Preview
THE TALES OF HOFFMANN
Calgary Opera
Starring William Joyner, Maureen O’Flynn, Eduardo Chama and Norine Burgess
Composed by Jacques Offenbach
Conducted by Brent McMunn
Directed by Glynis Leyshon
Runs April 24, 28 and 30
Jubilee Auditorium
Performing in The Tales of Hoffmann for Calgary Opera completes a circle for Calgary-born Norine Burgess.
In this new production of Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera, Burgess plays the muse of poetry, who transforms herself into Nicklausse, the best friend of poet E.T.A. Hoffmann, in order to accompany him on his journey through three love relationships. The role has brought the international opera singer back to both the work and the company in which she made her debut.
When Burgess was still a teenager, former Calgary Opera arts administrators Brian Hanson and David Spears sought her out after seeing her perform at the Kiwanis Festival. Although she had not won in the festival’s opera class, they recognized her potential, inviting her to audition for their company’s school tour and sing in the chorus of The Tales of Hoffmann.
"Ty Patterson – who’s now making a name for himself as a conductor – and I were the tallest male and female (in the chorus), so we were always partnered together and waltzed around in the Olympia act," she recalls in an interview prior to a costume fitting. "For some reason, I also had a little bit of an acting role with one of the tenors in Giulietta’s act. So that was the beginning."
After going on to study opera at the University of Toronto while sandwiching in four summers with The Banff Centre opera program, Burgess was accepted into the young artists program at the Canadian Opera Company (COC). "After that, I was free to make my way as I could and would, and did."
In 1990, during her second year in the COC ensemble, she honoured a pre-existing contract to return to Calgary Opera to play in Romeo and Juliet. During the production, she met and fell in love with Swiss-born Michael Schade, who became her husband. Although they both love to tell the story of their meeting, they were not playing Romeo and Juliet. In fact, they played enemies on opposing sides in Shakespeare’s family feud. Not only that, Burgess was singing the male "trouser" role of Stephano, while Schade was playing Tybalt, which meant they also had to cross swords onstage.
Burgess and Schade have been married nearly 11 years and have three children. The oldest, Sophia, is eight years old and the two younger children are 16-month-old twins. Burgess believes that her singing is informed by the richness of her life and feeds her creativity.
"I think that creativity and patterns and relationships all go together," she says. "And if you don’t have a life – therefore, relationships – it is awfully hard to have enough source to draw on to be creative. If you let the creativity take over your life, then the well can run dry. I am awfully glad to have in my life more than this wonderful art form. But I’m also very glad to have that personal, private side of my life, in addition to being wife and mother and doing all those things that we women do."
And that, folks, could be the story synopsis for The Tales of Hoffmann, three wonderfully lyrical examples of a search for the balance between creativity and strong relationships in one’s life. Some regard Offenbach’s opera as a bit on the light side, but with the depth that Burgess and others bring to it, its deeper meaning will doubtless shine through. Aided and abetted, of course, by the romantic texture of music that stays in your head and makes the heart sing long after leaving the theatre. |
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