Sea in October” – voice and cello

    Jackie tells us how she can blur the lines between fantasy and reality at will. She can escape the confines of her chair by dreaming of bathing in the sea. She wonders where Daniel is, and who he’s seeing.

    Jacqueline – “Intense Perfumes” – voice and cello

    Jacqueline remembers playing in the fields with her sister in her childhood, and the fragrance of wildflowers.

    M’dea Undone – Act 1, Scene 6: The Beach

    A family outing to the beach turns into a photo op for the paparazzi.

    M’dea Undone – Act 2, Scene 11: The Beach

    Pursued by Jason and the guards, M'dea and Chase climb a cliff by the ocean. When they reach the top, they play a version of their make-believe game, and jump off.

    COR

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