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  • About COR
    • About COR
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    • FAQ – For Users
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Canadian Opera Resource
Canadian Opera Resource
COR
Operas
Like an Old Tale
A multicultural retelling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.

"The jealous king Leontes’ wife, Hermione, is accused of committing adultery with his best friend, Polixenes, and Hermione is jailed. Soon after, Leontes and Hermione’s young son dies before she gives birth to a daughter Perdita who is smuggled out of the country after Hermione’s s...
Composer: Juliet Palmer

Like an Old Tale
Deirdre
"Drawn from an Irish saga of the Red Branch Knights of Ulster in the druidic era, the story tells of the doom of the ruthless Conochar, King of Ullah (Ulster), and the tragic death of Naisi and his brothers, the Princes of Ullah, as a result of the rivalry between Conochar and Naisi for the love of the foundling Deirdre."

- Carl Morey, The Ca...
Composer: Healey Willan
Librettist: John Coulter

Deirdre
Airline Icarus

A worker ruminates on the terrifying power of flight as he loads bags.   Three passengers board and discover they’re sitting beside each other.  During the pre-departure safety demonstration, a flight attendant longs for an escape from her mundane life and job.  The three passengers think of their own isolation and lo...

Composer: Brian Current
Librettist: Anton Piatigorsky

Airline Icarus
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
Dragon’s Tale
Content warning: death, suicide

Dragon’s Tale is the story of a young Chinese-Canadian woman (Xiao Lian) and her ailing father, both living in Toronto. Xiao Lian wakes up in the ancient past and witnesses the last days of one of China’s greatest poets, Qu Yuan. In doing so, she begins to understand her father and herself as she returns to a c...
Composer: Ka Nin Chan
Librettist: Mark Brownell

Dragon’s Tale
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
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
Dark Star Requiem
Content warning: illness, death, HIV/AIDS

Dark Star Requiem is a poetic chronicle of the 25 years (as of 2010) of HIV-AIDS, reflecting the many faces of the disease and those affected by the pandemic.
Composer: Andrew Staniland
Librettist: Jill Battson

Dark Star Requiem
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 1, Scene 2

At a party, the Corporal mocks Jason for needing M'dea to help him win and for bringing her home.

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 9

The combined spirits of Qu Yuan and Father return and ask the audience to release them from their servitude. That freedom granted, they ascend into the heavens triumphantly.

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 7

All hope is lost as the villagers return and collect Qu Yuan’s possessions. They take the scrolls containing his famous poetry to the Daoist temple, where they will be preserved forever. Xiao Lian returns to the present at the bedside of her dying father. With his encouragement and love, she finally recognizes the value of honourin...

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 6

Years later, Qu Yuan has earned the honour and respect of the people in a little fishing village on the river Miluo. Xiao Lian and a local villager strike up a conversation with Qu Yuan, and it is soon revealed that The Kingdom of Chu has been destroyed by its enemies. After learning this news, Qu Yuan’s heart breaks, and he drowns...

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 5

Qu Yuan wanders into the southern wilderness. As he travels, he composes a lament for himself and his lost position in court. In the present, Xiao Lian’s Father senses his end is near. Summoning up his strength, he joins with the spirit of Qu Yuan to tell the final chapter.

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 4

Xiao Lian is transported back to the ancient royal court, where she witnesses the majestic entrance of King Huai of Chu. Qu Yuan is at the peak of his power but is soon outfoxed by rival minister Zhang Yi. Qu Yuan is cast down and banished by his beloved king.

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.

The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. – Act 1, Scene 4

In Greece at a bar, three women are held captive: Konstantin sends Lyubia with a businessman, Natalyia with the Immigration officer who cuts her, and Oksana is bought by Konstantin at auction. Konstantin then offers to the crowd a gang rape just as the police arrive to raid the bar. Instead, he escapes with Oksana and Natalyia.

M’dea Undone – Act 1, Scene 1

Jason, M'dea, and the soldiers return from war to a celebratory crowd. Some do not trust the new foreigner, M'dea.

Iron Road – Act 2, Prologue: The Dream

Lai Gwan dreams of the conflicting desires of her mother, father, Nichol and herself.

Dark Star Requiem – “Requiem”

A funereal narration accompanied by a choral requiem.

Dark Star Requiem – “Black Lion”

The soloists describe AIDS as a black lion and a pack of hyenas, while the chorus continues listing medications.

Dark Star Requiem – “Cuba Libre”

An ode to alcohol and cocktails that devolves into a listing of medications.

Dark Star Requiem – “Sentinel”

A solo by the mezzo-soprano about nuns sex-shaming in hospitals, while the chorus repeatedly sings "sanctus".

Dark Star Requiem – “Revolubile”

A spoken duet about initial moments of attraction.

Dark Star Requiem – “Theory, Prayers”

Soloists list conspiracy theories about the origin and spread of HIV, while the chorus laughs in the background.

Dark Star Requiem – “Congo and one of the four H’s”

As the Democratic Republic of Congo fights for its independence, patients are being hospitalized and dying from AIDS-related illness.

Dark Star Requiem – “Zero Six One”

Soloists and chorus sing the numbers attributed to HIV-1 and HIV-2 by the International Comitte of Taxonomy of Viruses.

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