The Evil Step-Mother
Meet The Step-Mother and the Son/Bird, two of the most important characters from the Grimm Brothers’ dark and sinister tale, The Juniper Tree. Here is a symbolic universe where we find the apple of sin, the tree of fertility and the bird of renewal. At the heart of these symbols dominates a terrible and evil…
The Girl and Death.
Happy Halloween Today, for my very final character, on this very spooky day of witches and ghosts, I am not an opera character. I have chosen to impersonate Schubert’s Lied “Der Tod und das Mädchen“, the girl and death. The girl, afraid of dying, cries out to be saved from her inevitable doom.…
The Witch
“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.’” Beware of stories as old as time, they hold within them creatures that should not be seen. Look out for the Gingerbread Witch, she will turn little kids into treats. Humperdinck brought to us Hansel and Gretel…
Cinderella
Amidst a dark and twisted family, Massenet perfectly incorporated a kind and passionate Cinderella. Although her stepmother, Madame de la Haltière, represents all that is wrong with the world, Cinderella is still able to follow her dreams and go after what she wants. Why not take example of this and not allow the heaviness…
Dorabella
Who says I can’t have my cake and eat it too? « Cosi fan tutte”, an opera composed by Mozart in 1790, translates to “so do all of them”, meaning all women are the same. Oh really? Today, I present to you Dorabella, a strong willed, naïve, but “does what she wants” kinda…
Erika
We often believe that operas have older ideologies that do not touch us in our modern world. I tend to disagree. Vanessa is a modern opera written in 1956. It captures the fragility of the human psyche, and is what I perceive as a story about mental illness. A story about loss, loneliness and isolation,…
Romeo
Today, I present to you my unconventional adaptation of Romeo, from Bellini’s opera “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”. A pants/breeches role is one where a singer, often mezzo-soprano, transforms herself into a male character. Composers often used pants roles in order to allow their male characters to have innocent and gentle voices. But, what happens…
Charlotte
Today, I present to you my adaptation of Charlotte, from Massenet’s opera “Werther”. Charlotte brings light and colour into Werther’s dark world, but, because of her promise to her dying mother, must break his heart, to the point where it is irreparable. This makeup represents Charlotte’s aria “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes”.
Carmen
Opera characters are larger than life. Carmen is a strong, free-spirited Gypsy. It is a magnificent mezzo-soprano role, and this is my vision.
Justine Ledoux 